11,870 stories by "Trav S.D."
Yiddish Theatre is one of the many theatrical cul-de-sacs I’ve found myself investigating as an inevitable by-product of my exploration of vaudeville. But even I, who know far more …
A post in celebration of Women’s History Month. Originally from New Jersey, Florence Bindley (1868-1951) made her name initially as a male impersonator in both American vaudevil…
Today is the 100th birthday of New York’s Palace Theatre. Built on this day in 1913 as the flagship for the big time vaudeville circuit run by E.F. Albee and Martin Beck, manager of th…
Today is the birthday of Donna Pescow (b. 1954). She was always more cute and loveable than she was funny, although John Travolta did get a few cruel laughs at her expense in Saturday Night …
A post in celebration of Women's History Month. The Harlem Playgirls were an all girl African American swing band of the late 30s and 40s. Assembled from former members of the Dixie Sweethea…
Today is the birthday of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (1887-1933). Born in Smith Center, Kansas he moved with his family to Santa Ana, California the following year. His mother …
Today is the birthday of sui generis comedian Marty Allen (b. 1922). From 1957 to 1968, and then in 1974, and then from 1984 to 1985, and then from 1990 to 1994 he was teamed with crooner…
Today is the birthday of Joan Crawford (Lucille LeSueur, 1904-1977). We leave to others the task of talking about High Crawford, i.e. the classic Crawford of Mildred Pierce (1945) and Grand …
A Post in Honor of Women’s History Month. Helene Mora (1861-1903) was considered to be in the front ranks of American vaudevillians in the 1890s but died too young to have secured hers…
Today is the birthday of Hazel Dawn (Hazel Tout, 1890-1988). Born into a family of Utah Mormons, she and her entire family moved to Wales as missionaries when she was eight, and HazelÅ
Today is the birthday of Chico Marx (1887-1961). I might be one of the few people who rates Chico as high as his two brothers as a comedian. He may not be as original as the two others, but …
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. The piece below is adapted and expanded from a guest column I…
Hello and welcome again to Vaudephone, your one stop shopping for all the best contemporary variety acts!  Today we feature the terrific Michael Townsend Wright, a show biz vet what…
A post in honor of Women’s History Month The Ingenues were a Chicago-based all-girl orchestra active from 1925 through 1937. With a typically versatile vaudeville repertoire embracing …
Today is the birthday of the great blues man Son House (1902-1988), a cohort of Charley Patton and a major influence on Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Like almost all the blues artists of …
Today is the birthday of Gilbert M. “Broncho Billy” Anderson (Maxwell Henry Aronson, 1880-1971). Raised in Arkansas and St. Louis he moved to New York City in 1898 to try his luc…
Today is the birthday of Dave Montgomery (1870-1917), for 22 years one half of one of vaudeville’s greatest teams, Montgomery and Stone. Montgomery had gotten into show business as …
Today is the birthday of Ozzie Nelson (1906-1975). Most people know him from his 1950s sit com with his wife Harriet (Hilliard) Nelson. Younger folks won’t know or remember that his or…
Today is also Carl Reiner’s birthday — he was born the exact same day as Ray Goulding! What a great day for comedy. (And interesting to note…in routines with Sid Caesar and…
Today is the birthday of Ray Goulding (1922-1990), one of the finest comic minds this nation has yet produced. He and his partner Bob Elliott (b. 1923) would be on anyone’s short list …
Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus opens for the first time at the Barclay’s Center tonight! (Sorry, MSG. As anyone can tell you, Brooklyn is now the center of the known univers…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of Patrick McGoohan (1928-2009). He is …
General Tom Thumb, or, the Commercial Wonders of 19th-Century America, Illustrated Lecture with Matthew Wittmann, Curatorial Fellow at the Bard Graduate Center and author of Circus and…
Today is the birthday of Star of Vaudeville #310: Moms Mabley (for more on this show business pioneer see my article here). And the day is already off to an awesome start. Look at this great…
A post in celebration of Women’s History Month. I’ve only been able to pick up a few facts about the Rita Mario Orchestra, an all-girl ten piece band that seems to have been most…
