11,881 stories by "Trav S.D."
Two rare chances to see Curtis Eller and his American Circus this week: Tonight: Thursday, December 15 @ 9:00pm Rèst Âü Ránt 30-01 35th Ave. (@ 30th St.) Astoria, NY 718.729.9009 ht…
Tonight! Thursday, December 15th 7 P.M., Sid Marty Lovecraft Presents an ALL-NEW GHOST STORIES LIVE! … “One Classic, One New, One True” Featuring the WORLD PREMIERE of a NE…
Tonight join Mark Stewart & Rob Schwimmer for Spike Jones’ 100th Birthday Party! Two shows–7 and 9:30! Featuring soprano Melissa “The Note” Fathman! Polygraph Lou…
Today is the birthday of Spike Jones (see full bio here). Now, here’s Spike’s band performing that television variety perennial “The Sabre Dance” To find out more abo…
 Herschel Henlere (born this day in 1890) wrote songs (such as the famous one above), was an accompanist for the likes of Anna Held and others, and had his own big time novelty piano …
Today is the birthday of Morey Amsterdam (full bio here). In honor of the day, we present a clip from the short lived 1950 show the Morey Amsterdam Show featuring Art Carney: To find out mor…
Here now, the fifth installment in our Vaudephone series: Kyle Peterson, the Brooklyn Juggler in “Wheelin’ and Dealin’”: Vaudephone is a co-production of Travalanche/…
This is part of a little series of post-Thanksgiving mini-posts I'm doing about items you might want to consider as Holiday gifts. I can’t recommend this book highly enough! One of the…
Florence Moore (born this day in 1886) is best known to posterity as the first female emcee at the Palace. Born in Phillie, she started out in stock companies with her brother Frank. Her…
This is part of a little series of post-Thanksgiving mini-posts I'm doing about items you might want to consider as Holiday gifts. As you’ve probably guessed, there’s something v…
Today is the birthday of Lillian Roth (see full bio here). In honor of the day, we present her Mae West inspired duet with James Dunn “Come Up and See Me Some Time” from the 1933…
I wrote here a few months ago about Audrey Crabtree’s collaboration with Mexican clown Gabriela Muñoz. Gaby’s in town for a few days and she and Audrey are doing a one-night o…
Today is Stubby Kaye’s birthday (see also my post on him here). In honor of the day we present this 1965 clip from his children’s show Shenanigans: To find out more about the…
Today is the birthday of Eddie Dowling (see full bio here). In honor of the day, we present the trailer for his 1929 film Rainbow Man: To find out more about the history of vaudeville,…
Sliding Billy Watson (a.k.a William Shapiro, 1880-1940) was so called because of his sliding, skidding entrance onto the stage from the wings. The burlesque comic’s career started arou…
It’s no accident that percussive dancer Hal Le Roy (b. John Le Roy Schotte this day in 1913) started off performing as a drummer – - what is tap dancing but drumming the ground w…
Tonight at 8pm! Presented by Morbid Anatomy, Atlas Obscura and The Coney Island Museum. Curated by Joanna Ebenstein & John Del Gaudio. Featuring classic Grand Guignol performances, film,…
Today at 2:30pm, the Silent Clowns films series presents Stan and Ollie bringing us the Hal Roach holiday greetings of "Peace on earth, every man for himself, and don't forget to duck." A…
Tonight at 8:30pm at Film Film Biz Recycling, 540 President St, Brooklyn Repurposing one of the Gowanus’s hidden treasures–the beautiful Film Biz Recycling Prop Shop–for a …
Sorry, I’ve studying how to write marketing copy for Hollywood movies. Nevertheless, apparently horror isn’t just for Halloween any more. If the ghosts in A Christmas Carol are n…
I confess that, despite my affection for Victoriana, having been a little boy, I have heretofore steered a wide berth around Little Women. Lately, however, I’ve been meaning to investi…
A few words about Babes in Toyland a.k.a March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934). I’d never heard of this film until they began to show it on cable television in the 1980s. It rapidly beca…
There are numerous Nutcrackers in this city at this time of year — the Yorkville Nutcracker, now in its 16th year, is the only one that is ABOUT New York. Re-set in 19th century NY…
Today and tomorrow only! The Mt. Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden is one of New York’s best kept secrets and the holidays are the best time to experience this building’s historical…
