SHAKESPEARE HALL

SHAKESPEARE HALL. The earliest theater in Dubuque, Shakespeare Hall was located in the upstairs room of the SHAKESPEARE COFFEE HOUSE AND FREE ADMISSION NEWS ROOM, a two-story building owned by Charles Corkery near the corner of Main and Second STREETS. The December 9, 1837, issue of the Iowa News stated that the News Room would offer readers newspapers from many parts of the country. The Coffee House would have available, for cash-up-front, a wide selection of wines and liquors.

The theater boasted of having all equipment needed for the presentation of plays. The first group to use the facility was the IOWA THESPIAN ASSOCIATION in 1838.

The second year saw the theater used by professional actors. Led by Alexander McKenzit and Joseph Jefferson, the group had previously performed in Chicago and Galena. Their trip across the frozen MISSISSIPPI RIVER resulted in the baggage sled breaking through the ice. Drying the costumes and repainting the scenery delayed their opening by a week. Jefferson wrote years later in his autobiography that

                Mildew filled the air (of the hotel) as costumes of all nations
                festooned the doors of the bedrooms. Gilded pasteboard helmets
                fared the worst...succumbed to the softening influences of the
                Mississippi..rough-fried court coats stretched their arms out
                as if in the agony of drowning (3)

The company eventually performed at Shakespeare Hall for eleven days. Popular plays of the day including "Honeymoon" and "How to Rule a Wife" were interspersed with classics like "Rob Roy," "Othello," and "Richard III." The curtain rose at 6:30 p.m. and came down at 11:00 p.m. (4)

One of the first professional performers who made use of this equipment was George L. NIGHTINGALE. (1) The establishment gradually became less a coffee house than a bar. (2)

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1. Oldt, Franklin T. The History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=u9xDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA464&lpg=PA464&dq=Burton%27s+Furnace+%28dubuque+history%29&source=bl&ots=0CkCGLFR0v&sig=a0Ou1vN3ew6nQUYoq2aOJsXF9Mg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=j3HVT5XALaP42QXVp9iFDw&ved=0CGgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Burton%27s%20Furnace%20%28dubuque%20history%29&f=false (p. 518)

2. Ibid.

3. Briggs, John Ely, "Exploring the History of Iowa, Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1936

4. Ibid.