New York’s past holds mil­lions of for­got­ten sto­ries, but few are as fas­ci­nat­ing as the tale of Kate Clax­ton, the ​“Fire Witch.” A cen­tral fig­ure of Amer­i­can the­ater in New York’s Gild­ed Age, she was a remark­able woman who spent her life chal­leng­ing con­ven­tions and flout­ing expec­ta­tions. Despite her super­nat­ur­al nick­name, Kate was no witch. But after Decem­ber 4, 1876, when Kate stood onstage as the Brook­lyn The­atre burned around her, she became insep­a­ra­bly con­nect­ed with the dis­as­ter. Like many leg­ends, Kate’s life was tinged with tragedy. But she con­tin­u­al­ly per­se­vered. She out­lived all six of her chil­dren, car­ry­ing on through each loss; her mar­riages were awash in scan­dal, yet she emerged with her rep­u­ta­tion intact; she was often on the brink of finan­cial ruin, but was saved from des­ti­tu­tion. The 1911 Tri­an­gle Shirt­waist Fac­to­ry fire killed 146 and is firm­ly ingrained in the his­to­ry of the city. The Brook­lyn The­atre fire, which killed 300, has been almost com­plete­ly for­got­ten, but the fire, its vic­tims, and its hero­ine are an inte­gral part of per­for­mance history.