Dan Bryant Testimonial

Full cast list.

“A crowded house would hardly express the size of the audience that attended the ever popular Dan Bryant’s benefit last night. Not only was every seat in the house occupied, but even the family circle, aisles, foyer and every available point were crowded, and hundreds were turned away from the doors, unable to gain admission. [Lists program.] Then came Bryant’s Minstrels in their choicest pieces, of which the inimitable Unsworth and Eugene bore off the honors…A noticeable feature was the exquisite singing of Miss Jennie Hughes, a young lady who gives promise of becoming an artist of a high order.”

“…The house was filled to overflowing and a great number of would be benefactors were turned away unable to gain admission. The entertainment was a varied and attractive one [lists program and performers]…After the ‘Colleen Bawn’ Bryant’s Minstrels gave one of their best first parts, in which the fine voices of Messrs. Norman, Grier, Dwyer, Russell, Brandisi and Rockefeller told to fine effect. After a burlesque ballad by Eugene came the sensation performance of the evening. The famous ‘Shoo Fly’ song and Dance by Messrs. Bryant and Reed. For an encore they gave one verse of a new song and dance, entitled ‘Walking in the Starlight,’ which they would have produced in the middle of the season had ‘Shoo Fly’ ceased to have drawn…The benefit was the most successful one that has been given this season, and shows that minstrelsy is anything but on the wane in this city. As additional proof of the fact we publish the following receipts of the hall:—September, $3,722; October, $7,317; November, $11,400; December, $10,904; January, $9,925; February, $9,453; March, $8,303; April, $7,340; May, $5,500; from then to date of closing we cannot give, as the returns are not yet made out.”