Waterbury Democrat., 1901-08-13
OPENING OF PoLrs THEArER.
Primrose and Dockstader's NLinstrels
 Played to a Packed House.

Primrose ana OOEkSl1uEE 2AAhotA~tS
 Played to a Packed House.
 When the hour of had passed last night the opening of Polls theater for the season of 1901 was successfully accomplished. It is customary geii- orally to begin minstrel performance sharp at o'clock, but that was an ut ter impossibility last night, for the ushers could not seat the immense au- dience on time and there were nun dIeds clamoring for tickets at the DoX office when the eight hour had struck When finally the last ticket had been sold and the holder had been seated, glance around showed that the theater was filled from the top to the bottom with an audience that was on the anx- iOus seat to see the new form of min strelsy to be presented by the premlers of minstrelsy, Primrose and Dock stader. So anxious were the people 10 witness the performance that hun dreds stood throughout the entire show and were glad to be able to get in to see it in any old way There were others happy besides the minstrel entertain CTS and those present The manage ment of the theater had broad smiles at the suspicious opening of the. sea- son. and where everybody was happy it made the performance still more en- jOyable-
 As to the program itself, nothing but words of praise can be said for all most every number As was adyer- tised. it was a different first part that the ascending curtain unfolded- The old stiff and sterOtyped settings had been displaced for q novel and unique conception of an autumn scene, taken from the Garden of the Gods" :n TaIr e,f,a afr.c. FlfI11rS with the granite decorations and pieces Of statuary formed beautiful picture in the foreground of the large build fngs in the rear. There were no chairs with covers and none of the moth eaten reminders of the general run of minstrel performances. The singers, recIined on the approaches to the buildings in the rear and the orchestra high up on the balcony were not forced to sit on every conceivable kind of a chair that are generally raked up by the property man of the house. IL was q very pretty picture and as the performers marched in and took their seats the applause they received was not undeserved. All were attired in the plain black, short coat. full dress suits. and here, too. was avoided the heavy and very often bad form dress of velvet or colonial cut. All were in black face.
 First, the orchestra of the entertain ment portion of the program deserves a compliment. It is not often you find as good body of musicians with a minstrel troupe, but the band of Carl Carlton and the orchestra of W. J. Latham last night were entitled to much credit for the success of the musical part of the production. The worthy interlocutors were William Fl. HalIert and Frederick Barnes. Most of the vOcalists were new to theater attendants in this city. but the ma jOrfty of them sang well and had new selections. Among the singers vas George Pearce, heralded as the great English alto. He may have been a great singer across the pond, but it is doubtful if he will be received with more than ordinary applause. if his ability as singer is to be weighed by his work of last evening. About all the other vocaliSts surpassed him with fEeir selections last night. The first end men were Eddie Leonard and sHfmself," known in everyday life as Neil O'Brien. and both sang we'll. George Primrose and Lew DOckstadsr came on for the final end men. and the best of the two was DOckstader- Ills work was all new and cleyerly done.
 
 boys during one of his seances. and the messages. which touched on the various politicians in the city and the coming election. were timely and funny hits His original songs were also good and his work generally was up to date and we'll received George Primrose had a novel and picturesque entrance in the second part. 1t helped him out wonderfully, as did the col ored calcium lights and the two little darkIes who danced with him. As T singer George has passed the mark.
 CIaudius and Corbin are phenOm- enal banjOists indeed and the music they brought from those intrumenJs last night was something wonderful, and they received a grand ovation lOl- lie Young and his brother in their great hoop rolling and club juggling feat, performed some marvellous work. It was one of the features of the night. The performance concluded with a startling and wonderful exhibition on the elevated bar and trapeze. ZenO, Carl and Zeno were the contributors, and their work was exciting enough to suit the most exacting. 1t brought to a successful ending a very enter faining program