Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels

Event Information

Venue(s):
Kelly and Leon's Minstrels Hall (720 Broadway)

Event Type:
Minstrel

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
4 September 2021

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

14 Feb 1870, Evening
15 Feb 1870, Evening
16 Feb 1870, Evening
17 Feb 1870, Evening
18 Feb 1870, Evening
19 Feb 1870, Evening

Program Details

Le Petit Faust performed in English.

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  Clodhopper Troupe;  Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels;  Francis Leon;  Edwin Kelly;  Sam S. [Ethiopian comedian] Purdy;  Cool [minstrel] Burgess;  William H. Brockway
2)
Petit Faust, Le
Composer(s): Hervé
Text Author: Crémieux
Participants:  Sam S. [Ethiopian comedian] Purdy (role: Valentine);  William H. Brockway (role: Mephisto);  Francis Leon (role: Marguerite);  Edwin Kelly (role: Faust)
3)
"Shoo fly, don't bodder me"
aka Shoo fly don't bother me; Shu fly don't bother me; Shew fly don’t bother me
Composer(s): Howard
Participants:  Francis Leon
4)
"When Sammy comes home"

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New York Clipper, 05 February 1870, 347.
2)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 13 February 1870, 2.
3)
Announcement: New York Sun, 14 February 1870, 2.
4)
Review: New York Sun, 17 February 1870, 1.

Brief: “The performances at Kelly & Leon’s are entirely new, and are the best in the city. Both Leon and Kelly have greatly improved in acting since their last appearance here. S. S. Purdy is with the company.”

5)
Review: New York Clipper, 26 February 1870, 374.

“’La Petit Faust’ was produced by Kelly and Leon’s Minstrels the past week. It is a clever burlesque, and the author had given a prolific supply of puns telling enough in the dialogue to keep the attention of the audience well on the alert. Edwin Kelly as Faust, Leon as Marguerite, Brockway as Mephisto, and S. S. Purdy as Valentine, dressed their several parts very well and acted in a manner that kept the audience in a continual roar of laughter. The burlesque closed with a grand walk around by the Clodhopper Troupe. In the first piece there was some good singing by the balladists, and the end men gave their usual quantity of gags and songs. Business improved with the company the past week.”