Newspaper Article 1900 – Minstrel Entertainment

MINSTREL ENTERTAINMENT.

There was a large down-stairs audience at the Theatre Royal last night, when a number of local amateurs gave a musical entertainment in aid of the Indian famine relief fund. The performers gave a show that would have done credit to a professional company, and encores were the ordinary accompaniment to each item, with double encores as a mark of special distinction. The first part of the programme consisted of the usual chair business, Messrs Renouf and Bear (tambos), and Holmes and Thomson (bones) being the corner men, with Mr G. H. Price as interlocutor. Messrs H. Martin, A. Williams, Prime, and King also took part. The jokes and patter were for the most part either new or turned and re-trimmed for the occasion, and were well received, the local hits “bringing down the house.” The Napier orchestra, under the baton of Mr Prime, played three selections, “Norma,” “Johannesburg Festival,” and “Kimberley Revels” in first-class style, the first-mentioned composition being splendidly given. The programme was as follows :- Chorus, “Come down by the Gate,” company; song, “Ring-tailed Coon,” Mr Renouf; song, “Far Away,” Mr W. L. Prime; song, “Don’t forget dere’s a Wedding,” Mr J. L. Holmes; song, “Playing on de ole Banjo,” Mr H. Martin; song, “ But it is So,” Mr H. Bear ; song, “Got a Long Way to Go” (double encore), Mr A. Thomson; song“ Shine, Shine, Moon,” Mr A. Williams. The choruses were excellently taken. In the second part Mr A. Thomson was recalled for his comic song “The Waiter,” his second piece being “It Must Have Been the Lobster.” Mr A. Williams played a cornet solo, “La Reve d’Amour,” very skilfully. Mr G. H. Price gave a dramatic rendering of the recitation “Kissing Cup’s Race. ” A comic sketch, with song, “Grandfather’s Clock ” (revised version), by the Bisley brothers was one of the best items of the evening, and entailed upon the performers the severe sentence of a triple encore. Mr L. Freedman was similarly dealt with for his song “John Bull’s Letter Bag,” the audience evincing a desire to have the letters re-read several times. The performance concluded with a farcical sketch, “The Forest Ghost,” the characters being taken by Messrs Renouf, Price, and Bear. The accompaniments were played by Mrs Prime, Miss Malcolm, and Mr C. Wilson. Mr Prime as musical conductor and Mr Renouf stage manager had plenty to do, but they are to be complimented upon having presented such a good all-round entertainment, as a result of which a good round sum should accrue to the object in view.