Dutch folk concert opening Music in the Park series Jun 6, 2009
Lex Grey and the Urban Pioneers take command of the stage on July 23, thrilling the crowd with Grey s cabaret-style showmanship and solid patchwork of wild rock concert, bar room blues, vaudeville theater and after-hours jazz jam. On July 30, classic rock returns with Johnny Moon , an 11-member strong ensemble of musicians that continue to appease the tastes of local music lovers. (Catskill Daily Mail, NY)
THE SINGING FUN AT CARLYLE Jun 5, 2009
More vaudeville than cabaret act, "Debbie Reynolds: An Evening of Music and Comedy" features medleys and snippets of songs associated with her film and stage career, sprinkled with wisecracks about her failed marriages, most famously to Eddie Fisher. "Hi, I'm Connie Stevens," she tells a ringside patron. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
John King Fisher: Outlaw and Lawma... Jun 3, 2009
They visited several saloons, ending up at the Vaudeville Variety Theater. Thompson was involved in a feud with the owners of the theater and one man had already been killed. (Suite101.com)
Bands, bites, booths at summer fests Jun 3, 2009
The event is hosted by Professor Morte and the cast of the Silver Scream Spook Show, who will provide horror show host antics and vaudeville skits between bands. $15. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Will Rogers: Movie Star and Writer Jun 3, 2009
He developed a riding and trick-roping act, thrilling people across the U.S. Rogers began incorporating political comments into his act and worked the vaudeville circuit for more than 10 years. With his southwestern drawl and quick wit, in addition to his already amazing roping act, he began to build quite a reputation. (Suite101.com)
Stage legend La Rue dies at 81 Jun 2, 2009
He made a career out of his vaudeville drag act although he disliked being called a drag artist. La Rue preferred the term "comic in a frock". (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Virginia City Players: Celebrating 60 years May 31, 2009
Ferree's original plays were so good that some were bought by American Vaudeville Theater, Smith said. She learned a lot during those summers when players put on shows seven nights a week and twice on Saturday. (Montana Standard, MT)
Rocky takes key role May 31, 2009
After an intermission, the evening wraps up with a 30- to 45-minute vaudeville show. Another attraction of the Opera House is the Cremona photoplayer, an air-driven organ with horns, strings and percussion. (Montana Standard, MT)
Bob Hope Gets His Own Stamp May 29, 2009
The Postal Service Honors The Legendary Comedian. Approaching six years after his death, comedian Bob Hope gets the ultimate tribute as the subject of a U.S. postage stamp. (Suite101.com)
Pixar's 'Up' is a fantastical voyage May 29, 2009
Its ambitions are emotional and visual rather than thematic, but on the most basic level the new film is pure vaudeville: a loopy flyaway fantasy that's hysterically funny if only to keep the darkness at bay. It's a wonderful movie - fit for the whole family and for once I mean that as praise - but it doesn't seem designed for a higher purpose the way, say, "WALL-E" did. (Boston Globe)
Old folks rarely find a good home onscreen May 27, 2009
The Sunshine BoysProbably Neil Simons best original screenplay deals with a retired vaudeville duo, Lewis (George Burns) and Clark (Walter Matthau), who agree to reunite for a TV spectacular despite the fact that they hate each others guts. While the film signaled the legendary Burns return to popular culture and kicked off a successful final act to a showbiz career almost as notable was the fact that few American movies had centered around elderly men, much less old guys who... (MSNBC -- News)
Butte readies for 2nd year of folk festival May 25, 2009
And the arrival of an estimated 75,000 people revived the copper mining town s heyday as a major destination on the vaudeville circuit, when it attracted such marquee names as Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields and Clark Gable. Butte used to be called the Las Vegas of Montana. (Helena Independent Record, MT)
Exit the king of Belvoir St, as an era in theatre closes May 25, 2009
A number of productions owe a debt to vaudeville and music-hall traditions in their rough-hewn aesthetic and transparent make-believe carnivals in which characters teeter between the comically grotesque and the tragically familiar. "I bring a simplicity of means It's based on a performance style and interactions which are fearless and develop from a trusting rehearsal process. It's a matter of providing a space where every object helps tell the story; it's not decorative but organic, and grows... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Cherokee Cowboy May 25, 2009
