The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-11-21

The MinstreIs Last Night.
Inst night Callphder's Georgia Min
,trels made their first appearance nt
the oper house, presenting pro-
OF remarkable originality IN
mauy respects. ny novel ~ II was char
acteristic. The house was crowded to
ita utmost capacity. This troupe dem
onstrate that negro minstrelsy inds
It's best interpreters among the race
it seeks to portray, aud may be consld-
cred the pioneers in the business that
IL destined 60 be reV0lutionized.
The negro's sense Of hum0r IN very
acute. He il by nature merry and I'M
itative, and there il n faint thread OF
religion and path0s in his songs, aud
nm Irresistible merriness In his dancing
music That IL contagious and electric,
Ilis forte In low comedy, farce and bur
lesuue. These men give none OF the
proofs OF having learned their parts
like parrots, Of repeating mere stage
routine On The contrary, there IL
spontaneous spirit Of fun and hCmor
about their singing and acting that Is
astonishing M it il intensely amusing.
Negro mnstrelsy when 1t first came
upon the boards, was in very crude
state and consisted OF only few
dances and songs. No attempt was
made at farce. The sentimental songs
~ persistenlly introduced IN spirit OF
unacc0untable incongruity nova
days, had no place in the programme
OF its early days. And even concerted
pieces and n variety Of Instruments
for orchestral Accomplishments were
unknown. These features became
gradually engraited on minstrelsy,
congruous Oiid pOiridd Of song, farce
and dance.
The absurdity OF negroes singing
the ballads of the drawing room, never
sesms 10 have struck those arranging
the programmes, and instead OF the
average minstrel performance being
what 1t should be, musical and fnrcl-
cal sketch OF the negro life, song and
dance, the foreign element in the way
| of sentimental ballads introduced,
mars the whole performance, because
out Of place and having no bearing or
relation whatever to negro minstrelsy
pure and simple.
But TO return to the Georgia Minis
strels. Their performance IL interests
ing, as showing the histri0nic and
| lyric talent OF the negro. Here il tho
extraordinary spectacle presented by
men bred In slavery aud ignorance,
displaying, without study, downright
talent nearly akin to genius, In por
trnyiug plans Of negro life in which
the most salient points of the negro
character are brought out with mas,
ter hand, with such life and power
that only to Barlow can approach in
realistic force and truth; aud the great
bulk of their white imitatOTs may
well despair of catching the spirit Of.
Having seen most Of the best men In
the business, we have no hesitation in
saying, that with the single exception
of Barlow, Billy kersand is superior to
any OF the famous end men In the va
riety and grOtcsqueness of his rep0r-
s0iic, and in gi, ing ia the real genuine
negro, us he IL, oil the stage. Bob
Height il another strikingly original
actor and singer. and "a marvellous
dancer. They nre all so admirable,
however, that our space will not per
nit of our pointing out their individu-
al merits.
One of the very best features OF their
entertainment is their quartettes, sung
by Little, Devouesr, Morris and Jones,
and consisted Of camp meeting and
other hymns, never heard but Oh
plantations or in the densely popuN
lated negro districts of the South. The
melodies are all sweet, plaintive and
simple, often consisting OF one part.
They give the best ANA truest idea OF
their devotional songs and of the ex
tent of their musical ideas and talent
for composition. The modulations are
very few and easy, but wonderfully eff.
tective and often wild and dramatic.
THIS troupe appear again tonight in
an entirely change Of programme,
when they will probably be greeted by
another crowded house, If the uproarl.
Gus applause of last night Is any cri-
,erion Of appreciation and satisfaction.
We have devoted more space than
ever given to mere minstrel perform
ance, but the novelty OF this perform.
ance, and the fact that IL marks new
era in negro minstrelsy and public
amusements, and introduces u new
element to the boards, which opens
up to US q new field for observation
and illustrates the capabilities in an
intelle tual way Of race that has
hitherto been excluded from the boards
by haste and opportunity, must be our
excuse. The negro as a minstrel Is