Venue(s):
San Francisco Minstrels Hall
Event Type:
Minstrel
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
10 May 2016
“The hall of this troupe, No. 585 Broadway, is brilliant in its redecorations, and shining with the countenances of Messrs. Birch, Wambold, Bernard and Backus in their novel and amusing eccentricities. Their programme of the past week has been so well received that it remains almost unchanged. The burlesque, The Black Cook, introducing the African ballet troupe, with many ‘premiers danseurs assolute,’ concludes the entertainment.”
"Black Cork flourishes. The San Francisco Minstrels, who came here a little over a year ago in search of filthy lucre, have fallen into pleasant places and dropped down upon a good thing. We assisted at their entertainment on the 6th, but owing to the crowded state of the house at an early hour--the orchestra seats, it appears, being all sold before opening--we were compelled, reluctantly, to fall back upon a back seat, and this fact may in part account for our not enjoying the performances as much as usual. Aside from this, however, we certainly missed that rich flow of humor which formerly marked the efforts of the end men, while the 2:40 pace at which the interlocutor rattled off his pretty talk rendered the greater portion of his remarks almost unintelligible. Many of the gags were old and worn threadbare by the service they have been compelled to do in this and other minstrel organizations. Success should incite our friends to greater efforts to please, instead of making them careless. One of the best as well as one of the freshest things offered to our notice was Backus' imitation of Joe Jefferson in the last scene of Rip Van Winkle; a better imitation we have never listened to. Aynsley [sic] Scott received a good round of applause for his solo in the first part, and we were glad to hear it, for in most instances the 'little people' are so kept in the background by the big guns that it is a rare thing to see a hand lifted in approbation of the acts of the lesser lights. Take it all in all, the San Francisco troupe is, perhaps, equal to any band in existence--'when you find them in the humor.'"