of the Boyd Theater during one performance, with no one in the audience the wiser. A song and dance man, Jim Mulligan, died after being stabbed by Arthur Sprague, a stage manager, after making an offensive comment about Mrs. Sprague. In 1905, Sarah Bernhardt appeared on the Boyd Theater stage in La Tosca. Bernhardt traveled with her own custom railway car. Also traveling with her on the train was her own carriage, a team of black horses, and a French coachman and hostler. The entire city knew when Bernhardt was in town. Omaha-born pianist Frances Nash, who would later marry Edwin Watson, friend and senior advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, often performed at Boyd's Theater. The man primarily responsible for the quality and the variety of the shows appearing on the Boyd Theater's stage was William J. Burgess. Burgess had been involved in theaters since the age of 12. He initially came to Omaha to manage the Grand Opera House and later managed the original Boyd Theater. When the Creighton Orpheum Theater opened, he served as its manager for two years. Once that theater joined the Orpheum Circuit, he took over the management of the second Boyd Theater and set about making it the premier live theater venue in Omaha. He introduced the first mail-order tickets in town and strived to book the premier acts. He even opened an acting school for fledgling dramatists. But even Burgess's efforts could not sway the audiences changing tastes towards motion pictures and the rising costs of mounting a live stage production. In 1914, Boyd's Theater was sold to the Burgess-Nash Company for $231,000. Initially they continued to manage it as a theater, but as the competition from talking movies increased, the company eventually closed the theater. The last performance in the theater was on February 2, 1920. It was demolished in 1920 and the property redeveloped for their department store business. Currently, the property houses the Omaha Public Power District's downtown office. References External links 1882 Photo of Original Boyd's Opera House Postcard of Second Boyd's Theater and Opera House Alternate Postcard of Second Boyd's Theater and Opera House Razing of Boyd's Theater Theatres in Omaha, Nebraska Theatres completed in 1891 History of Omaha, Nebraska Downtown Omaha, Nebraska Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Buildings and structures demolished in 1920