Venue(s):
Kelly and Leon's Minstrels Hall (720 Broadway)
Event Type:
Minstrel
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
4 December 2021
Ching Chow Hi is an Anglicization of Offenbach’s Ba-ta-clan.
“In spite of the Tammany excitement last night this elegant and fashionable place of amusement was well filled. There was no lack of applause. Some of the scenes were especially comic. Among our many places of amusement there is no one in which the resident of New York for the time being can spend a more agreeable two hours than that of Kelly & Leon’s.”
“’Ching Chow Hi,’ a new musical burlesque, was produced for the first time last week by Kelly & Leon’s Minstrels. The scene is in China, and the characters are native Chinese and disguised Americans. It is in one scene, a very pretty one, by the way, and the costumes are extremely rich and showy. There is some good music in it, the choruses being especially noticeable. In fact, Messrs. Kelly & Leon have gathered together a pretty strong company of singers, among whom are several boys, whose voices in the choruses add much to the beauty of the harmony, as well as to the general excellence of the entire musical portion of the entertainment. The close of the burlesque is amusing, consisting of feats by a troupe of Japanese, in which the manners and customs of Risley’s Japs are taken off in a very laughable manner, ending with flights by the company from the upper portion of the hall to the stage on a ‘real rope,’ and by ‘real live people.’ The Kelly & Leon burlesques surpass any similar minstrel presentations, and as the managers have met with favor since they introduced them to public notice, they will no doubt continue to produce new sketches of the kind from time to time. The programme now offered by this troupe is full of fun and sentiment, and a better minstrel entertainment is nowhere given in this city. Cool Burgess was not on last week, Sam Price taking his end. Burgess is engaged for the Tammany. Add Ryman and Johnny Hart join the Kelly & Leon troupe this week.”