Charity Benefit in Aid of the Suffering Poor of New York

Event Information

Venue(s):
Academy of Music

Manager / Director:
Augustin Daly
Lester Wallack

Conductor(s):
Harvey Bradley Dodworth
Thomas Baker

Price: $1; $3-15 reserved seats & private boxes

Record Information

Status:

This event is still undergoing additional verification.

Last Updated:
19 April 2025

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

19 Mar 1874, 1:30 PM

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  George W. Colby;  Madeline Henriques;  Pauline Lucca
2)
School for scandal, The
Text Author: Sheridan
Participants:  Madeline Henriques
3)
Nozze di Figaro, Le, "Voi che sapete"
Composer(s): Mozart
Participants:  Pauline Lucca
4)
"Home, sweet home"
aka Home sweet home
Composer(s): Bishop
Text Author: Payne
Participants:  Pauline Lucca

Citations

1)
Announcement: New-York Times, 13 March 1874, 4.
2)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 15 March 1874, 7.
3)
Announcement: New York Herald, 17 March 1874, 6.
4)
Announcement: New-York Times, 18 March 1874, 4.

Cast listing for first performance, 1777; prologue, written by Garrick.

5)
Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 20 March 1874, 4.

“…Mme. Pauline Lucca, appearing at a point of pause in the second act of the comedy, met with a stormily affectionate welcome, and rewarded it by a lovely effort of the soulful, clear-cut vocalism which has made her famous. ‘Sweet Home’ was given upon the recall. Mr. George W. Colby accompanied upon the piano. The orchestral music was furnished by the combined bands of Wallack’s and the Fifth Avenue Theatre, led by Mr. Baker and Mr. Dodworth…”

6)
Review: New-York Times, 20 March 1874, 5.

“…Between the first and second acts of the piece Mme. Lucca, who had generously placed herself at the disposal of the Committee of Arrangements, sang ‘Voi che sapete.’ No prima donna can give expression to that sweet and simple song as does Mme. Lucca, and she might have repeated it, in deference to the encore, a score of times without complaint. She sang, instead, ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ Mr. Colby accompanying both compositions. The orchestras of Wallack’s and the Fifth Avenue Theatre furnished in turn the music, under their respective leaders.”

7)
Review: New York Post, 20 March 1874, 2.

“…the only change from the published programme being the welcome addition by Madame Lucca, in response to an imperative recall, of the familiar song of ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ which was sung with an impulsive tenderness as touching as the lady’s broken English is bewitching. In good faith, ‘Zer eez no blace like home…”

8)
Review: New York Herald, 20 March 1874, 7.

“…Mme. Lucca sang in the interval of one of the acts Mozart’s ‘Voi che Sapete,’ from ‘Figaro.’ She was accompanied on the piano by Mr. G. W. Colby. The audience gave her a rapturous encore, and in response she sang ‘Home sweet home,’ to the evident delight of the public...”

9)
Announcement: New York Herald, 20 March 1874, 6.
“The Grand Charity Matinee, managed by Messrs. Daly and Wallack, was a most gratifying success. The wealth and fashion of New York crowded the Academy of Music, and a sum of over six thousand dollars was realized.”
10)
Review: New York Clipper, 28 March 1874, 414.

“…During one of the intervals between the acts Mme. Lucca sang ‘Voi che sapete’ from ‘Figaro,’ and in response to an encore she sang in shattered English ‘Home, Sweet Home;’ G. W. Colby played the piano accompaniment. During the entre’actes the bands of the Fifth Avenue Theatre, under Harvey Dodworth, and Wallack’s Theatre, under Thomas Baker, alternately discoursed pleasing music.”