Vaudeville Brawl at the Crystal Theater
A backstage dispute between a theater proprietor and an actor spirals into a violent assault, leaving one man injured and the other facing charges.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A. E. Cohen, proprietor of the Crystal theater, and his manager, Len Spencer, were arrested last night on a warrant sworn to by Max Steinle, an actor who alleges the two men unlawfully beat, struck, wounded, and assaulted him on the night of September 12. The trouble started after the regular performance Monday night. Steinle and his wife had performed a vaudeville turn in the afternoon and again in the evening. As the curtain descended, an argument arose between Cohen and Steinle, and hostilities followed. Cohen was reinforced by his manager, and the two allegedly made a frontal attack on Steinle. Steinle was knocked unconscious and, upon waking, discovered one of his eyes had been injured. Negotiations to compromise the affair failed, and the matter is now scheduled for trial in Judge Griffin's court.
“Steinle, it is said, remained in dreamland for the space of several minutes.”
Backstage drama in the early 20th century was often a literal physical affair. Today, the Crystal Theater remains a historical footnote in Tacoma’s entertainment landscape, reminding us of the era when theater managers enforced their will with brawn as often as with contracts.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.