11,745 stories by "Trav S.D."
The New York Neo-Futurists are relaunching their long-running hit (like a decade long) Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at the Kraine Theatre tonight, and reviving their more recent hi…
Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz on this day in 1912) was a Lebanese-American comedian and singer, best known for his long-running tv show Make Room for Daddy (a.k.a The Danny …
Born this day in 1868, Peter F. Dailey would earn his greatest fame as a member of Weber and Fields stock company, where he reigned (all 250 lbs of him) from the ’90s through his early…
Georgie Price (born this day in 1901) was one of the great singer/comedian/ entertainers of the sort they don’t make any more, cut from the same cloth as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Georg…
The lady in question’s real name was Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones (born this day in 1869). Adelina Patti was one of the great opera singers of the 19th century. Sissieretta was cal…
And now, here’s the meat of Shane Baker‘s Yiddish story-telling act, the next part of our Vaudephone series: Vaudephone is a co-production of Travalanche/ the American Vaudev…
Here now, the eighth installment in our Vaudephone series: Yiddish-language performer Shane Baker, here doing a hypnotism bit: Shane’s act was in three parts — this is the first …
You may know the 1965 Otto Preminger film Bunny Lake is Missing, with Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier and Noel Coward. Well, the creators of this new version DON’T! And thereby hangs it…
Poor James Harrigan. The Original Tramp Juggler had his act stolen by many (most famously W.C. Fields) and posterity is apt to mix him up with the better known Ned Harrigan of Harrigan and H…
This post is one in a series that defines for the layman the various types of variety arts. For the full panoply go here. The Chop Suey Circuit is the not-very-respectful nickname for the lo…
The first Anna May I ever knew was an elephant at the Big Apple Circus, named in honor of America’s first Asian American star, Anna May Wong. Born this day in 1905, the human Anna May …
Myself and two muchachos went out to Coney Island yesterday to take in the annual Polar Bear ritual. Believe it or not the picture above was taken January 1! Having gone into the drink m…
 Photo by Jim Moore Tonight, January 2, 8-11pm!  Dixon Place presents Bindlestiff Open Stage Variety Show First Monday of Every Month, starts January 2, 2012 Dixon Place, 161A Chryst…
Born this day in 1892, Lillian Leitzel (Leopoldina Alitza Pelikan) was a second generation circus performer, born and raised in Germany. In 1910, she came to the U.S. with an aerial troupe c…
 Tony de Marco (born today in 1898) was one of the premiere 20th century ballroom dancers. Starting in his native Buffalo he began in small time vaudeville and burlesque, working withÂ�…
Diminutive and child-like, Frances White (born today in 1896) is best known for her coy rendition of the song represented above. A Seattle native, she was a chorus girl in San Francisco when…
This is the 15ooth blogpost on Travalanche! Happy New Year!
If I do say so myself, some of the best performances I have ever given are forever lost and were witnessed only by an audience of two (and, gee, I sure hope they back me up on that!). I refe…
Rex Allen (born this day in 1920) is undoubtedly best to know to modern audiences as that highly recognizable narrator of Disney wildlife movies (and many other films and commercials. He sta…
The coolest New Year’s Day event that I know of doesn’t even happen in New York — it’s Philadelphia’s annual Mummer’s Parade. Rooted in Medieval tradition…
Hugo? Children? Allow me to digress with this reminiscence, concerning the other Hugo, the Man of a Thousand Faces: Okay, now that’s out of the way. After weeks of eager anticipation I…
What a way to polish off the old year! Tomorrow (December 31), starting at 6am (eastern), Turner Classic Movies is featuring several of the Marx Brothers’ films, and I’m just cra…
Vincent Lopez (born this day in 1895) was a popular bandleader of the 1920s and 30s. He started out as a piano player for vaudeville acts like Rooney and Bent. In 1917 he organized his first…
Today at noon (eastern) on TCM, W.C. Fields second-to-last film from his brilliant “late period” at Universal: The Bank Dick. One of his most subversive films (undoubtedly becaus…
Tonight at 8pm (Eastern) on TCM: The Great Ziegfeld (1936). In this heavily bowlderized account of the life of this notorious ladies man, William Powell plays Florenz Ziegfeld as just a shad…