Rogers was a Wild West show performer, vaudeville comedian, a movie star and newspaper columnist. But somehow, he was more than any of those things. (BBC News -- Americas)
Entertainment Spotlight on Mike Lerner (37) May 22, 2009
His Mother, Myrtle, performed in vaudeville and in the early movie industry shared the stage with actress Martha Raye. Lerner was born in Hollywood and grew up around the entertainment business. (Desert Entertainer, CA)
Chicago review May 19, 2009
After Watkins's death in 1969 John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse seized on the plot and reframed the story in a vaudeville context. Gaertner became Velma Kelly; Annan, Roxie Hart. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
All the right moves May 18, 2009
She's been satirised for her singing and sacked from the spotlight, but Kerri-Anne Kennerley has survived to turn out 10 hours of morning television each week with a mix of vaudeville and women's issues. The Brisbane-born, Sydney-based host of Mornings With Kerri-Anne on Channel Nine learned to think fast on her feet under old boss Kerry Packer - he would address her as "girly" when she hosted her beloved Midday show between 1996 and 1998 - and has paid her way since 2002 in the earlier,... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
New Hampshire May 17, 2009
Hands-on owner Dennis Marka-verich runs the former vaudeville theater and silent-film house next to the town offices. He raised ticket prices last year for the first time since 1991 -- to a whopping six bucks. (Boston Globe)
What's Up? May 16, 2009
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS: When was the last time you saw a mohawked vaudeville duo duck flying pingpong balls. Clearly, you've missed GA-MAR-JO-BAT, Japan's answer to crazy physical comedy. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Scene 13: Central GA Fun...With a Touch of the Good 'Ol Days May 15, 2009
"It features Lewis and Clark - a vaudeville team that worked together for forty years successfully and mysteriously split up. They haven't spoken for eleven years and now..." The pair reunite for a variety show featuring the best of vaudeville. Though the show is hilarious, it also offers a touching look at human relationships. (13WMAZ.com, GA)
Panic Attack May 11, 2009
To Beckett s vaudeville of collapse, these performers brought their own unexamined torment. Their confusion magnified the poignance of Beckett s comedy of abdication; their routines Vladimir and Estragon s hat juggling, for instance, a flourish borrowed from the Marx Brothers Duck Soup were transformed from demonstrations of prowess to triumphs over entropy. (New Yorker)
Souter, Specter and a Soft Shoe May 11, 2009
Souter er sounds like a vaudeville song and dance team, stuck in Cleveland and still dreaming of playing the Palace. You can almost hear their Peoria humor and see their old soft shoe. (Townhall.com)
One of Last Surviving 'Wizard of Oz' Munchkins Dies May 9, 2009
Carroll danced at the Muny Theater in St. Louis when he was in grade school, he once said, and in the 1920s worked in Chicago clubs and on the Orpheum Theater vaudeville circuit. His gift of gab and comedic timing helped his popularity. (Fox News)
Obituaries in the news May 8, 2009
Born Michael Finocchiaro, Carroll danced at the Muny Theater in St. Louis when he was in grade school, he said, and in the 1920s worked in Chicago clubs and on the Orpheum Theater vaudeville circuit. He warmed up crowds for President Franklin Roosevelt while campaigning in New York City and served as a crowd-getter in President Harry Truman's whistlestop campaign. (Anchorage Daily News)
Taking a risk May 8, 2009
"We're not doing a full-blown vaudeville melodrama, but borrowing because it adds to the silliness," he says. Humphrey concedes, even with everything it has going for it "Urinetown" is a risk. (Seacoast New Hampshire)
Baltimore Development Corp. seeking proposals for Charles North properties May 7, 2009
The design is in the Louis XIV style and was envisioned as a vaudeville performance house with about 1,100 seats, the BDC said. The deadline for proposals is 12 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. (Baltimore Business Journal, MD)
Arts and Entertainment May 5, 2009
the kind with Busby Berkeley choreography, love the nostalgia of little vaudeville theaters and see the appeal of Paris in 1936, a place of little cafes, berets and accordion music but where union organizers face off against fascists as clouds of war gather, then "Paris 36" is a delight you should not miss. (8/15/07) | (4/28/08) (8/23/07) | (4/27/09). (The Current Online, MO)
Two talent agencies merge: Tying the knot May 2, 2009
