American Theatre In The 1800s

During the 1800’s in America, the population grew very rapidly. There was especially a large number of immigrants from Europe. As the population and cities grew bigger so did the middle class. As the middle class grew the people in the upper middle class wanted to be able to have more privileges. There was also a lot of advances during this time. “America entered the 19th Century as an agricultural economy but by the end was an industrial powered nation.” (Brockman, 2017) A lot of the advancements and changes that occurred modernized the theatre and helped make the productions more entertaining. Theatre and circuses were important to the sensationalism of the 1800’s because of the excitement of having an American impact or touch on the society

It happened so much that theatre building became its own job. Many new kinds of theatres were being built. Some examples of new types of theatres were horseshoe theatres, which had balconies in the horseshoe shape and music halls, where the audience could come and go freely and weren 't restricted to certain showtimes. At this time the theatre was opened up to the lower classes. It was not opened to the very lowest class but to the middle class. The entrance into the theatre for the middle class was a side door with a nice but still small staircase. The upper class’ entrance was big double doors in the frontline the building with a big grand staircase. During these years theatre became a big part in American patriotism. “The Victorian period saw a number of innovations that impacted upon theatre design. Lighting changed from candle to gas and then later to electricity.” (Morgan 2018) Though the gas lamps were helpful, sometimes when they were brought inside it started to cause problems. Also “the development of water powered stage machinery made for more spectacular productions to be presented.” (Morgan

It was really a time of growth that was very prosperous for America. In this time Americans started to change and take pride in what they wore, ate, and did for entertainment and many other things. A lot of this growth and advancement had great effect on the theatre and the circus business. Those advances also led to inventions we have today. An example is the oil and gas lamp. That led to an electric lamp which led to the lights we have presently. Another thing that was new and effected modern times is the railroad. The 19th Century is when people started using the railroad. They would be able to easily travel to the coast; and circuses also used the railroad to transport large animals that were in their