Hooley’s Minstrels

     “The Bowery Minstrels, under R. M. Hooley’s management, are getting along very comfortably, and seem as happy a band of black birds as could be found on any frosty morning. The entertainment provided for their patrons last week was, in some respects, very good and attractive. In the first part, Hilton’s singing of ‘Beautiful Star,’ and Prendergast’s ‘I’m Lonely Since My Mother Died,’ were the most noticeable, and deserve especial mention. The end men were—as is the case with all end men now-a-days—funny with very old gags. In the olio, Donniker’s violin solo was a real musical treat. He is one of the best in the business. W. S. Budworth is always good in his banjo solos. The after-piece was a burlesque, called the ‘Oil Maniacs,’ by J. H. Hayward, of the Sunday Dispatch, of this city, and it is like its predecessor, a very weak affair. No pretence is made about the scenery. . . .There are plenty of old Negro sketches superior in every respect to all the oil burlesques that have been produced.”