intellectual style, was slated to perform Macbeth there. Indeed, most of the big names in American theater at this time were English actors who, with their reputations as stars already established, would come to perform in the United States. At the same time, Edwin Forrest, the country’s first great tragic actor,7 a more dramatic, extravagant performer deemed to embody the “American” style of acting, was to portray Spartacus at another theater just a few blocks away. A feud had begun between them, and Macready had already denounced Forrest’s “vanity,” his “deficiency in taste and judgement,” and especially “the facetious applause of his supporters, the ‘Bower lads.’”8 Forrest—and his fans—were still smarting from Forrest having been hissed when he performed in England. In retaliation, he allegedly hissed at a performance of Macready as Hamlet,9 and declared that Macready “should never be permitted to appear again upon the stage” in New York City.10
The rise of theaters coincided—and interacted with—the rise of the “penny press,” which embraced and fanned such conflicts to increase circulation and sales. As their name suggests, penny papers, which began to proliferate in the 1830s, were tabloid-style newspapers purchased for a single penny, which traded in lurid crime, gossip, and social stories. In doing so, they prompted a reconsideration of the standards of newsworthiness—what, and who, is worthy of public discussion. Unlike their six-cent counterparts, which targeted a more affluent audience, both their content and cost were designed to reach the greatest number of possible readers, especially the emerging middle and working classes. So the penny press played an important role in the creation of the mass public and constituted a crucial communications network in the nineteenth century. Much like the gossip magazines and websites today, the penny press also provided a new vehicle for the creation and discussion of celebrity. Theater owners used the penny press as well as playbills to promote their productions and actors, and between dueling promotions of the theatrical performances and the bad blood between the two famous men, enmity was in the air. The penny press fanned, especially, the personal attacks between the actors.11
Hundreds of Forrest’s supporters, many of them the b’hoys, bought tickets to Macready’s first performance on May 8, stoked in part by broadsides that asked “Working Men, Shall Americans or English Rule in this City!” It urged them to “express their opinions” at the “English Aristocratic Opera House,” which indeed they did. As Macready sought to perform, Forrest’s supporters shouted him down and threw rotten eggs, potatoes, and other vegetables. He swore he would return to England, but the city’s elite persuaded him to stay and continue the engagement, which he resumed on May 10.
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