The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-31
MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.
rhn nIordee nt tho Arch.

Ras, evening the appearance Of Miss Lydia
sThompson and her troupe OF burlesquers attracted
An immense crowd at the Arch, large majority OF
whom t Is safe TO say, were induced TO invest their
.,oney solely for the purpose OF seeing for them
selves whether the blondes really appeared upon the
stage IN puTis naturalibts whether report had be-
lied them. There was general sensation Of disap-
pointment when it discovered that the undress-
ing was not quite up to what rumor had stated,
that the indecencies upon which this class
Of performers rely for securing the ap-
plause Of the public were so reduced TO mere
inuendO that it was not easy to see where the laugh
came in, while such fun as the entertainment did
contain was of character likely to turn the
stomachs Of people that were at all suueamsh A
combination of circumstances has excited a certain
amount Of curiosity about Miss Thompson as the
original blonde, and the consequence was that the
opening night attracted an overnowing house. It is
TO be presumed that those who were in attendance
last evening got their moneys worth, and IL is
tolerably certain that a good many were perfectly
satisfied that the English, sO-called burlesque is a
style Of entertainment that It is well enough to see
once in lifetime, If only to find out how
how, vulgar, and disgusting women can behave
when they try but which no decent man
or woman viii ever about seeing
again. The piece performed last evening
was entitled Sinbad the SaiIor but it might as wen
have been anything else There was no plot, no at
tempt to tTavesty the wel-known story and instead
of q burlesque it was merely series of utterly
inane attempts at wit, the entire pointlessness Of
which was certainly remarkable, combined with silly
songs good deal of Kicking and other features
that until the advent of the blondes, confined
10 casinos of the lowest class and never seen on
the stage of reputable theatres. If such an enter
tainment as this had even the merit Of being nasty
witty and agreeably indecent IL would not be diff
cult to account for its popularity with certain class
Of people, but when indecency is only stupid and
legs are handy they TO be worthy OF any Kind
OF notice. Miss Thompson, apparently about
forty years Of age, was perhaps toleraby good look
ing at one time but is decidedly pdsSee Her voice
is harsh, and she cannot sing, but she dances
breakdown toerably WELL and this is her only merit,
as far as able to discover. The most attrac
tive of the blondes is the good-ooking Miss
weathershy, who will be remembered as the redeem
ing feature Of the Eise Holt troupe; but unfortu-
natey Miss Weathersby does not have leg part; she
sings nicely and her teeth good, and, apparently,
all her own: indeed, Miss Weathersby, as far as
can Judge is all herself and little nothing to
artificial attractions. Miss Weathersby, how
ever, is kept judiciously in the back
ground, and the Thompson has no rival
10 dispute with her for the applause
Of her audience. Such an exhibition as this is not
worth serious criticism and it is gratifying, from our
former blonde experiences in this city, to believe
that the public esteem it as little as do. It is
well that the Thompson troupe has appeared here at
the commencement of the season. Our playgoers
can now see for themselves exactly what the most
notorious of the blondes like, and hope that
ahe experiences OF the next two weeks will be such
that managers, burlesquers and public will be salts
fed that yellow hair and pink legs have had their
day in this city and that it is time to try something