Press Clippings for the week ending
Saturday, 27 July 2002

A random selection of cuttings
from newspapers and magazines

* * * * * * * * A critical review of Clement Scott’s Bad Boys Comedy Theatre, London, 29 April 1885 ‘Comedy Theatre. ‘It is high time theatrical managers were disabused of the notion that, because a play has been successful on the Boulevards [in Paris], it is ipso facto worth attempting to reproduce in English. If this salutary lesson has not been sufficiently taught by recent experience, it probably will be by the case of Clara Soleil, which, from being a sparkling and audaciously funny piece at the Paris Vaudeville, is transformed at the Comedy Theatre, under the title of Bad Boys, into a weak, washy, production, resembling the original as much as stale beer resembles champagne. The motive of Clara Soleil may be too Gallic for the Lord Chamberlain’s taste, but it is intelligible and plausible enough. In endeavouring to modify it to suit the requirements of Mr. [W.S.] Gilbert’s "young lady of 15," the adapter, plainly speaking, has made a nonsense of it, and that without removing any of the malodorousness supposed to be obnoxious to British nostrils. There is a kind of propriety which consists in draping the legs of the piano. It is apparently this kind of propriety which the adapter is desirous of inculcating, for in seeking to be over-nice he has become suggestively nasty. At all events, there noes not seem to be much gain to morality by making the peccant male character in the piece run away with an actress to a fashionable watering place, not for motives of his own, as in the original, but in order to lend her the moral support of his friendship against her slanderers, when the result in both cases is the same - namely, that the lady passes herself off as his wife not only until, but even after, the real wife has appeared upon the scene. The adapter’s ideas of moral championship are, it may be hoped, peculiar. With the motive thus provided in the English version the dialogue is quite in keeping. The wit of the French authors, Mr. Gondinet and Madame Barrière, has been found as untranslatable, it would seem, as their story, vapid talk taking the place of epigram and smart repartee; and to add to the heinousness of his offence the adapter has laid the scene of the action in this country, and labelled the characters with English names. Miss Violet Cameron, M. Marius, Mr. Carton, Mr. Arthur Roberts, Miss [Zeffie] Tilbury, Miss [Minnie] Bell, and others endeavour to give some vitality and interest to the piece, but for the most part in vain.’ (The Times, Thursday, 30 April 1885, p.6e) * * * * * * * * To applaud or not to applaud, London, 1880 ‘An Eton Boy, who is a capital fellow and determined lover of the drama, writes to me as follows: - "The other day I went to see The Pirates of Penzance [at the Opera Comique, London], and by accident I sat next another Eton fellow. Naturally I applauded vehemently the parts which I thought most worthy of praise. My friend asked me why I made such a row? And when I told him that if people did not applaud, I should like to know how actors were to know if they acted well, he calmly told me to leave applause to the gallery, it was such ‘low form’ to clap one’s hands at the theatre! Did you ever hear such rot, Mr. Editor? On Saturday I went to see The Bells and [W.G. Wills’s Idyll] Iolanthe [at the Lyceum Theatre]. Miss Ellen Terry was so charming and tender that I nearly lost my heart. We leave Eton on July 28th, in good time for the celebrated 31st at the Lyceum. Rather a blessing if I can only get a seat of some kind. If all are taken I will go into the pit, for I am sure of good company there, and will be allowed to applaud, which is more than I can do in the dress-circle or stalls!"’ (The Theatre, London, August 1880, p.124) * * * * * * * * A Moore and Burgess Minstrel in Court, London, 1881

Frederick Burgess (1827?-1893)
(photo: unknown, probably London, circa 1880)

