Bryants’ Minstrels

“Minstrelsy, too, is looking up, but no special change of bill is announced for the present week at any of the halls. The fact is they all continue to be patronized so liberally that scarcely any change is at present necessary. Fun, frolic and nonsense are the features at each, and so long as these are kept fresh, just so long will our minstrel halls continue to be crowded. At Bryant’s we have the great ‘Shoo Fly’ song and dance; at the San Francisco Allen and Leggett still leg it, and at the Waverley ‘the grand combination’ do all sort of things in the way of song, dance and sketches.”

General complaint in a column of “Musical Gossip”: “‘Shoo fly,’ the popular minstrel song of the day, is the most stupid and idiotic of musical and verbal twaddle; but it has caught the public ear to a marvellous [sic] extent.”

“Seats should be secured in advance at Bryants’ Minstrel Hall, if you wish to witness the entertainment comfortably, for the house is crowded every night and those who go to the hall after quarter of eight o’clock stand a good chance to become standees, for there are no seats to be had after the performance commences. The song and dance of ‘Shoo Fly’ continues to be presented by Dan Bryant and Dave Reed, while G. W. Griffin and Dan Bryant convulse the audience with laughter as ‘The Gendarmes.’”

“Crowded Houses continue to witness the entertainment given by Bryant’s Minstrels, at their hall adjoining the Tammany, and what is an unusual thing to see about a minstrel hall occurs here, and that is quite a number of ticket speculators besiege the visitors as they are about going in. This is generally a proof of the success of any place of amusement, for wherever a number of speculators can be found, there is always a demand for seats. Unsworth in his stump speech talked about the Suez canal [sic], and Eugene sang ‘Coming from the Matinee,’ dressing the part of a young lady in a gay and dashing style. Dave Reed was much applauded for his imitation of a snare drum with the bones, and Dan Bryant and Dave Reed gave their greatest of all successes, ‘Shoo Fly.’ The first part of this show is quite attractive, for Dwyer, Grier, Brandisi, and Dempster, each sing a solo, and in a most pleasing manner.”