11,512 stories by "Trav S.D."
"Stop da music, stop da music!" as Jimmy Durante used to shout, for we have some absolute News You Can Use regarding a matter of timely importance. TCM is showing the rare and strange cinema…
In my never ending search for a Grand Unified Field Theory of Show Business, I have been harping an awful lot the last several months on the topic of the ancient Pagan holidays that were abs…
Mysteries abound about the great snake charmer Nala Damajanti (1861-?). Like Little Egypt and many famous 20th century advertising mascots, "Nala Damajanti" may have been played by more than…
What a delight it's been learning about minor movie star Winifred "Wynne" Gibson (1898-1987), whose name is an evocative mash-up of associations of folks from her own era; Wini Shaw, Bessie …
A brief remembrance of musical hall performer Harry Fragson (Léon Philippe Pot, 1869-1913). Fragson's a slippery character " both French and English, and yet not to be confused with Frakson…
July, 1963 marked the first appearance of the Marvel character Dr. Strange in Strange Tales magazine #110. As I've had occasion to mention, Dr. Strange is my favorite Marvel character. Of co…
If you're like me (and in most ways its likely you're not) you've always wondered who Pat McCormick (1927-2005) WAS. McCormick began showing up in major films and on popular TV shows in the …
I can't believe it's taken me ten days to think of this post, but on the other, prior to this was perhaps too soon and too close, and tempers were flying oddly high. For the post is obviousl…
No one would ask or expect you to love a world in which Fred Grandy (b. 1948) were a right-wing Congressman from Iowa (1987-1995), a pundit, and talk radio host. But it gets better when you …
Grace McDonald (1918-1999) and Ray McDonald (1920-1959) were an Irish brother-sister act, specializing in tap dance. They played vaudeville together as children and teens just as vaud was wi…
Message received from our friends at the League of Independent Theater, about their meeting tonight (June 27, 2023, 7:00pm) In a "post-Pandemic" landscape, along with the recent announcement…
We've had numerous occasions to mention playwright and screenwriter Sidney Howard (1891-1939) on Travalanche. Today he is best remembered as the principal screenwriter of Gone With the Wind.…
Given our recent posts here on Ancient Greek Comedy and several others on pagan holidays and their relevance to theatre, I was very happy to get a press release about a new, free production …
The 50th anniversary of the landmark PBS documentary mini-series An American Family occurred at the beginning of this year; I opted to kick the can down the road 'til today, which would have…
We just passed the 5 year mark since Anthony Bourdain's rude departure and it's still too soon. It hit us hard in our house for more reasons that you can count. Since he passed in 2018 there…
It's surely no accident that some wise people have chosen the Midsummer season for International Fairy Day. The mythical creatures are associated with this time of year, for literary reasons…
As we mentioned twice recently (here and here) June 24 is St. John's Day, the Feast of St. John the Baptist (Saint-Jean-Baptiste). It has many significances and forms of celebration around t…
Just got the memo that Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick has passed away at the of 99. If only he could have hung on another 10 months " he might have read my centennial post about him! I ha…
As we promised in our Midsummer post, a little thing on the intriguing phenomenon of the Feast of St. John. This is a day to celebrate the nativity of John the Baptist, an official Christian…
Lillian Hall-Davis (1898-1933) was one of the top British film actresses of the silent era. Then things changed " brace yourself for an unpleasant finish. A taxi driver's daughter, Hall-Davi…
Though not as a resident in a flop! I just got a nice note from David Mulkins of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors informing me that a couple of the placards I wrote for their storefront exhi…
The quotation marks surrounding part of this post's title are highly intentional. I have no doubt that many could and would vie for the coveted titled of "Father of Swing", and I have no opi…
I love those days of alignment, where several significant anniversaries pile up and add resonance to the moment. I know little of astrology, but we can favorably summon astronomy here as wel…
We take the opportunity of the Summer Solstice to continue our series of posts acknowledging the four seasonal Pagan/Christian holidays and their relation to ritual and theatre. We've done t…
Born this day, stage star Camille D'Arville, (Cornelia Dysktra, 1863-1932), also rendered Darville, d'Arville, and D'arville. Originally from the Netherlands. D'Arville trained in Amsterdam …
