Budworth’s Minstrels

“Like pure wine, Budworth’s Minstrels Improve with age; but unlike wine, the bards are not strung upon the surface only, but glisten throughout the entire body of the performance. The musical gems and rough diamonds that, in the way of eccentric burlesque acting, nightly attract such immense audiences as throng this comfortable hall, are culled from their plethoric stock with a nicety and carefulness that is rarely to be met with in the management of negro minstrelsy. The bills are frequently changed, and new songs added to their musical olio; but we must say that some of the jokes that fill up the interstices between the songs are both poor and stale. Great Expectations is upon the bills for the holidays, and is an exceedingly good and laughable piece. Fred Abbott, in the character of a genuine Black Crook, is inimitable, and his display of gauze is all that can be desired by the most critical. The Two Pompeys and the Man in Black still remain upon the programme, and fail not to delight all who witness these performances.”