‘Frederick Burgess, of the well-known Moore and Burgess minstrels, residing at Burgess House, North Finchley, has been summoned at Highgate for assaulting his coachman, Reuben Barnes. The two seem to have had a slight dispute, and the coachman gave notice, whereupon Mr. Burgess told him to pack up and leave at once. He accordingly did so, and on the following Saturday went for his wages, and a servant maid brought him out 30 [shillings] and a paper, which she asked him to sign. He took the money, but declined to sight the paper, as it would have prevented him claiming a week’s wages in lieu of notice. He requested to see Mr. Burgess, who sent word that he would not grant him a moment, but immediately afterwards came out and said, "I will kick you, you blackguard, if you don’t get out of my house." On his telling Mr. Burgess that he had the money and would not sign, that gentleman seized him by the throat, dragged him against the wall, and held him until he was black in the face, striking him several blows on the back of the neck. One of the servants came in and said, "Let him go, sir; you will choke him," and the defendant then let go of his throat. He turned out his pockets for the 30 [shillings], not knowing that complainant held it in his hand. Mrs. Burgess was present, and she begged him to give the money up, but he declined. The defendant then released him, and he immediately went to the police-station and made a formal complaint, and whilst there fainted away. He swore he did not snatch the money from the servant’s hand. On the other hand, it was pleaded for defendant that he did, and that Mr. Burgess had not infringed the law by using necessary force to prevent his going away with his property. He denied that he struck complainant, but the bench imposed a fine of 10 [shillings] and 8 [shillings] 6 [pence] costs, which was paid at once.’ (The Labour Standard, London, Saturday, 27 August 1881, p.7e) * * * * * * * * Moore and Burgess’s 7,850th performance, London, 1881 ‘On Monday evening, September 19th [1881], the programme of the Moor and Burgess Minstrels at the St. James’s Hall, announced the seven thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifth consecutive performance! Just fancy what a popular entertainment this must be, to go on for over sixteen consecutive - mind, consecutive - years! What recollections are brought to mind by thinking over the events of the last sixteen years. Ah me! many great men have come and gone since then; dynasties have fallen, whole empires have been upset, but the Moore and Burgess Minstrels go on for ever! And well they might, for their entertainment is one of the best of its kind. We find here all the elements sought for by the lovers of nigger minstrelsy. As Mr. Moore observed on the evening referred to, their motto is, "We strive to please - fun without vulgarity," a promise most faithfully carried out. Of fun there is plenty at the Moore and Burgess Minstrels; of vulgarity there is no sign. The singing of songs and ballads, both serious and comic, is really excellent, and the variety entertainment is of a various and pleasing description. Not the least of the attractions is a choir of boys, whose sweet young voices join in the chorus with a most pleasing effect.’ (The Theatre, London, 1 October 1881, pp.253 and 254) * * * * * * * * Death of Frederick Burgess’s wife, London, 1882 ‘We regret to announce that Mrs. Frederick Burgess died rather suddenly on Sunday last [16 July 1882] at Burgess Hall, North Finchley. The interment took place on Thursday, at Highgate Cemetery.’ (The Entr’acte, London, Saturday, 22 July 1882, p.13b) * * * * * * * * The Mikado in Germany, 1886 ‘Our Berlin correspondent telegraphs: The success of the first performance of the Mikado is fully acknowledged by the musical critics of all the Berlin papers. Professor Ehrlich, of the Berliner Tagblatt, says "The great applause was well deserved, for the plot is witty, the music contains some charming numbers and is composed throughout with much skill, and the representation was excellent." The Voss Gazette says "The extraordinary success of the operetta is based as much on the excellence and charm of the music as on the strangeness and originality of the representation." All the critics agree in praising the performance of the English players, which some think even surpasses that of the celebrated Meiningen Company. The second performance this evening again drew a crowded house.’ (The Daily News, London, Friday, 4 June, 1886, p.2f) * * * * * * * * Fun in Photo Bits, London, 1902

‘MISS MILDRED DE COURCY.
‘"An actress who puts ‘soul’ into every part she plays" - her press agent writes.’
(photo: New York, late 1890s)

This photograph, facetiously identified by Photo Bits (London, Wednesday, 15 November 1902, p.27) as ‘Miss Mildred de Courcy,’ is actually of the talented American dancer Bessie Clayton. Photo Bits, a cheaply printed penny weekly catering for knowing youths, described itself as ‘Up to Date, Bright, Sketchy, Smart, Witty, Pictorial, Pithy, Original, Spicy.’ Its illustrations were largely of young actresses and would-be actresses in photographs of American origin, and line cartoons and caricatures.

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© John Culme, 2002