11,881 stories by "Trav S.D."
 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 with…
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…
I made my first silent films in 1984 (on actual film) and have made several forays into the form over the ensuing decades — a new batch is in the works in conjunction with my new book …
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players production of Pirates of Penzance will run for 6 performances only at Symphony Space (tonight December 28 through January 1). They are offering some s…
Here now, the seventh installment in our Vaudephone series: storyteller Art Wallace regaling us with an account of his inebriated trip to Baltimore. It spools out at over eight minutes, but …
Much beating of breasts and gnashing of teeth recently at the passing of Christopher Hitchens. Knowing little about the man, I found myself little moved. He seemed to have an open mind, not …
Today is the birthday of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, about whom it might be said she was a beautiful enough to drive a man to murder — except for the fact that he was already crazy. (See full …
Today is the birthday of the great Belle Baker (full bio here). Here she is singing “Hard-Hearted Hannah” (1924): To find out more about the history of vaudeville, consult…
Born this day in 1890, Eddie Rector was considered by many to be vaudeville’s best soft shoe dancer and the principle rival to Bill Robinson at tap. He was also one of the first dancer…
Today is the birthday of Cab Calloway (1907-1994). Here’s his nutty turn in International House, one of my favorite 30s comedies, which also features W.C. Fields, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, …
To help us get into a festive  spirit, the Countess and I watched this charming holiday movie the other night. In all earnestness, I was looking to switch it up a little (we̵…
Vaudeville’s premiere jazz banjoist Brooke Johns (born this day in 1893) was already playing and singing in small time when the First World War broke out. He entertained in the Navy du…
I snuck away and recorded this at lunch yesterday in a single take like a Thief in the Night.  My gift to you — the musical equivalent of a fruitcake! Have a happy holiday!
Lillian Kiernan Brown informs me that today would have been the 100th birthday of her mom, vaudeville and burlesque performer Margie LaMont. You can read all about Lamont, her sister Lillian…
Today is the birthday of Ann Pennington (full bio here) Here’s a clip of her dancing from 1929: To find out more about the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw…
Let this serve as entry #12 in our holiday gift suggestion series. Three shopping days left! The song above was written when my book came out; the clip above was shot by Bryan Enk and/or Chr…
