Hibernian Minstrels

They are doing well at Apollo Hall.  Their program is mainly comprised of Irish melodies, comic songs, jigs, and characteristic sketches.

“The idea of the stage Irishman appearing with ‘the harp that once through Tara’s hall’ sung behind him is evidently tickling to the native ribs. The Hibernians last night were blessed by a large attendance, and applause loud and long, greeted each song and delineation of character. Moore’s melodies will ever be favorites with a music-loving public, and as long as the Hibernian Minstrels continue to render them with the feeling and expression of last night’s performance they may be sure of large and appreciative audiences.”

“A little band of singers and comic performers has gathered its forces at the new Apollo Hall, corner of Twenty-eighth-st. and Broadway, a cheerful resort which this new entertainment, when sufficiently strengthened, ought to make popular. The Hibernians sing such melodies as “I Saw From the Beach,’ ‘Kathleen Mavourneen,’ ‘The Harp That Once,’ and ‘Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded;’ and therewithal they blend songs of a more jovial order. It is, however, a mistake to twist such strands of melancholy sweetness with the coarse fiber of comic ditties. All manner of sweet thoughts and feelings are aroused by the plaintive melodies of old Ireland, which it is little short of cruelty to disturb by staves or conundrums. Perhaps the wise way would be to make one part of the entertainment serious and one part comic. Even as it is, however, it was enjoyed and applauded last evening by a considerable audience.  Mr. Dwyer and Miss O’Neil, in particular, bore off the honors of popular applause for their expressive execution of some of the old ballad music. The two comical men, Mr. Acton Kelly and Mr. Harry Emmett, were likewise much commended by their hearers—the one for his merriment, and the other for his lachrymose gravity and both for their emphatic Fenianism. We were pained to notice that the performance, otherwise sufficiently agreeable, was marred by an indelicate and offensive allusion to the Queen of England. Music has charms; but it has no charms that will make impudent vulgarity tolerable. The Hibernian Minstrels have hit upon an excellent idea—to give voice to Ireland’s harp in our midst, and with tasteful and judicious management they can build upon it a success. Much, however, remains to be done.”