The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-03-13
THE WHEEL CLUB MINsTRELs.
An Evening VI Fun Features, OF Music
and Merrimcnt, of Art ana Acting
On. Of the Best Productions OF Local
History.

characteristic triunpns ffl.'u! III III
evening of ininstrclry, clean arc
Ihcalthily fun, clever conception ah'
tasteful variety which they afforded U
the audience that packed Inc opcr'
house from pit to dome. The idea o
the entertainment WAS not mont ant
$50, though the admissions yielded over
800, the balance returned to the ciul
treasury is tritiing, because the ,sho"
was SO expensive to put on, ana IN,
chief reward is the consciousness oi
having done it we'll. The show was
under the direction Of I. ). Mulvaney
of Ware, Mass. veteran IN minstrel
sy, whose careful training was mani,
fest in all the work of the evening, and
| Geo f.. Fox was general manager. and
! II. Il. Lawrence stage manager, with
lC. Il. Crosby. c. l.. Shaituck and
Capt. j. G.. Estcy as aids. and c. l..
Knapp as leader Of orchestra, to all of
whom high credi is due for the ef-
iicicncy with which they handled the
details.
The stage was arranged in anphi-
theatre style in the club co!ors, whlie
at the top and in the rear were two
American flags, forming IA door way
from which the company descended
headed by four RACES, George Childs,
Balm Leitsinger, allie Dugan and Char
lie Stote, CARRIED in white duck pants
with sashcs and sack coats, and the
effect az they fled down was pretty
indeed and the audience cheered to the
echo. When the circle was seated it
numbered about 20 or onc-halt of the
club membership The opening chorus
was from the opera "Erminia', whose
swing and rhythm at once brought the
audience en- rapport with the company
As the last note died away the eight
end men, Estey. Gale, Smith, 3rasor,
Putnam, Wyatt and Turner. all IN
full dress of blue plush with yellow
facings, came in from either side to
waltz movement and performing q
fancy dance in time to the tambos and
bones, and in which we're developed all
sorts of gyrations as to the pedal cX
tremities. Then followed a song,
I" You ought to join our club, by the
pages, happily and rollickingly done,
then Loves Awakening by W. ).
Stearns, which vas very pretty,
down at de Silver Wedding, a char
acter song by Chas. \. Smith and
very eood Interpretation, The Sail
or ) Anchor" ty L. +. Coxson. which
was snng in his usual good taste and
strong baritone voice. W. II. Henley
came in dis interlocutor in this part and
he and the end men spiced the musical
intcrlut1es with clever jokes and repair
tee.
The second clifton introduced Null
yauy. Geo. T.. Richards and J. c.
Burpee. whose rotund figures seemed
all the more iotund with jollity in
their SURPRISING gorgeousness of COS
.ume. Muyany acted as interlocutor
md the fun went on, with local hits
strong and thick and the local
Diugunes is hunting round with his
antern for the citizen who wasn't hit I
oh Ny JONAH was sung by j. Har (
v Estey and chorus with dash that |
.dded still more to the enthusiasm of .
he evening. The Song ] Heard Last F.
sight, = by II. NJ. Wood. with chorus
including II. W. Eddy, W. S. Stearns
nd Mr.. Mulyany, was to the minds of
many the best thing of the evening.
But Tother Side de Jordan by f.
!. Brazor was also excellently done as
ias 'Oh, Day of Bliss, by Mr.. Null
any, while the topical song of George
!. Childs, given below added much
0 the CONVERSIONS of merriment. The
rand finale introducing the end men
nd entire company was the most en-
lusiastic piece of ninstrelsy seen on a
'ermont stage for manga year and it
as greeted with round after round of
ppause from the audience which
lrew everything but eggs.
Part II" introduced the Ran.
olph Bros Daniel Higgins and
. Shea of Ware, Mass, Tin time,
.yle, and notion" and il was very
liking feature as was their clog dane
". This was followed by fancy
ub swinging to the music
the orchestra by NJ. J. Moran in COS
inc, the work and the Indian clubs
,ing both highly polished. Girl
anted" by Mr., Henley in femi
ne array. was good character
:etch. Thea came the Cuban
oluntecrs, lG young men, Put
I'M, Worden, Stacy, Fenton, Mil
+, Cleveland, Miller, Harris, Austin,
nndall, Austin, Bingham, Elmer. Eos 7
r, Shumway and McRae, in silver
angled tunics, helmets and tights, q
i'll. of wheels, marches, counter "
arches and all sorts of military ma Il
auvres, under the command of Capt p
g. Estey. 1t was beautifully done. II
len followed character sketch by j. s
AIRY Estey and Fred Brasor, repre- #
nting the famous sparring match-"1 y
! Parker and you are Hitt"--at the IL
,cnt prohibitory elucidation at the $!
mory. What Is 1t" was j. d. ci
, !, lhai''c oaanI' anu 1: un.c. n
y was GooO,. i'ia' '; : + LITE LII Q.
itsinger. Dugan and Stoltc, in Of re
ID! 'petu'iie' VIZ ''''1lo' =" h,o III