Wee Willie Winkie

“OLYMPIC.—ONE HUNDREDTH NIGHT OF ‘WEE WILLIE WINKLE.’—The one hundredth performance of this capital pantomime took place on Thursday. There is something so genuinely comic about George Fox, our American Grimaldi, that he never fails to enlist the heartiest applause of his audience. Never broad or coarse, but ever funny and genial, he is the soul and spirit of a pantomime. We have had English clowns, and we have others in London, but they relied entirely on grotesqueness and acrobaticism for effect. There is an irresistible vein of humor in Fox, which shines even through a chalked face, and is reflected from every stripe in his parti-colored toggery. To George Beane, the clever Pantaloon, R. Honeywood, the Prince of Harlequins, and the pretty and interesting Miss Fannie Beane, as Columbine, a word of commendation is due. Little Jennie Yeamins [sic], a mere child, but a prodigy, who sings and dances like a full grown artist, excites the admiration and wonder of all who have seen her. The pantomime has received more liberal accessories in the way of scenery and appointments than ever we have seen before in pieces of this kind, and the management has omitted nothing to make it a genuine success. But the central figure, Fox, is one of those rare characters who can communicate a glow of humor and genial[i]ty to a stage, and send people home satisfied themselves and with the performance.”