The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1845-02-13
The Inegitimate Musical Drama-Opera at
the Bowery-The Niggers at Palmo's.

Tho Inegitimate Musical Drama-Opera at
the Bowery-The Niggers at Palmo's.
There is something quite refreshing in the smell
the variegated odor OF three or four thousand peo
pie, sucking sour oranges, chanking peanuts,
chewing tobacco, and holding the extinguished
stumps OF American cigars in their hands II gives
one lively impression OF the public taste for the
hne arts and other Intellectual amusements, to
take an elevated position and look down the sea
OF upurned faces, swaylng and smashing about in
the huge pit, and growing and roaring like the sui.
phnrous pillows of The pit of Acheron.
There Is great attraction at the Bowery-a
"new and magnificent operate drama,' with Da-
venport to do the contortions, and Jack Scott to
"tear every thing all to rags and damnaton" in
the heavy tragedy. Hurrah Eascheap and Bow
erydom Hurrah tor the Bohemian GlrI!"
Here, Sal, hutch yourself to my trowsers, and you,
Bill, take Suky under your arm, and let's marvel.
Here we go-and here they come The doors are
not yet open, but the steps and vestbule are
thronged with gentlemen and ladies, bent on Sc
curing the best seas-for they don't ssecure' them
y, by their looks, you would be perfectly satisfied
that they Saint going to do any thing else" And
now the doors open-whoop! hurrah Here we
are be the huly keryst hang on, Sal,-go it Bill
23-give him HI! Music Physic whoop
whistle boots boots go it get of my toes,
G'd-n yer soul Can you change that? l can't
do any thing else Here, Bill, hold my coat, boss,
pit, boxes, and gallery, are full to suffocaton, and
every other man in the pit has taken his coat of,
to be more at ease. An incessant storm of yes,
shouts and ,cat-cals rattes around the house
lights are taking place in various quarters and the
"tern edges" of the crowd, (see Wilis) pushed
and battered from behind, are forced close down
upon the stage, where they stand with their noses
mouths squirting floods OF tobacco juice upon the
bottom OF the curtain.
Now a kind Of lul takes place, and Mr.. Woolf
selzes the opportunity to squeeze in amongst the
nterstices of the thickly packed crowd the opening
bars Of his overture-a very pretty, playful, and
neat affair, by the way, but which is soon unmerci-
fully strangled by the rising storm
"And galleries answer through their misty shroud
Back to the rotous pit which calls to them aloud"
At length, up goes the curtain, and the s'eperatc
drama" begins. The part of Thaddeus, the young
Polish refugee is done up in the strongest kind of
rag. by Scott. who rolls out the awfulest tragedy,
and cheered and applauded by the discriminating a.
dence at the end of every sentence especially those
in which there is no possible meaning. The dash
ing of the Eastwood goblet, supposed to contain
ilbation OF the pure Rhudesheimer, at the feet OF
the white-pine statue Of the Emperor OF Austria,
was tremendous HIT" as it hit the unfortunate
Emperor exactly on the nose. This daring and I'M
precedented bravery drew out perfect tornado Of
applause, which was acknowledged by the tri-
umphant actor by, grin, which would have done
credit to the newly amputated head OF Holofernes,
and which created fresh outburst of enthusiasm
on the part of the intelligent patrons of the egiti
mate drama
The ballet now came on, and the shins in the
front row, covered with cotton tights, coored with
Spanish anatto, to represent Bowery flesh and
blood, were soon gaily ornamented with fantastcal
clocks OF tobacco Spit lndustrousy spattered about
the stage by the mouths whose owners noses were
resting solemny against the rehectors of the foot
lights. But the dancing Oh, that defes and
laughs at all description! How can we paint
those gyratlons, those pirouettes on two feet,
those sublime and astonishing tableauT p
And, more especially, in what words shall we
describe the delight. the extacy, the fury, the
hundred pair OF legs in front, which convulsiyely
twltched in tune and sympathy with these aston
shing performances? or after what fashion shall
we depict the horror and despair of the agonized
Woolf as he saw, his fddesick raised high in air,
the unheard OF evolutions of his tameless and m
disciplined cubs, as they set time at defiance, and
tramped upon all restraints OF bar and semiquaver7
We will ring down the curtain, and leave all this
to the Imagination of the reader
And now the same " entire act" music begins by
the audience, and is kept up without intermission
and fivioso "neveme nts, . and furnished with
running accompaniment OF yells and Kisses,
which it would make the ghost Of Der Freyschutz
go raving mad but to dream OF. And SO goes
the play, until the curtain drops upon the finale,
and the audience break up in glorious row.
AT the niger opera, at Palmo's, of course affairs
go on much more quietly This classic and beauti-
u little temple, dedicated to the genius of Italian
VI
Plco and Borghese, now is redolent Of black wool
and burnt ivory, under the management Of the Co
ossus Of Rhodes, who looks shy at the audience and
counts up the receipts, Z" in his minds eye" We
have already given an account of every thing worth
describing in the niger opera, and can only assure
onr readers that it is quite the neatest and most
sensible theatrical amusement just now TO be seen
in the city Il is the very farce Of farces the bur-
lesque OF burlesque-but is, notwithstanding, no
more ridiculous or nonsenscal than the generality
of the trash palmed of upon the public by the
ignorance, stupidity and imbecility OF humbugsing
managers of our leading theatrical establishments
These fellows ought all TO be swept off the stage
along with the coffin OF Henry VIII, and the En-.
chanied Horse" of Mr.. Jones's new opera. And
until something of this kind is done-the stage
renovated from stem to stern-the wooden statue
of Shakespeare taken down and carefully washed
and put to bed by respectable granny SD, we need
hope for no "reviva Of the drama" aud theatri-
cal representations which are not gross libel on
of the country.