Little Nell and the marchioness

Brief; no mention of music.

“…However, Lotta’s Marchioness, with her banjo solo, her plantation ditty and the other amusing exaggerations, will doubtless become as popular in Midwinter as they were in Midsummer, and the Broadway Theatre, for nights to come, will be as well attended as it was last evening…” 

“The support rendered her by the company was rather poor. Mr. Stoddart’s Dick Swiveler, J. Moore’s Sampson Brass and Mrs. Gilbert’s Sally Brass, were the best played parts, but none of them equal to the cast during Lotta’s previous engagement in this play . . . .Mrs. Gilbert is, without doubt, one of the best eccentric old women on the America Stage, and is good in everything she plays. The rest of the acting was below mediocrity. Very little attention was paid in placing the piece upon the stage in as careful a manner as it required, particularly if the manager expected it to enjoy a run. Lotta was, of course the life of the piece, and her off-hand, happy style of acting, charmed every one who appeared willing to overlook all shortcomings, either from the management or the company. She was received each night with the most tumultuous applause, and her banjo solo and clog dance were each encored from four to five times. On the evening of Jan. 30th, the house was crowded in spite of a heavy fall of snow and the disagreeable walking, and she was called out five times after her banjo solo. Lotta is, indeed, a dramatic curiosity, for she is the ‘biggest little star’ in the United States, and wherever she has appeared has attracted crowded houses for two weeks at a time, while some of the brightest male and female stars who have appeared just before her have played to almost empty benches.”