The name Rudolf Friml (Rudolf AntonÃn Frymel, 1879-1972) ought to be known to more Broadway buffs " he wrote a couple of dozen hit operettas in the teens and twenties of the last century.…
Born 100 years ago today, nightclub comedian Bob Melvin (Robert Minkoff, 1925-2015) " not to confused with the Man with Two Faces from the sideshow. (Although at 6'4″ tall, this Robert…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 6, 2025 is about Bobby Van, and another Bobby Van. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 6 (in no particular order) include ones on: The History of…
Inevitably, I reckon, a post on song and dance man Bobby Van (Robert Stein, 1928-1980). When I was a kid in the '70s, Van was strictly a hokey guy on game shows and cheese TV so far as I kne…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 5, 2025 are about chorus girl and silent movie siren Sally Long; cowboy singer Ray Whitley, comedian Margaret Cho, and the history of Krampus. Earl…
I just had a rewarding experience a few minutes ago " I was reminded of the decade or so, roughly 2000-2010, when I was an actual arts journalist for several major publications. I had the op…
December 5 was the birthday of cowboy singer Ray Whitley (1901-1979), best known for co-writing Gene Autry's theme song "Back in the Saddle Again". Luke Combs released a song by the same nam…
About ten years ago I had a lamentable opportunity to sing a few bars of the song "I Wonder What Became of Sally?" in Dick Zigun's play Dead End Dummy out at Coney Island USA. (It was only l…
Gut Krampusnacht! Celebrated in Central Europe on the night before St. Nicholas Day, Krampusnacht is purportedly the time when the goodly saint's opposite number punishes the bad little chil…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 4, 2025 is about the man for whom the Cafe Carlyle is named " against all expectations " Thomas Carlyle. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 4 (i…
Café Carlyle, long time showplace of Bobby Short, Elaine Stritch, Eartha Kitt and others, turned 70 years old this year. But I'm afraid I'm not going to address that topic much at all. Fool…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 3, 2025 are about March Master Henry Fillmore, portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (and daughter), and the 150th Anniversary of the New York Coaching C…
December 3 was the birth date (and December 7 the death date) of bandleader, musician, and composer Henry Fillmore (1881-1956), who was especially known for his original marches and screamer…
I'm quite certain that the first museum and/or historical site of any kind I ever visited was the birthplace of the portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), which is located barely ten m…
This post was prompted by my visit to Newport's Redwood Library this past summer. December 3, 1875 was the date on which the Coaching Club of New York, sometimes shortened to New York Coachi…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 2, 2025 are about a new Sid Caesar book launch, and a couple of R.K.O. film series that revived silent films and vaudeville. Before we proceed to t…
Today we treat of some interesting programmatic experiments implemented by R.K.O. in the '40s and early '50s I really wish I'd known about when I was writing my books No Applause and Chain o…
Tonight (December 2, 2025) at 6pm, New York's Film Forum will be presenting an unusual sort of event (for them) " a compilation of great clips from the television programs Your Show of Shows…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 1, 2025 is about Jerry Murad and the Harmonicats. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 1 (in no particular order) include ones on: World AIDS Day …
The Harmonicats were a splinter group off of Borrah Minnevich's Harmonica Rascals formed in 1941 by Jerry Murad (1918-1996) and Al Fiore (1922-1996). Murad and Fiore had been playing Chicago…
Woody Allen turns 90 today, and his great collaborators Diane Keaton and Marshall Brickman have recently passed way. The moment seems worth observing. Allen may or may not have directed his …
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 30, 2025 are about the new Stiller and Meara documentary, the early films of Woody Allen, and a wonderful anti-fascist film penned by Donald Ogden …
Ben Stiller and I are exactly the same age (3 weeks different) so I happen to know that today he reaches a fraught birthday threshold. Sans doute, it's no coincidence that he just released t…
November 30 was the birthday of Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980). As we share a given name (I'm Donald Travis Stewart, according to my birth certificate), I have long been aware of this Algo…
Today's new Travalanche posts for November 29, 2025 are about Otis Turner, director of the first Oz plays; and Broadway and vaudeville performer Lillian Fitzgerald and her several notable re…