11,726 stories by "Trav S.D."
Tomorrow at 12:15pm (EST) on Turner Movie Classics: Footlight Parade (1933). Yet another great Warner Brothers musical from 1933! Incredible Busby Berkley numbers and a cast that inclu…
Amusingly, after a year and a half of hearing me freak out about having too much to do, I am now starting to freak out about having nothing to do. It feels like I am about to fall off …
Today marks the 150th anniversary of Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox. We tend to use that date to mark the end of the Civil War, but in reality that wasn’t the end of the …
Listened to the Beatles’ “Hey, Bulldog” four times in a row this morning. I’ve always thought it would make an excellent theme for a spy movie, by virtue of Lennon…
Trav S.D. and Mountebanks present Fragments of  a House Divided Tuesday, April 21 at 7:30pm at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, NYC April, 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the en…
Filed under: Burlesk, PLUGS Tagged: Bedford Hall, Broadway Brassy, burlesque
 Today at 1:45pm (EST) on Turner Classic Movies: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) A strong contender for best Hollywood show biz bio-pic all around. James Cagney tears it up as his h…
“I’d walk miles for the hubble, bubble and toil of a good horror movie, or to watch Vincent Price stirring cauldrons of horror, or to observe a well-fanged Christopher Lee on the…
Tonight I’m hosting the entertainment portion of a Gala fundraiser for one of my favorite theatre companies in New York City, the Metropolitan Playhouse. (Just do for a search for …
Tonight is Jane Russell night on Turner Classic Movies. Following an 8pm screening of the 1953 remake of Anita Loos’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes there will be these: 9:45 pm (EST):…
Looking for something vaguely Spring-like or Easterly this morning (without paying much attention), I watched the 1948 movie April Showers. Assuming, I guess, it was something like …
Today is the birthday of the late Kenneth Mars (1935-2011). In a rational world, his name would be much better known. He was one of the funniest and most talented comedy presences on screens…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Drom, Midnight Cabaret
Since we made such noise about it here and here we thought we’d let you know the other shoe has dropped and last night we finally realized one of our life’s ambitions, which was …
Today is the birthday of pioneering movie director Allan Dwan (Joseph Aloysius Dwan, 1885-1981). Much like Frank Capra, Dwan had trained to be an engineer, but found himself much intrigued b…
Originally posted on Vintage Blog:Valda Valkyrien (1895 " 1956) was a Danish prima ballerina and a silent film actress. Born Adele Eleonore Freed in ReykjavÃk, Iceland, under the stage na…
God forbid we should have any (showers, that is) but it is officially April now, and, well, they have a Tin Pan Alley Song for EVERYTHING. Buddy DeSylva and Louis Silvers wrote this song for…
 Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin Esssanay Comedy A Jitney Elopement (1915). This is one of Chaplin’s first movies with a reasonable plo…
 As we’ve written about before, Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton were the consummate Dagwood and Blondie in adaptations of Chic Young’s comic strip  on radio and in films f…
In observation of April Fool’s Day, tomorrow morning and afternoon Turner Classic Movies will show several comedies starring the hilarious Joe E. Brown and the much less-hilarious team…
Today is the birthday of stage and screen actress Jobyna Howland (1880-1936) Her unusual name was adapted from that of her father, Joby “Happy” Howland, who’d gained fame a…
Friday April 3, 8pm, $10 suggested Donation Barbes, 376 9th Street, Park Slope Opera on Tap’s New Brew Series Presents: SEX! COMEDY! ECONOMICS!: AN EVENING WITH TRAV S.D. (AN…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, Dixieland & Early Jazz, FOOD & DRINK CULTURE, Jazz (miscellaneous), Music, PLUGS Tagged: Avalon Jazz band, Gansevoort Park Rooftop, Prohib…
I canNOT contain my excitement. See those exclamation points in my header? Set your DVR — tomorrow morning at 4:30am (EST), Turner Classic Movies will be screening a real rarity……
2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of my theatre company Mountebanks. Throughout the year, I’ll be unleashing several activities to celebrate the theme of theatrical charl…
