11,923 stories by "Trav S.d."
Originally posted in 2009. Much is made of the ethnic stereotyping in vaudeville, frequently committed by people of the very ethnicity being satirized. Blacks, Irish, Germans and Jews in…
Today is the birthday of Ethel Hilda “Ruby” Keeler (1910-1993). She’s another of those performers about whom I keep saying, “I haven’t done a post on her yet…
You’ve one chance left to see The Accidental Hamlet in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival (if you think it’s your cup of mead) and it’s less tha…
Today is the birthday of Alice White (Alva White, 1904-1983). Though her mother had been a showgirl, White was one of those who fell into the business as a non-actor, working first as a secr…
Today is the birthday of Agnes Thatcher Lake (nee Mersman, 1826-1907). She moved with her family to Cincinnati from her place Alsace, France at age four. At age 16 she eloped with a circus c…
Today is the birthday of the lovely Marian Seldes (b. 1928). And yes she did kiss me once, when I was development director at Theater for the New City, during one of our gala benefits. Think…
Today is the birthday of one of America’s greatest drag performers and playwrights Charles Busch (b. 1954). While Busch was inspired by Charles Ludlam and his Ridiculous Theatrical Com…
Today is the birthday of Keith Moon (1946-1978). The loss of Moon so young though perhaps inevitable was unfortunate just the same. In addition to being one of rock’s greatest musical …
A new play opening at New York Theatre Workshop Tonight! Fetch Clay, Make Man Written by Will Power Directed by Des McAnuff In the days leading up to one of Cassius Clay’s most anticip…
You may not know this but in show business, all roads lead to Hudson Brothers. It’s true — or at least it has seemed that way as I’ve wended through the sea of celebrities …
Filed under: Classical, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Cerveris, Eric Satie, Metropolitan Room
Originally posted in 2010. Rags Ragland (born John Lee Morgan Beauregard Ragland on this day in 1905) was a Minsky’s burlesque comedian who was often a foil to Phil Silver…
Originally posted in 2010 Gene Kelly (born in Pittsburgh this day in 1912) started out in a kid act with his four dancing brothers and sisters — The Five Kellys. Gene was the middl…
Today is the birthday of Frederick “Fritz”Williams (1865-1930). Williams was a performer since childhood, singing in concert saloons and playing violin in the orchestra at Tony P…
Today is the birthday of Joan Whisnant (1923-1998). Born in Red Fork, Oklahoma, Whisnant came into the world without any arms, but was taught by her parents to do everything everyone else do…
Today is the birthday of Berniece Evelyn “Jeanie” Smith (1916-1999). Born with no legs and a pair of twisted arms, she nonetheless learned to walk on her upper limbs and to do…
Today is the birthday of Grace Hayes (1895-1989). A singer in vaudeville and nightclubs, she began to find success in the 1920s, with Broadway shows like The Bunch and Judy (1922), …
Today is the birthday of the great John Lee Hooker (1917-2001), one of the most distinctive blues stylists of all time. It’s impossible to name his most famous songs without hearing th…
Today is the birthday of the famous New York wit, scribe and (for some of us) heart throb Dorothy Parker (1893-1967). I fell in love with her wax sculpture in Madame Tussaud’s, which i…
Originally posed in 2011. Ventriloquist  Carla Rhodes and her wooden partner Cecil Sinclair have a big show coming up this Friday! The show is at Cloud City in Williamsburg Brookly…
Today is the birthday of Fred Mace (1878-1917). Mack Sennett had originally met Mace, a trained dentist and aspiring songwriter from Erie Pennsylvania, while the two were fellow chorus bo…
First posted in 2010. Nick Lucas (born Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese on this day in 1897) was billed as “The Crooning Troubador” and is considered by some to be the “gr…
The passing of Elmore Leonard yesterday naturally foregrounded the writer’s most famous movies, which ended up being some of his more crimey-urban-mystery stuff like Get Shorty (…
Today is the birthday of Clarence Williams III (b. 1939), a.k.a Linc from The Mod Squad (1968-1973). When I was younger I thought that his name was a bit of an affectation. Back then it wasn…
Today is the birthday of William James “Count” Basie (1904-1984). I am thrilled to learn that the legendary bandleader had a background in both vaudeville and silent pictures. Wh…
