Venue(s):
Butler's American Theatre [444 Bdway--before 3/66]
Proprietor / Lessee:
Robert W. [manager] Butler
Manager / Director:
Robert W. [manager] Butler
Ballet Director / Choreographer:
Antonio Grossi
Event Type:
Variety / Vaudeville
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
28 April 2012
“We have nothing new to chronicle of 444 this week. Kitty O’Neil continues to please with her Irish vocalizing and playing in the farces. Kitty, as well as being a good vocalist, has talents as an actress of Irish character of no mean order, and in what pieces she has appeared has displayed a versatility of talent equal to a majority of the lady starts, now playing that line of business. M. Kenane, the clog dancer, has become a great favorite at this establishment, and deservedly so, for he has few superiors in the clog dancing line. Johnny Thompson and Frank Kerns [sic] are two of the best negro comedians in the business, but if they would be less smutty in their acts they would be just as funny. Charley White, James Wambold, and Denny Gallagher continue to hold nightly revel in burnt cork, and Billy Holmes’ comic singing, together with the ballet divertissements, under the direction of Mons. Grossi, make up a good evening’s entertainment.”
"House Full’ was the cry at 444 on Saturday evening last, long before the curtain had been rung up for the first act. Hundreds applied at the box office during the evening as I had to go away without seeing the show. The entertainment given here is, of its kind, one of the best in the country. Thompson and Kerns, as negro comedians, have very few if any equals. Billy Holmes is a good comic singer, and Kathleen O’Neill’s [sic] Irish songs were just the style to suit the audiences.”