Dec 28

Dec 28 From Hamilton Duels to the Father of Theatre Management - Stephen Price

After his involvement in the duel that killed Philip Hamilton, Stephen Price became the Father of Theatre Management.

Stephen Price

Stephen Price was born in New York City a year after the Victory at Yorktown.

Shortly thereafter, the British evacuated that long-occupied city and the Patriots walked in.

With this, the Revolutionary War was symbolically complete.

Among those Loyalists fleeing the city was the infantile Price and his family.

Within two years, however, the Price family returned to New York and were able to restart their merchant business, shedding the disgrace of a Loyalist past.

Duels

Stephen received a stellar education and graduated from Columbia College by 1799.

He became friendly with another student, Philip Hamilton, whose father was none other than Alexander Hamilton.

Price joined Philip in a public attack on George Eacker at the Park Theatre. In turn, Eacker challenged both young men to duels.

Price and Eacker met on the dueling ground the next day. After two rounds, no one was hit and they agreed their conflict was satisfied.

One day later, Eacker met Hamilton and things turned out much differently, with Philip dying from his wounds.

The Entertainment Industry

After his friend’s funeral, Price still had much living to do.

Despite his training as a lawyer, Stephen became interested in the entertainment industry.

In fact, he invested in the same Park Theater where he was challenged to a duel by Eacker just a few short years earlier.

Father of Theatre Management

Price became a groundbreaking theater manager in New York.

At a time when theatres were generally run by the actors themselves, Stephen neither acted nor directed nor wrote scripts. He simply viewed the Park Theatre as a money making enterprise.

To increase his profit, Price abandoned the old system of a set troupe of actors circling through the same list of plays. Instead, he hired famous performers to come to New York from England.

For the first time, entertainment was focused on bringing stars to the public’s attention.

Drury Lane

Stephen’s success, coupled with his frequent trips to Europe, eventually led to a four year stint as the manager for the famed Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.

Because of this, he was able to secure the rights to Europe’s most famous faces and added a touring company of his shows to travel the United States.

For a more in depth look at this duel, check out the footnotes in the letter from Benjamin Rush.,

Here are some other men involved in Hamilton Family Duels:

David Hosack Hears Shots Fired

Nathaniel Pendleton Holds a Bloody Hamilton in His Arms

William P. Van Ness Helps Burr Receive Satisfaction

While there is no book specifically about the Price duel, there are of course dozens about the Hamilton-Burr Duel.

‘Interview in Weehawken’ is interesting because it goes over the primary sources around the duel.

If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).