So, 120 years ago tonight, the New York Hippodrome opened its doors to a public audience for the very first time! And every year thereafter, on April 12th or thereabouts, they would celebrate the Hippodrome’s anniversary. Here’s the bonkers illustration that ran with the opening night review in that Sunday’s New York Times Magazine section:
So that’s the Martian King at the center of the stage on top, with the Yankee Circus that’s come to entertain him on his left and the ballet chorus and more circus folk on his right. Stagehands removing equipment in the middle, “plunging horses” in a Civil War battle at the bottom. I love this place and find it endlessly fascinating and frustrating. I can’t wait to actually finish the chapter outline I’m working on, so I can get a book contract, so I can actually write this book as a whole thing and not the bits and pieces on this blog. (Though hi! I love that people read the bits and pieces on this blog. It has kept the project alive in my head.) I’d like to write more, but I’ve got to eat dinner and take my son to see the Minecraft movie. Just wanted to mark the occasion.