Olympic Theatre

Event Information

Venue(s):
Olympic Theatre

Manager / Director:
George H. Tyler

Event Type:
Variety / Vaudeville

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
19 May 2025

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

19 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM
20 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM
21 Jan 1874, 2:00 PM
21 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM
22 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM
23 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM
24 Jan 1874, 2:00 PM
24 Jan 1874, 8:00 PM

Program Details

The performers also included a troupe of Iroquois Indians.

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  Delehanty and Hengler [minstrels];  Jee Children;  J. W. [minstrel] McAndrews;  J. L. [dog act] Davis;  Billy [banjo comedian] Carter;  James [Irish comic singer] Collins;  Martha Wren;  Kitty Brooke;  Eugene Blitz;  Ned Buntline;  Master Bonnie Runnells
2)
Dutch songs
Participants:  Master Bonnie Runnells
3)
Clog dance
aka Clog reel
Participants:  Master Bonnie Runnells
4)
Comic songs
Participants:  Kitty Brooke
5)
Plantation pastimes
Participants:  Delehanty and Hengler [minstrels]
6)
Life on the plains, [Buntline]
Text Author: Buntline
Participants:  Ned Buntline
7)
Punch and Judy
8)
Pleasant neighbor, A
aka Pleasant neighbors; Jolly shoemaker, The; Irish vs. Dutch
Text Author: Planché
9)
Tricks in love
Participants:  Delehanty and Hengler [minstrels]
10)
Terrible fix, A
Participants:  James [Irish comic singer] Collins;  Martha Wren
11)
Pastimes on the levee; or, The watermelon man
aka Watermelon man
Participants:  J. W. [minstrel] McAndrews

Citations

1)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 18 January 1874, 8.
2)
Review: New-York Times, 20 January 1874, 5.

“…The variety show, in brief, quite merits its title, though its elements are not selected with particular nicety.”

3)
Review: New York Post, 20 January 1874, 2.

No mention of music.

4)
Review: New York Herald, 20 January 1874, 10.

No mention of music.

5)
Review: New York Sun, 21 January 1874, 2.

No mention of music.

6)
Review: New York Clipper, 31 January 1874, 350.

“The commencement of the variety season at the Olympic Theatre was auspicious, the house being crowded in every part, and the attendance continued good during the week, save that on some few evenings a slight dropping-off in the orchestra chairs was noticeable. An excellent programme was offered, which as a whole gave great satisfaction…Miss Martha Wren and James Collins performed an operatic sketch entitled ‘A Terrible Fix,’ which was frequently interrupted by laughter, while their duets from ‘Guy Mannering,’ ‘Il Trovatore’ and ‘La Perichole’ were duly applauded… Master Bonnie Runnells, a youth of some fourteen years, sang Dutch character songs in close imitation of the style of Gus Williams. He displayed marked ability for one of his years, and was thrice recalled. He also danced a wooden-shoe clog, which elicited considerable applause…Williams Carter sang songs with banjo accompaniment, and his interpolated witty remarks kept the audience in a state of almost constant laughter…”