11,865 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the 150th birthday of Fleming W. Ackerman (1863-1946), known professionally and informally as Colonel Speck. The son of a prosperous Moravia, New York businessman, Ackerman was norm…
Today is the birthday of Edmund Newell (1857-1919), usually billed as either Major Edward Newell [sic] or General Grant Jr. One of many little people in the employ of P.T. Barnum, he is best…
Today is Mick Jagger’s birthday. While I like Mick and the Stones an enormous deal, it’s a hilarious understatement to say I’ve never had even a remote prayer of emulating …
Oh you needn’t argue with me, I know it’s true. Kubrick said there were two film-makers worth studying: Chaplin, who was “all content and no form”; and Eisenstein, wh…
Originally posted in 2009 Today is Gracie Allen’s birthday Burns and Allen are the most successful "Dumb Dora" act (or male-female comedy team) of all time. Countless such acts came be…
Today is the birthday of George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). When I was a student, his longevity (94 years, lucid to the end) seemed remarkable. Nowadays, it is almost commonplace. Sometimes it…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Comedy, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety Tagged: Burlesque on the Beach, Coney Island, Funny Lady Burlesque, Schlep Sisters
Today is the birthday of Dorothy Dickson (1893-1995). The daughter of a Kansas City journalist and hiss feminist wife, she married Carl Hyson in 1914 and the two lived in Chicago where he so…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Mistress B, Super Fun variety Show, Sweet Soubrette
Today is the birthday of the great Hollywood character actor Walter Brennan (1894-1974). When still a student in his native Massachusetts Brennan got his first professional experience in loc…
Today is the birthday of silent screen comedian Johnny Hines (1895-1970). He started out in the legit theatre as a teenager, spending about five years on the boards before beginning his film…
Today is the birthday of Maxfield Parish (1870-1966). The Duchess is far better qualified to write a post on this subject than I ever could be. But I take a back seat to no one in my love…
Today is the birthday of David Belasco (1853-1931), a towering figure in the American theatre. He was playwright, director or producer (sometimes all three) of nearly a hundred plays in his …
Today is the birthday of Lila Lee (Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, 1901-1973). Billed as “Cutie Cuddles”, she got her start performing in Gus Edwards’ kiddie act in va…
Trav S.D. (American Vaudeville Theatre) and a High Kicking Chorus of Cuties recreate burlesque as it was in Coney Island’s early 20th century glory days, and a salute to Mack Sennett&#…
The great puppeteer/ one-man theatre company Kevin Augustine (Lone Wolf Tribe) has just announced his fundraising campaign for a new season that will include shows at La Mama and Dixon Place…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island, The Loose Caboose, Throwdini
Today is the birthday of comedienne Ruth Buzzi (b. 1936). I’ve always felt a special connection to her because she was born in the same hospital as me (Westerly Hospital, Rhode Island)…
Bert Nelson (Cardbert Nelson Snyder) worked with big cats in vaudeville, circuses and films in the 20s and 30s. Nelson learned how to train large carnivores at L.A. area zoological parks lik…
Today is the birthday of Arthur Treacher (1894-1975). We don’t usually bother celebrating fast food magnates on this site, but Treacher does possess some relevance to our usual t…
Today is the birthday of one of the first female tin pan alley songwriters Blanche Merill (Blanche Howard, 1895-1966). Sometimes working with collaborators, Howard wrote special material and…
Opening tonight in the NY Musical Theatre Festival (nymf.org) is  Castle Walk, a new musical about Vernon and Irene Castle. And if you don’t know who the Castles are, shame on yo…
Today is the birthday of Bobby Sherman (b. 1943). Sherman is one of the last of a long line of old school teen heart throbs that goes back in a way to Rudy Vallee, leading through Bing Crosb…
Today is the birthday of the great American realist painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hopper painting that I haven’t loved. Â We reviewed …
Today is the birthday of Ernest R. Ball (1878-1927). One of the great songwriters of the tin pan alley era, he was also fortunate in his associations, having co-written “When Irish Eye…
