Saturday, May 9, 2026

Lucy Sante and Collage by Trav S.D.

This post does triple duty: 1) it’s World Collage Day; 2) we’re a week out from International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and we’re a couple of weeks out from the …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:55PM[SHARE]

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 9, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 9, 2026 are about: Lucy Sante and Her Collages, the life and music of Billy Joel, and the late playwright Robert Heide. Earlier Travalanche posts for …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:55PM[SHARE]

Billy Joel: And So It Goes by Trav S.D.

This won’t be a review of the recent two-part HBO “documentary” Billy Joel: And So It Goes (2025) per se, apart from the fact that I saw it recently and became aware of several aspects…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:50PM[SHARE]

R.I.P. Robert Heide by Trav S.D.

Downtown playwright Robert Heide (Robert Heitke, 1934-2025) passed away back in December (thanks for the alert, Eve Golden); as I often do, I opted to wait until the decedent’s next birthd…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:25AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 8, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 8, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 8, 2026 are about Nan Wynn, Mary Lou Williams, Sam Lufkin, and some exciting new Al Hirschfeld stuff. May 8 is also VE Day, and I’ve blogged about t…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:10PM[SHARE]

Al Hirschfeld Lives! by Trav S.D.

I stopped by the Algonquin yesterday to visit with my old friend David Leopold of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. We hatched some crazy plans (about which more in due course), and David took m…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:00PM[SHARE]

Mary Lou Williams: The Little Piano Girl by Trav S.D.

May 8 was the birthday of jazz genius Mary Lou Williams (Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, 1910-1981). Born in Atlanta, raised in Pittsburgh, Williams was a child prodigy who was supporting her family …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:45AM[SHARE]

The Noteworthy Nan Wynn by Trav S.D.

We are interested to note that the popular singer and actress Nan Wynn (Masha Vatz, 1915-1971) is not a Wynn at all. (For that matter, neither was Ed Wynn, nor are his progeny. The family na…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:35AM[SHARE]

Some Love for Sam Lufkin by Trav S.D.

Born on May 8, supporting player Sam Lufkin (1891-1952). Lufkin appeared in nearly 200 films between 1920 and the end of his life, ranging from foil parts in the Edgar Kennedy/ Vernon Dent m…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 7, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 7, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 7, 2026 are about hypnotist Pat Collins and stage and screen actress May Cloy. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 7 (in no particular order) include on…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:40PM[SHARE]

Warning: May Cloy by Trav S.D.

Her name sounds like a warning label on a bottle of floral perfume — or maybe one of her movies, but May Cloy (Mabel Larsen, 1880-1977) went by it anyhow. We’ve just been able to find so…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:15AM[SHARE]

Pat Collins: The Hip Hypnotist of Hollywood by Trav S.D.

May 7 was the birthday of glamorous lady hypnotist Pat Collins (1935-1997). Collins was well paid for her specialty, even ran her own Hollywood club, and was featured in movies and on televi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 6, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 6, 2026 are about the late Ted Turner, and the much later June Gittelson. For No Diet Day: The Travalanche Hall of Plus-Sized Comedians Earlier Traval…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:55PM[SHARE]

R.I.P. Ted Turner by Trav S.D.

Well, I was about to leave it at one blogpost today and give myself a break but this one is too big to ignore. Ted Turner (1938-2026) has passed away at the age of 87. Younger folks may not …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:55PM[SHARE]

The Joys of June Gittelson by Trav S.D.

By some mischievous quirk of fate, character actress June Gittelson (1910-1993) was born on May 6, International No Diet Day, which was designed to promote body positivity, of which we stron…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:30AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 5, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 5, 2026 are about kiddie star impresario Ethel Meglin and comedian Sandy Baron. Also Happy Cinco de Mayo to those who celebrate. In observance of whic…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:15PM[SHARE]

Digging Sandy Baron by Trav S.D.

I noticed to my delight yesterday that I passed 10,000 blogposts a few days ago. Atsa lotta posts, boss. I’ll be truthful with you, I’ve done all this much more because I want to learn t…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:10PM[SHARE]

Ethel Meglin, The Meglin Kiddies, and Their Copious Connections to Oz by Trav S.D.

May 5 was the birthday of Ethel Meglin (Ethel Marie Redman, 1890-1988), Hollywood’s top kiddie act impresario during the Golden Years. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most thoroug…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:50AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 4, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 4, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 4, 2026 are about Orange Julius, Frederic Church, and Jim Moore’s all-star variety show tonight. How’s that for a crazy bill of fare? And May the …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:35PM[SHARE]

The Frederic Church Bicentennial by Trav S.D.

Born 200 years ago today, the great American landscape painter Frederic Church (1826-1900). I developed an appreciation of this important American artist and his fellows of the Hudson River …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:35PM[SHARE]

Jim Moore’s All-Star 80th Birthday Show by Trav S.D.

Happy 80th Birthday to Jim R. Moore, the best friend the contemporary variety arts scene in New York has had, as just about anyone will tell you. Jim has chronicled circus, burlesque, sidesh…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:10AM[SHARE]

A Century of Orange Julius by Trav S.D.

May the 4th may be popularly observed far and wide as Star Wars Day, but there are some who use the date to celebrate something closer to our own galaxy: it’s also Orange Juice Day. We tho…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:10AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 3, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 3, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 3, 2026 are about Ann B. Davis, and a tremendous resource created by an alum of the American Vaudeville Theatre. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 3 (…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:13PM[SHARE]

For World Press Freedom Day: The Gal Behind Decoding Fox News by Trav S.D.

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day and I thought of the perfect way to mark it. I want to point you toward a beacon of clarity, truth, and that rarest of all things in today’s media landscap…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:27PM[SHARE]

The Ann B. Davis Centennial by Trav S.D.

Born 100 years ago today, a much beloved and missed American icon, Ann B. Davis (1926-2014). Davis is interesting for many reasons, among them that she is almost entirely known for just TWO …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:29AM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 2, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 2, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche post for May 2, 2026 is about Lorenz Hart and the recent bio-pic Blue Moon. And since it’s Kentucky Derby Day, this little post about on and around horse racing. …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:09PM[SHARE]

On Lorenz Hart and “Blue Moon” by Trav S.D.

May 2 was the birthday of genius Broadway and Hollywood lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895-1943), best known for his 25 year songwriting partnership with Richard Rodgers. I wrote about the pair as a…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:27AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 1, 2026

Your Travalanche Daily Digest for May 1, 2026 by Trav S.D.

Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 1, 2026 are about: Joy Harmon, Sylvia Gerrish, and The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. And several posts for May Day: peruse the s…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:57PM[SHARE]

The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition by Trav S.D.

Today we tie up one of the few remaining loose ends from our recent excursion to our ancestral Southern homelands (as reported in this series of posts). May 1, 1897 was opening day of the Th…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:55PM[SHARE]

Sylvia Gerrish: The Girl With Poetical Legs by Trav S.D.

A few words on a star of old who fell on hard times, Sylvia Gerrish (Lillian Rollins, 1860-1906). Gerrish was a native San Franciscan; her parents were Mainers drawn to the west coast by the…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:44AM[SHARE]

R.I.P. Joy Harmon (Tell It To Groucho, Cool Hand Luke) by Trav S.D.

I was already planning a post on Joy Harmon (1938-2026), probably because she was in beach party and other teen oriented movies in the 1960s, and perhaps I had confused her in my head with J…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:10AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off