Friday, October 21, 2011
I saw a terrific student production of The Bacchae up at Ithaca College this past weekend. It’s my favorite play, which should only surprise you if you haven’t read my book No Ap…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:46AMMy friends at Public Works Project want you to know that they are presenting a free site-specific theatrical tribute to the “Mama” of off-off-Broadway tomorrow on the L.E.S. tomo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:42AMI’ll be performing tomorrow night in Art Wallace’s “Brown Clown” in the Brick’s Tiny Theatre Festival, but when the show’s over I’ll strongly cons…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:31AMPlease come see me tonight (and tomorrow) in Art Wallace’s play Brown Clown in the Brick Theatre’s Tiny Theatre Festival! Details all below: Think Inside of the Box… (By wh…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:24AMThursday, October 20, 2011
Will Cressy (born this day in 1863) was one of vaudeville’s premier “rube” comedians and also one of its top sketch writers. Raised on a New Hampshire farm (and later emplo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMFor eight nights only, Madame Tussauds After Dark awakens Times Square’s restless souls for THE HAUNTING. 8 nights only! THURSDAY – SUNDAY OCTOBER 20 – 23rd & OCTOBER 27th …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:59AMClassy, elegant African American chanteuse Adelaide Hall (born this day in 1901) did play sporadic dates in America vaudeville (like when she played the Palace in 1930), but she is best know…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:57AMToday is the birthday of funny man Charley Chase (see bio here). Here’s just a small sample of why people still revere him 71 years after his death, with music by our old pal Ben Mod…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:52AMToday is the birthday of Fayard Nicholas of the legendary Nicholas Brothers (see bio here). See the gravity-defying duo in what Fred Astaire called “the greatest dance number ever …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:41AMWednesday, October 19, 2011
Uncle Floyd and his partner Oogie Today is the birthday of “Uncle” Floyd Vivino (b. 1951). One of my most cherished features of his famous tv show was the moment when he read the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:40AMTomorrow night’s the big fund raising gala for the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. They sustained heavy damage in a tornado a number of months backs and they’re seeking vital re…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:48AMTuesday, October 18, 2011
Tonight at Dixon Place at 9pm, the latest edition of Fear Mongers, the series of panel discussions about horror films organized by Clay McCleod Chapman. This evening is being moderated by th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:17PMMary Testa stars in this new musical by the Transport Group, about the first woman who (at age 63) went over Niagra Falls in a barrel! Information and tickets here.
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:47AMMonday, October 17, 2011
NYC’s longest running all-clown variety show is back for its 5th Season! As seen in American Theater,The Village Voice Choice, New York Times, The Villager, Spectacle Magazine, Variety…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:39AMDaphne Pollard (born Daphne Trott today in 1892) is best known as a recognizable (if tiny) figure from the Hal Roach stock company, including several Laurel and Hardy films (as Mrs. Hardy). …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:29AMHere’s something you don’t see every day…or every half century for that matter. An archive has recently turned up Eugene O’Neill’s 1920 play Exorcism , long tho…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:15AMI was up in Ithaca, New York over the weekend, and we chanced to pass by the local demonstration in support of Occupy Wall Street. There were only a couple of dozen people there (it was rain…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:11AMAnother side benefit of my weekend sojourn in Ithaca – -I got to see this swell exhibition Roman,s Exploits & Peril: When Movies Were Made in Ithaca, organized by the Ithaca Motio…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:56AMSunday, October 16, 2011
Today is Oscar Wilde’s birthday (1854-1900). I fell under Wilde’s spell in the 1990s, so much so that I named my second son (Charles Wilde Stewart, b. 1998) after him. To be a co…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:38AMWhat: 2011 NYC Regional American Youth Circus Organization Festival When: October 16, 2011, 8:30am-6:30pm Who: Produced by Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and Playful Productions for the American …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:17AMToday is the birthday of Ford Lee Washington, a.k.a. “Buck” of Buck and Bubbles. For more info on that team go here. See them in action in the 1937 film Varsity Show below. To l…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:41AMSaturday, October 15, 2011
Tonight’s the memorial service for the late Aaron Baker (far right, above) at the Brick Theater. Fate decreed that I would be out of town this weekend, but I surely will be thinking of…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:03AMToday is the birthday of John L. Sullivan (1858-1918), who worked the vaudeville circuits in his later years. For a little squib on him, go here. The informative doc below was produced by ES…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:26AMFriday, October 14, 2011
Today’s the birthday of Lillian Gish (1893-1993). She was the principal muse of one of my favorite film directors D.W. Griffith, starring for him as early as 1912, back when the pictur…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:23AMToday is the birthday of Pert Kelton; among many other credits, she was the original Alice in The Honeymooners. For the full bio on her go here. To learn more about the roots of variety ente…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:18AMToday is the birthday of Hollywood character actor Clarence Muse (1889-1979). Like Paul Robeson, he possessed a law degree, but the prejudices of the times made it of little use. so he went …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:50AMThursday, October 13, 2011
The Fartiste opens with a might blast tonight at Sofias, just a few blocks downwind of Times Square and Broadway. For tickets and info go here.
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06AMToday is the birthday of Julia Rooney. Born in 1887, she was a daughter of the famous Pat Rooney, Sr. and was thus a member of an important vaudeville dynasty. From approximatelely 1895 thro…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:47AMToday is Lillie Langtry’s birthday; go here for more info on her. Below, the classic scene from William Wyler’s The Westerner (1940) wherein Gary Cooper buys a little time from h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:23AMWednesday, October 12, 2011
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the great Ned Harrigan, one of the unjustly neglected giants of the American Theatre. To celebrate his life and work (and that of his pe…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:20AMThe Six Brown Brothers were a sextet of Canadian saxophonists (or should I say a saxtet of Canadian sexophonists? Perhaps not) The group is largely credited with helping to popularize the sa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:53AM 
