England's great thespian William Macready mounted the stage of the Astor Place Opera House on May 10, 1849, to perform Shakespeare's Macbeth, just as he had done hundreds of times before. But this performance would become infamous in later years as the trigger for one of New York City's most violent events -- the Astor Place Riot.
The theater, being America's prime form of public entertainment in the early 19th century, was often home to great disturbances and riots. It was still seen as a...
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