11,829 stories from Trav S.D.
Three cheers for the Bronx " and I don't mean Bronx cheers! I am amused to see that this year "Bronx Week" lasts from May 5 to May 18, which is two weeks, and consists of events that pretty …
Your correspondent left off bundling biographical posts a long time ago, but in this case it just made so much sense because both of our subjects, both born of the same day, were both member…
My friend David Mulkins of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (who gave us the Windows on the Bowery project) has come out with a new pictorial history of the Bowery, just in time for May Day …
Having mentioned Bugs Bunny some 50 times on Travalanche, I wanted to finally do a post on the rascally rabbit for Bugs Bunny Day (April 30, in honor of the anniversary of his appearance, so…
Well, my talk at the Great Neck Historical Society about the Marx Brothers in Great Neck was many months ago but I only just noticed that the show we made out of it for our local public acce…
Well now. We certainly live in interesting times. The world seems to have slipped its moral gears. I can remember a time when there were certain political facts that seemed as well establish…
Third time's a charm and this is my third piece on Dead Outlaw which, just opened at the Longacre Theatre. The first one, on the off-Broadway opening and some background on the show, is here…
It's true! I've been fans of them both for about 40 years, and never knew until recently that Nora Dunn (b. 1952) and Kevin Dunn (b. 1956) are sister and brother. And of course once you lear…
It's odd that most Americans don't know the name Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), given that plenty of people (movie fans at any rate) know several of his works, as they often have been adapted …
Originally posted on Travalanche in 2010. Updated for this bicentennial occasion. William Henry Lane (a.k.a Master Juba) came along way too early to be in my "Stars of Vaudeville" series, bu…
Unless time has embellished memory, I'm pretty sure I met German-American actress Dolly Haas (1910-1994) in the early '90s, not long before she died. It would have been on the same occasion …
We were privileged yesterday to attend the 2025 edition of Cabaret in Captivity: Songs and Sketches from Terezin, now in its 12th year. I saw it for the first time and reviewed it here back …
We may soon reach the point where posts about The Great Gatsby will require their own section here on Travalanche, which is funny because it is not my favorite novel by a long way. I certain…
Today is the office pub date of Lisa Stein Haven's new book Early Buster Keaton: From the Vaudeville Stage to Comique Films: 1899-1920. This book is of especial interest to this reader as it…
100 years ago today (April 28, 1925), Ralph Spence's spook comedy The Gorilla opened on Broadway. We've come absurdly close to writing about this semi-classic on Travalanche in the past. For…
April 27 was the birthday of stage actor Dan Marble (1810-1849). Marble was one of the great "stage Yankees" like Ezra Kendall, John E. Owens, Cal Stewart, Charles Mathews, James Hackett, Ge…
Sam Patch (1807-1829) was America's first daredevil. A little math will tip you off that he died young, as all the best (yet worst) daredevils do, and yet his memory lived long. He became se…
April 26 being the birthday of Anita Loos, I thought I would take the opportunity to look at her best known work, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which turns 100 years old this coming November. I …
When I first heard there was an actor named Walt Whitman (1849-1928) my first take was "You can't do that!" But of course he could. After all: a) it was his real name; and b) at the time he …
New York hot jazz lovers! I'm already booked tomorrow so I'm telling YOU so you can attend this for me! My friends from Archeophone Records Richard Martin and Meagan Hennessy will be at the …
Penguins International tells us its World Penguin Day " and who are we to squawk? We observe the day with this honor roll of penguin related characters from pop culture. We were surprised to…
It's quite true " there once was a director and producer named Orville O. Dull (Orvid Oscar Dull, 1888-1978). The jokes just write themselves, and I'm shocked that Bob and Ray didn't seize o…
Cindy Adams (b. 1930) turns 95 years old today " which means that she has never been young the entire time she has turned out her New York Post column. She started it in 1979 when she was on…
Reuben "Rube" Bloom (1902-1976) was a writer of rags and tin pan alley songs, a band leader, accompanist, and on occasion a singer. His name was pronounced "Ruby" by some back in the day. Th…
Today is Yom HaShoah, Israel's official Holocaust Remembrance Day. It takes place on the 27th day of Nisan (sundown April 23 into April 24). This is distinct from International Holocaust Rem…
