Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Arts & Culture, People

Location

64 Prospect Rd, Centerport, NY 11721, USA

Lat/Long

40.893745, -73.370542

Grant Recipient

Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association

George W. “Rice” and Charles “Barton” Swope comprised the comedian duo “Rice & Barton.” The brothers were the proprietors of two traveling entertainment companies throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the Big Gaiety Spectacular Extravaganza Co. and the Rose Hill Folly Company. Rice and Barton also established a theater colony ca. 1900, referred to as “the Centreport [sic] Colony,” for performers during the off-season. Newspapers as early as 1895 ran advertisements for their shows, which featured a variety of performances by comedians, chorus girls, burlesque dancers, and novelty acts. Positive reviews of their shows abounded with praise for the comedians’ “side-splitting gags.” On November 28, 1905, The Buffalo Enquirer reported that:

Rice & Barton’s extravaganza burlesque company which opened a week’s engagement at the Garden Theater in ‘The Knights of the Red Garter,’ entertained large and well pleased audiences at both performances yesterday. The entertainment was lively and furnished a good night’s recreation.

George died in 1909 and Charles died in 1917; both are buried at Northport Rural Cemetery in Northport, NY. As of 2021, the marker commemorating Rice and Barton stands outside the summer home of George W. “Rice” Swope at 64 Prospect Road, where he and his brother hosted the Centreport Colony.