The times., 1899-09-12
AT THE THEATRES.
Lafayette-washburn,s Minstr

| Lafayette-Washbu Minsfreis.
| II there is in this country a guarantee
| company willing to prophesy that Manager
| PAINTERS first nights will always be as
was that OF yester- evening il is not i'm
| probable that the Lafayette will be closed
every second day during the season in
| order that there may be at least three
| openings week. No fewer than sixteen
| hundred persons passed the doors of the
| house before the curtain was rung up
and more might have gotten inside had
| there been any plan by which the walls
OF the structure could have been moved
| without loss of time. The crowd was
easily pleased, too, and not only applauded
| everything worth applauding. but wasted
considerable energy on features without
/ which the performance would have been
much better. Encores were of frequent
| occurrence and there might have been
act-calls had the show" been divided into
acts.
| The first part, provided by the Wash
| burn Minstrels was an unconventional
one, and the more enjoyable for that rea-
son. Burnt cork had been applied with
out prejudice or discrimination, bones and
| tambos were used to the fullest extent, and
| every end-man in the semi circle had a
good ten minutes in which to impress or
| depress his audience. OF serious music
| there was very little on the programme
| why no one knew until the list of singers
| had been exhausted. But nearly all of
the jokes told were of the vintage of so,
and those that were Oldest made their bows
| in disguise, so that the kindly disposed
assembly hardly noticed the omission of
| family histories concerning maidens whose
mothers were of the best families and other
wearisome individuals. Willie Patton, Sam
| Horner, and Cool Burgess were the fea-
| lures of this portion of the bill, which
was really clever enough to have been
| repeated.
| Had the comedians who finished the cur
| tain-raiser been content TO so over it again
afterward there would have been nothing
| but commendation due them. But while
! this part conventional as it was, had an
abundance Of mirth the olio smacked de-
| cidedy of town halls in Oshkosh and opera
| houses in Kankakee. There was some good
material scattered through the specialties
/ but quantity seemed to have been desired
rather than quality and the result was dis
| astrous. stage manager with sharp
| lead pencil and choice vocabulary might
reduce the vaudeville bill to a clean-cut,
| neat affair of an hour or an hour and a
half Until this is done the performance
viii be top heavy.
Willie Patton and an assistant began the
| olio with half dozen antiquities in the
| shape of enacted jokes and then the three
| Bartels did a passable acrobatic act. Cool
| Burgess was heard in an inferior laughing
song and in one of his pristine lectures, Mr..
| Patton appeared again with six dancers
who are sadly in need of training, the
Barteis presented Mexican ladder turn"
and the three Brothers Hickman furnished
mediocre wind-up. The best work noted
during the last half of the entertainment
was done by Leliott Busch, and Leliott,
and the worst by the Horner Brothers.
The trio mentioned provided an admirable
musical speciality and deserved the ap-
| plause won. This is not true cf the Horn
| er Brothers, who bill themselves as the
toughest on the American stage" and,
unlike most advertisers, live up TO their
promises. There may be wit in seltzer bot
ties and clap sticks, even as Shakespeare
says that there are sermons in stones but
until the truth of this statement is uniyer-
sally recognized the Horners will not be
much appreciated.
/ The performance given last night was,
! taken as whole, hardly up to the average.
| This fact is the more regrettable because
| without necessity. The engagement of
new set of variety people would assure the
| Washburn Minstrels of local popularity
that would guarantee such audiences as
that of last night on their every visit