Richard Martin Hooley (April 13, 1822 – September 8, 1893) was an American theatre manager,
minstrelsy manager, and one of the earliest theatre managers in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. Hooley was born in
Ballina, County Mayo
Ballina ( ; ) is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west. The town ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, and educated in Manchester before first coming to the United States in 1844. After being associated for two years with
Christy's Minstrels
Christy's Minstrels, sometimes referred to as the Christy Minstrels, were a blackface group formed by Edwin Pearce Christy, a well-known ballad singer, in 1843, in Buffalo, New York. They were instrumental in the solidification of the minstrel s ...
, he organized a blackface minstrel company and toured England, returning to the United States by 1853. In 1855 he traveled to California and took over the management of Maguire's Opera House in San Francisco.
Brooklyn theatre
Hooley returned to New York around 1858, and opened a theatre in Brooklyn with Hooley's Minstrels in 1862. It was located at the southwest corner of Court and Remsen streets. Hooley sold his interest in the Brooklyn theatre (known as Hooley's Theatre or other names at other times) in 1878; the building was later demolished and replaced by
Dime Savings Bank Dime Savings Bank may refer to:
* Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn
* Dime Savings Bank of New York
The Dime Savings Bank of New York, originally the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, was a bank headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. ...
, which remained at that location until 1908.
[Floyd-Jones, Thomas]
Backwards Glances: Reminiscences of an Old New-Yorker
p. 88 (1914)[Del Valle, Cezar]
The Brooklyn Theatre Index, Vol. I
pp. 119-21 (2010)[(28 May 1911)]
Interesting Contracts in Development Around the Borough Hall of Brooklyn
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' ("Opposite the Garfield Building, on the southwest corner of Court and Remsen Streets, the present site of the old Dime Savings Bank, was Hooley's Minstrels, and among the comedians who delighted early Brooklynites from its stage were Archie Hughes, Billy Birch, Backus, Wambold, and others.")
Madison, Wisconsin theatre
About 1870, Hooley, in partnership with L. B. Bryan, purchased Van Bergen's Hall, on the Dator Block, in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, in a deal with
George B. Burrows. The building, which became known as the Hooley Opera House was remodelled by John B. Hyland, a local contractor. In 1885, Hooley's Opera House was converted into apartments.
Chicago theatres
Hooley moved to Chicago around 1870 and opened Hooley's Opera House in January 1871.
It was a venue that had previously been run as Bryan's Hall before
Thomas Barbour Bryan
Thomas Barbour Bryan (December 22, 1828 – January 26, 1906) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician.
Born in Virginia, a member of the prestigious Barbour family on his mother's side, Bryan largely made a name for himself in Chi ...
gave Hooley a five-year lease on it.
It was successful but destroyed in the
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...
only nine months later.
[Cambridge Guide to American Theatre](_blank)
p. 195 (1996 paperback ed.) He then opened Hooley's Theatre in a new location in 1872, on
Randolph Street
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east–west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/ I ...
east of
LaSalle Street
LaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Robert de La Salle, a 17th century French explorer of the Illinois Country. The portion that runs through the Chicago Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district.
Sou ...
.
[Iroquois Theatre .. Souvenir Programme](_blank)
pp. 89-91 (1903)
Hooley also organized a theatre stock company that featured actors including
William H. Crane and
James O'Neill.
Business manager Harry J. Powers took over Hooley's Theatre in Chicago after Hooley's death in 1893.
[(23 September 1893)]
Funeral of R.N. Hooley and Anson Temple
''New York Dramatic Mirror
The ''New York Dramatic Mirror'' (1879–1922) was a prominent theatrical trade newspaper.
History
The paper was founded in January 1879 by Ernest Harvier as the ''New York Mirror''. In stating its purpose to cover the theater, it proclaimed t ...
'', p. 14 In 1898 he became full owner and renamed it as Powers' Theatre.
[Brandt, Nat. ''Chicago Death Trap'', p. 10 (2006)] That year, a history of Hooley's Theatre by Lyman B. Glover was published.
[Glover, Lyman B]
The Story of a Theatre
(1898) The theatre stood until 1924, when it was demolished to accommodate an expansion of the
Sherman House Hotel
The Sherman House was a hotel in Chicago, Illinois that operated from 1837 until 1973, with four iterations standing at the same site at the northwest corner of Randolph Street and Clark Street (Chicago), Clark Street. Long one of the city's major ...
. The site is currently part of the land on which the
James R. Thompson Center
The James R. Thompson Center (JRTC), originally the State of Illinois Center, is a postmodern-style civic building designed by architect Helmut Jahn, located at 100 W. Randolph Street in the Loop district of Chicago. It houses offices of the Ill ...
now sits.
[Randall, Frank A. & John D. Randall]
History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago
p. 78 (2d ed. 1999)
Personal
Hooley was affectionately called "Uncle Dick". He married Rosina Cramer in 1856, and died at his house in Chicago on September 8, 1893, survived by two daughters. He was interred at
Calvary Cemetery in Evanston.
[(9 September 1893)]
"Richard M. Hooley Dead. The Veteran Theatrical Manager Ends His Career in Chicago"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''[Andreas, A.T]
History of Chicago, Vol. II
p. 609-10 (1885)[Ellis, Charles Edward]
An Authentic History of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
pp. 116-18 (1910)
References
External links
Hooley's Opera House Songster(1863), via archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooley, Richard M.
1822 births
1893 deaths
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
American theatre managers and producers
Blackface minstrel managers and producers
People from Ballina, County Mayo
19th-century American businesspeople
Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)