CHRISTY, YOU KNOW, CHRISTY!

Everybody knows that the Christy Minstrels were a black-faced entertaining group, and that is sufficient to appreciate the Christy Minstrel Song in Utopia Ltd. But how many know much more than that? I confess, I didn't, so it was with great interest that I found a mention of them in an article by Frank Andrews in the November 1977 issue of the Talking Machine Review. These are some facts extracted from that article. Founded by Edwin P. Christy in 1846 they first performed in Polmer's Opera House, New York. From 1847 they ran for seven years at the Mechanics Hall, New York (where, presumably, the mechanics were unanimously in favour of their shows! Sorry.) Christy then retired, was emotionally affected by the civil war, and committed suicide. The company disbanded soon after his retirement. E. P. Christy was well-known as a ballad singer. J. W. Raynor and Earl Pierce formed a new troupe, using many of the former Christy Minstrel members. As Raynor & Pierce's Christy Minstrels they opened in London at the St. James's Theatre on 3rd August 1857. They appeared at The Surrey Theatre and went on to the "Polygraphic Hall", King William Street, where they performed for ten months. "Nellie Grey" by Balfe was a "big hit" sung by Raynor, who was a bass. In 1859 they transferred to the St. James's Hall where they performed for another four months. A second provincial tour followed, then another period at the Polygraphic Hall, ending in August 1860, after which the company was disbanded. This troupe brought the phrase "Christy Minstrels" into the language to mean any black-face minstrel show. After the disbandment, four new companies were formed, all calling themselves the "original" Christy Minstrels on the strength that one or two former members were in the new companies. One of these, formed in Dublin, opened at Chester in November, 1864, coming to London at the Standard Theatre, Shoreditch in 1865 and after three months moved to St. James's Hall, Piccadilly. This new "Christy" Minstrel show began its run of 35 years. It originally comprised 12 members, but by 1868 it numbered 31. Gradually the syndicate who ran the Christy Minstrels retired or died off, until only “Pony” Moore and Frederic Burgess remained (in the 1870's). They decided to dispense with the title “Christy”, and called themselves "Moore & Burgess's Minstrels", At this time there were other groups using the title "Christy" but "performing less than first-rate material". In other words, they were awful. Frank Andrews goes on to describe the various other minstrel groups at some length, they existed well into the first decade of the twentieth century, but it is not clear from the article at what stage the term "Christy" finally went out of use.

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