11,735 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of the remarkable trailblazer Sessue Hayakawa (1889-1973). A member of the Japanese nobility, he was thwarted in his ambition to serve in the military due to an ear inj…
Originally posted in 2011. Today is the birthday of James Edmondson, Sr., a.k.a Professor Backwards (1910-1976).  Edmondson was a comedian with a vaudeville nut who possessed the rare …
Originally posted in 2010. Like so many in this section of our annals, Hattie McDaniel may be described as an early pathbreaker now stigmatized for embodying a stereotypical role —…
The Gumm Sisters: Little Frances is on the right Originally posted in 2010. One of the two or three major factors that led your author to the subject of vaudeville was a childhood obsess…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Circa Tabac, The Frolic
What a day for music! In addition to Skip James, Fred Waring and Cole Porter, it is also the birthday of Les Paul (Lester Polsfuss, 1915-2009). This Renaissance Man of the modern music indus…
Originally posted in 2011. Today is the birthday of Cole Porter. I was introduced to Porter’s work as most people nowadays are I imagine, by doing a high school production of on…
Originally posted in 2010. Talk about a distinctively American Renaissance man: Fred Waring not only had his own orchestra, but he also invented the blender! Born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania in …
Today is the birthday of Skip James (1902-1969). This influential Mississippi guitar player (associated with a distinctive open E minor tuning) began his working life as a bootlegger and sha…
Today is the birthday of Hugh Fay (1882-1926). Son of Henry “Hugh” Fay of the Irish vaudeville comedy act Barry and Fay, the younger Fay got his start (like his sister Elfie) …
Today is the birthday of Harry Gribbon (1885-1961). Gribbon began as a teenage singer in vaudeville, then joined the comedy team of Heelan and Helf. Subsequent stage credits included support…
Today is the birthday of William S. Seiter (1910-1964). Staring out as a stuntman in 1913, by the following year he was playing bit parts for Mack Sennett at Keystone. By 1918 he was in dema…
Here’s a project that deserves your support. Dancer/ choreographer Cori Olinghouse is currently working on a live series of interlocking ghost and shadow characters that conjure ele…
Today is the birthday of the great comedienne Joan Rivers (b. 1933). I want to take the occasion to recommend the 2010 documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a peak behind the curtains at…
PECULIAR WORKS PROJECT presents MANNA-HATA by Barry Rowell performed in spaces throughout THE JAMES A. FARLEY POST OFFICE future home of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station 425 Eighth Avenue…
Had a chance to “first act” Strange for Hire last night, the new weekly variety show in the Crypt Cafe at Times Scare put on by Todd Robbins and Donny Vomit. It was an amaz…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Rock and Pop Tagged: burlesque, Catcalls and Gutterballs, The Gutter
Today is the birthday of Charley Bowers (1877-1946). Bowers is rare among the silent comedians for possibly being more well known and appreciated NOW then he was during the silent era. This …
Today is the birthday of Dean Martin (Dino Paul Crocetti, 1917-1995). Do you know anyone who doesn’t like him? I don’t. I think of him as the embodiment of a certain kind of show…
Just learned the news that Esther Williams died today at the age of 91. Williams was of course the foremost exponent of that unique Hollywood subgenre, the All Swimming Musical. Naturally, s…
THE TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES; OR, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOM THUMB THE GREAT BY HENRY FIELDING JUNE 6TH* THROUGHÂ JUNE 30TH WEDNESDAYS, THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS & SUNDAYS ALLÂ 8PMÂ CUR…
Filed under: African American Interest, Blackface & Minstrelsy, Contemporary Variety, Dixieland & Early Jazz, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Bernando LaPallo, Champagne Riot, Slipper R…
Originally posted in 2009 TED LEWIS, "THE JAZZ KING" Ted Lewis was the original party animal. His catchphrase "Is ev'rybody happy?" still rings on the lips of millions who never even h…
Originally published in 2011 Rosa and Carmella Ponzillo are a couple  of the very few performers who rose through the ranks on the popular stage, in this case, vaudeville, to achieve a pl…
Originally posted in 2012. Today is the birthday of the great equestrienne matriarch May Wirth (1894-1978). The product of several generations of circus folk, the Australian born W…
