Your Weekly Message from PBD

Dear Friend,

As we mark our twentieth anniversary season, we plan to take a periodic look back at our history through reminiscences and photographs. We’re going to begin that journey right now, by taking you back more than 100 years before Palm Beach Dramaworks existed – or much of anything existed in what is now downtown West Palm Beach.

Because we feel so connected to the community, we thought it would be fun to show you two photos from the earliest days of what is now the hub of downtown, Clematis Street. Both pictures are courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

The photo above was taken on Clematis Street – or Clematis Avenue, as it was then known – on January 15, 1894, opening day of The Pioneer Hardware Store, and captures some of the city’s pioneers. The store, a wooden structure on the site of what is now Harris Music Lofts, was owned by Otto W. Weybrecht (the man in the cap in front of the window), and was the first business in West Palm Beach (in what was then Dade County). The Weybrecht family lived in the tent next door. The woman in the photo with the baby is Otto’s wife, Mary. Holding the rifle in the front is a Seminole man named Billy Bowlegs – at least, that’s what the white settlers called him. There were two others with that name, from different generations, including a noted Seminole chief. The store burned down in 1896.

The brick building on the right is the Palms Hotel (or Hotel Palms), which opened on January 15, 1896. It sat on the site of what is now PBD. The hotel was owned by John C. Stowers, who was appointed postmaster of West Palm Beach in 1894 after applying to build the city’s first post office. Initially, he housed the post office in a tent. But when the hotel opened, the post office occupied space on the ground floor, along with other businesses. Rooms went for $2 to $3 per day. The hotel had a 30-year run; the 1927 city directory shows the building to be unoccupied. By the following year, the address isn’t even listed in the directory.

Back in this century and our virtual world, we have another treat for you in store on Friday, October 30 at 7:30pm, when Dramalogue: Talking Theatre! welcomes the gifted Dennis Creaghan, who has appeared in 11 mainstage productions with PBD, including Freud’s Last Session, A Delicate Balance, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and The Little Foxes. And please note that next week’s guest will be critic and playwright Terry Teachout.

PBDonline is sponsored by Louise and Barry Snyder. Dramalogue is sponsored by Marlene and Martin Silver. Tickets to all events are free, but reservations are required. Visit palmbeachdramaworks.org or call the box office at 561.514.4042, x2. And donations to PBD are always welcome.

Stay safe!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30 AT 7:30PM

GUEST:

DENNIS CREAGHAN

Dennis Creaghan has been a member of the PBD family for more than ten years. He has done nearly a dozen plays here, including Freud’s Last Session (Sigmund Freud), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (James Tyrone), and Of Mice and Men (Candy). Among his other favorites: A Delicate Balance , The Pitmen Painters , American Buffalo , and The Weir . He was most recently seen in two readings of Michael McKeever’s The People Downstairs , the first as part of the 2020 New Year/New Plays Festival, the second a virtual reading in June. He has worked extensively in all media across the country and in Europe, appearing with the legendary Elizabeth Taylor in The Little Foxes in London's West End. He was seen on Broadway in the original productions of The Elephant Man and Neil Simon's 45 Seconds from Broadway. He has done more bad television than he cares to admit, but there were some good ones along the way, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, and several appearances on Law & Order. Dennis is a resident artist of The Dramaworkshop.