It's a heresy, I reckon, that we wrote first here about John R. Neill, the second illustrator of Oz books before treating of the founder W.W. Denslow (1856-1915). The W.W. stands for "Willia…
I don't even know if children are introduced to the traditional American legendary folk heroes any more, so perhaps I can't assume that some readers know the stories of Paul Bunyan, Mike Fin…
This one goes out to my Texas friend Jennifer B. Hargis! Harold B. Franklin (1889-1941) was a New York kid who started out as a vaudeville booking agent, then worked his way up to managing t…
This is not to slight black author Ralph Ellison, it's just that I wouldn't know JAMES Ellison (1910-1993) if I tripped over him " in spite of having seen him in at least a couple of dozen m…
Born 150 years ago today, the remarkable Czech-American musician, bandmaster, composer, circus performer, sculptor, art collector, and banker Bohumir Kryl (1875-1961). With his leonine mane …
The Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs were founded in 1875, 150 years ago. We thought we'd mark the day with some historic background on horse racing in the U.S. First, though I want to ref…
If some reputable sources (The New York Times, the Associated Press, Variety, the U.S. Congress, et al.) are to be credited today would be the 100th birthday of Roscoe Lee Browne. However…
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 …
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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 …