Harrington's Opera House! Monday Evening Mar. 24th Harry Bloodgood's Minstrel and Burlesque Combination [caption title]

[Providence, 1873. About very good.. Illustrated broadside, printed on yellow paper, comprised of two joined sheets, measuring 22 x 9.5 inches total. Previously folded. Small pencil annotation under title. A few very small areas of loss; two short internal tears. Light dust soiling. A striking illustrated broadside advertising a performance of blackface minstrel Harry Bloodgood, and his troupe, the Minstrel and Burlesque Combination at the short-lived Harrington's Opera House in Providence, Rhode Island. The present broadside is an interesting printing and theatrical artifact, being made up of two joined sheets in order to promote an altered program for the evening's entertainment. The upper sheet is illustrated by a reclining blackface figure and a rather limber acrobat, and advertises performances of Charley Walters and Johnny Morton, "a combination of all that is ludicrous and funny, together with the elements of beautiful music and singing." The lower sheet, which cancels a portion of the upper, promotes several supporting musical and theatrical acts, and the performance of several acts by Bloodgood himself, "the Emperor of Ethiopians." An illustration of a man falling headlong from a hot-air balloon, somewhat disjointed because of the pairing of the two leaves, runs down the left side of the bill. The venue for the show, Harrington's Opera House, opened in Providence under that name in the renovated City Hall theater, but closed in 1874.

"Harry Bloodgood (Carlos Moran, 1845-1886) was one of the most accomplished and versatile performers that ever blacked his face; good in everything he undertook; he could sing, dance, and act.... In May 1866, he joined Boyce and Mudge's Minstrels; subsequently appearing with Sam Sharpley's, and later with Joseph Trowbridge, he had the Bloodgood and Trowbridge's Minstrels; their season ended July 16, 1871; Mr. Bloodgood then taking his own show, with which he travelled intermittently for several seasons" - Rice.

A scarce and attractive "combination" broadside for this "Minstrel and Burlesque Combination."

Edward Rice, "Monarchs of Minstrelsy" (New York, 1911), pp.176-178.