11,758 stories by "Trav S.d."
Buatier deKolta (1845-1903) was a French magician who also toured England and America in the 1870s and 80s. He is credited with devising many illusions still in use today, including the Milt…
The infant who would become Aileen Stanler (1893-1982) was christened Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge. She was born in Chicago to English parents. The father died when she was very young; the …
Morris Meyerfeld (born Moses this day in 1855) was sort of the Keith to Martin Beck’s Albee in the real creation and expansion of the Orpheum Circuit, which ruled the Big Time west of …
Today is the birthday of the much-loved and much-hated Frank Fay, much emulated by generations of stand-up comedians and emcees (For a full bio go here). Also featured with him the documenta…
I’ll be there, and how! For more on the film’s director Todd Browning, go here. Him Moore, of course, is my collaborator on Vaudephone.
Presenting the perfect love child of Vaudevisuals.com and Travalanche/ The American Vaudeville Theatre: Vaudephone! The Vaudephone revives the old concept of Vitaphone vaudeville for the Vim…
MONDAY NIGHT FESTIVAL OF MGM SILENTS STARTS AT THE FILM FORUM TONIGHT,NOVEMBER 14, WITH NEW 35mm PRINT OF KING VIDOR’S THE CROWD. LIVE PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT BY STEVE STERNER!
This post is one in a series that defines for the layman the various types of variety arts. For the full panoply go here. In 1926, live vaudeville was slammed with a new type of competition …
Opening tonight at the Metropolitan Playhouse! A rare chance to see a stage production of the ultimate “tradition vs. show business” melodrama, Samuel Raphaelson’s The Jazz…
Today is the birthday of the great Bert Williams, one of American comedy’s great geniuses, and the Jackie Robinson of American show business. For a full bio on him and his partner Geor…
Well, we made it! As promised earlier, here is our eleventh post of the day. This amazing clip from the Library of Congress collection is nearly a century old. These entertainers certainly n…
Tomorrow, Nov 12 at 2:30m, the Silent Clowns will be presenting “The Loopy Legacy of Lupino Lane (and his brother Wallace)” at the Performing Arts Branch of the New York Public L…
This post is one in a series that defines for the layman the various types of variety arts. For the full panoply go here. In the early part of the twentieth century, Jews had their own segre…
ROCK! KEYTARS! UNICORNS! SUPERMAJOR RETURNS! Your friendly neighborhood band of rockers is back to melt your face (not literally) with an evening of musical goodness on a very significant an…
One of the coolest experiences I ever had was when I was working at Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT) and I got to go on a behind the scenes tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard through …
Today, 11/11/11 is a prefect storm of elevens, and to honor this remarkable (if completely arbitrary) occurrence, today I am going to post 11 blogposts before 11:11am. Who cares about this s…
We who have not felt the sting of a proper World War in 64 years cannot appreciate the deuced inconvenience such a development can be, especially where important matters like show business a…
Neuer Deutscher Film director Werner Herzog‘s cameras have taken us everywhere by now, from the jungles of South America in Fitzcarraldo to the Alaskan tundra in Grizzly Man to the pre…
This weekend, two amazing lectures by the Museum of Morbid Anatomy at Observatory devoted to cornerstones of fin de siècle Paris–Grand Guignol horror theatre and diabolical liq…
Today is the birthday of Joe Penner (more on Mr. Penner here). Here’s Joe in the 1939 racetrack comedy The Day the Bookies Wept: To find out more about the history of vaudeville,Â…
The Brox Sisters were an early singing trio, whose Tennessee origins brought a certain Southern charm to the act. Lorayne was born on this day in 1901; her sisters Bobbe (a.k.a. Dagmar) and …
Most years, when I am not involved in a Fringe Production myself, I try to catch a dozen or so shows in the New York International Fringe Festival. Unlike the blinkered and beleagered victim…
Swayne’s Rats and Cats (sometimes spelled Swain’s, sometimes remembered as Nelson’s) was a notorious animal act of late vaudeville, late enough that it was fondly recalled …
This post wraps up our series profiling the many performers I've presented through my American Vaudeville Theatre in celebration of its 15th anniversary. There are dozens more valued and bel…
