, 1876-03-19

er's Theatre would be q wise alteration Of til
wecSs programme. hss been borne out By III
facts. II the change had been made. the at
| diepcea woa!d certainly have been larger ths
some Of those which witnessed *Guy Manner
! ICE. lnasmuch as students and lovers of tn
old dramatiets would have been attracted. III
play, 1t 1nust be confessed. iB not adapted to tb
average popular taste. Tho people have suppe
ful OF horrors. and their attention is rurne
rather in the direction OF 6se-sct farces tha
towards the unpleasant works OF Wetete,
otway. and Shakespeare.
| THE CALIFORNIA M1NeTRES.
| Nhat IS to become Of uegro~miustrolsy It
decline IS So steady and certain aa anything ca
be. In fact, it il almost gone already. TIL
present performers at Hooley's Theatre are nc
| negro-rnlnssrel5. They belong to q better an
higher order OF performers. Glance at the pro
granno for the current week and you will f!ut
it to contain several Irish songs. ssveral bur
lesques, banjo colo, and instrumental music
There is nothing in sH this which tends to illus
t1ste the negro life or the pecu1iarities Of TIL
negro race and the ,uinssrels aro not negro
miustreis at all. Theg are merely burlesque
performers The taste for specimens OF negro
melody and negro huuor seems to haye passed
away with the abolition Of slavery and the cou-
ferrlnR Of sbsolute political equality upon the
onte-dekpised race. The fancy Northern darkoy.
| the lusty plantation daIkey, the broken-lown
and pathethic old darkey. the mo.he1ly darkey
'"aunt," the siste7ly yellow-sal, and tho various
| other Inventions OF ribatd spirits on tue
stage, have disappeared in the impenetrablo
| gloom Of the past The only real negro
| InlnstreIs nowadays arc real pcSroos, such as
| the two troupes of Georgia M,ustrcls, which
| have delighted William Lloyd Garrison, Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Henry Wsdsworth LongEel-
low, and other famous residents Of Boston, who
have the best Ineans OF knowing aud appreci-
ating tl>s brightest Eidos Of negro character.
The Calf orn1a Mlnstreas arc not negro 1nlnetres.
and do net pretend to be. They are simply bur
lesque actore. Sometimes they appear With nn-
blacked fac as, and do no discredt to themselves
10 that liz tt. They sing lsish Dutch, and
French cong lndinetently. They initiate Jews
NEGROES, IA 1kees hoodlums,-every peculiar
type OF charac ter. Their aim il to please the pub
lie, and they nd it easier to do this by entering
into the field OF general buriesque than By conin-
ing themselves to the narrow range of neg1olife
How successful their efforts are may be Judged
from the fact tia t uinstEels are tho best paid
members Of the dramatic profession Their
salaries are doubA and three those pnid TO the
members OF al OF dinaEy stock company End,
wmle they contiaua to give go good perform
ance tie eomIeas A. Hooleys ae IheasFs they
tue first part will ss, Ella Leene," hr Murphy
You'll Soon ForgA Kathleen by Iilla and
kiss Nc Good-By." by Fredericks. Billy EN-
erson will sing :. Hill 1erbrand Moutrose," and
ben CotLon 1nc W. IacAoo 1tsutisu- Inc
finale, continued FROM last week, will be "Tne
Bells" The features .of the SECOND part will
be lecture on s'Fieh, by Harry Bloodgood !;
=. Les Mlerables" by En- arsoa and kenbIe
banjo solo By Edwin Fren. ii; sketch By Blood
good and Leavitt Billy E nerson in lis special
tles: and the burlesque OF last week, Tho
Coming Man."
NOTES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. |
Mr. Edwin Byron, the boy traged,an. will sp
pear at Col. Woods Museum Monday night as |
De,tuccio in 1.-THE Fo DIS Heyenge.' He has |
a'on eon:e praise from Eastern critics. |
Miss Hattie Johnson. the reader, has entered ]
nto an engagement for reek with tho man
,gement OF Col Woods Af17seum, and will make
ler iirst appearance on the Chicago staga Mon I
1ay March p. Ecr dramatic abilities arc said |
o he of high order, and Esr friends predict
.or her great success. The week Will bo de-
7oted to the production OF ste rihE pieces. The |
Itt.action OF her debut will be enhanced By the
i1st appearance IN many yea1s of the popular |
.ragedian, William Mcfarland / u Well known il |
,llcsgo as tae manager aud leading actor Of
siee's old Theatre
Mr. John Z. Owens begins an engagement Of
NO weeks at alcVlcker's Tnea:Is tomorrow
hight. The first week will be de Soted to ''Onr
Bows" ByTous new and very succe ssful comedy, |
Ion. 31r. Owens assumes tho part OF Perlvn !
a retired bntterman. Mr.. RaiEford
sill play Sir Gex:TTpy Champneys. Tho son OF
he tutternao-a high-,ulrdeG, cultivated young |
he personR1ed by Mr. Gossin, and the
:ou OF the Daronet-a pfiggishlF good fellow
~ Nr. Seymour. TIE TWO girls will ba repre-
'ented by Mias Thompson, who comes with Mr..
nd tha performance promises to ba most agree