Fanchon, the cricket

“[S]till it is something of a novelty to see ‘Fanchon’ represented as a play. . . . Mr. Collier, for instance, is the kind of detail that is wanted for the part of Landry; and Mr. Davidge is a capital detail for Father Barbeaud. . . . [E]very advantage is given an artiste who is engaged at the Olympic. There is, in the first place, an excellent audience of some hundred thousand persons, the units of which go to this theatre by turns, crowd the aisles and lobbies after all the seats are filled up—applaud everything, and are pleased at all times. In the next place there is a large bag of gold out of which the management pays for a new set of scenes, a new wardrobe and new music for every play produced.

“[Maggie Mitchell] was welcomed by a good house, and the business continued good throughout the week. The piece was well placed upon the stage, carefully cast and well rendered. . . . . As a moral, entertaining and picturesque stage exhibition, it is of the highest order of merit. Were all plays so unexceptionable, so thoroughly good, the theatre would disarm reproach . . . . Mr. Collier is a great favorite in this city and deservedly so, for he is a careful, painstaking actor . . . . ‘Fanchon’ is a success, and will be repeated all this week.”