The older, staid partner is the William Morris Agency, which began representing vaudeville performers in 1898 and gradually expanded. The other is Endeavor, a brash 14-year-old agency that has signed up many rising film stars. (The Economist)
The Golden Girls Is Much Edgier Than I Remember Apr 30, 2009
Which brings us to Dorothy Zbornak, who, despite having been raised by Sophia, speaks in the Catskills cracks and vaudeville cadences of Jewish humor. Either Dorothy is intended as a generically ethnic New Yorker or else she picked this up during her decades of marriage to ex-husband Stanley. (Slate)
Flapper follies of wild Midwest jazz up our times Apr 28, 2009
The main concern of the composer and lyricist was not to make money but diamond-sharp characters and vaudeville tunes that captured the cold underbelly and steamy jazz of the 1920s. When Chicago had its premiere in 1975 it was eclipsed by the sentimental and populist A Chorus Line, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1976. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Kafka's Monkey Apr 17, 2009
Kathryn Hunter as vaudeville star Red Peter ... IN BOWLER hat, white tie and tails, the vaudeville star Red Peter (played by the extraordinarily gifted Kathryn Hunter) enters stage left ... Kathryn Hunter as vaudeville star Red Peter. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Henshaw: Burlesque revival in Quincy? Apr 17, 2009
Gradually, the playbill and the clientele changed to vaudeville and burlesque. The familiar names changed, too the strippers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ann Corio, Margie Hart, Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm and Sally Keith, the tassel dancer; and the comics, Milton Berle, Eddie Cantor and Red Skelton. (Scituate Mariner, MA)
The Old Howard revived in Quincy? Apr 15, 2009
Gradually, the playbill and the clientele changed to vaudeville and burlesque. The familiar names changed, too --- to the strippers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ann Corio, Margie Hart, Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm and Sally Keith, the tassel dancer; and the comics, Milton Berle, Eddie Cantor and Red Skelton. (Weymouth News, MA)
From Venice to Varanasi Apr 13, 2009
Readers of Thomas Bernhard will recognize a familiar vaudeville of despair, whereby every possibility is shadowed by its negation, and nothing can ever be completed, because it is always being ceaselessly re-started. Bernhard is very funny, but despair particularly the menace of suicide and breakdown is always present. (New Yorker)
Mary Pickford, Lillian Russell, Glo... Apr 13, 2009
Edward Eddie Quillan (1907-1990) was born into a successful vaudeville family. As a young man, he began acting in silent films, and he was able to make the transition to talking pictures. (Suite101.com)
'Paris 36' is an awkward exercise in nostalgia, French style Apr 10, 2009
They love their neighborhood music hall, the Chansonia, and will do anything to ensure its vaudeville tradition won't end. In short, the financial crisis and social upheaval of 1930s France never looked so appealing. (Boston Globe)
The stage is Liza's Cabaret Apr 9, 2009
Her comic timing, many of her gestures, and much of her songcraft during Tuesday's Toronto show were straight out of vaudeville. In this sense, she has always performed several decades older than she really is. (Globe and Mail)
Board of commissioners again takes low road Apr 9, 2009
The curtain should close on this vaudeville act called the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners. The board has repeatedly violated the show-business axiom always leave them wanting more. (Washington Daily News, NC)
New look, new life at Strand Theatre Apr 9, 2009
Once a majestic vaudeville and movie palace, the Strand opened its doors on Columbia Road in the heart of Uphams Corner on Nov. 11, 1918. Over the years, stars such as Fannie Brice, Milton Berle, and Fred Allen often took center stage. (Boston Globe)
MSG Documentary Salutes Refurbished Beacon Apr 6, 2009
The regional network will bow The Beacon Theatre: A New York Legend Reborn on April 9 at 10 p.m. Produced by Phear Creative in conjunction with MSG, the documentary will explore the theatre's history from the moment it opened its doors as a vaudeville house in 1929, through the restoration and grand re-opening in February 2009, with a Paul Simon concert. Viewers will see a glimpse of this iconic venue via archival concert footage, artist interviews and sit-downs with the promoters who filled it... (Multichannel News)
Uplifting, fun shows this season at MCT Apr 5, 2009
The comedy, about a vaudeville duo's struggle to reunite, is one of the last comedies by Simon that MCT has never produced. In March, MCT will turn to a much more familiar classic, Grease. (Missoulian, MT)
'Run-DMZ' and the axis of vaudeville Apr 4, 2009
Asia Times Online :: Korea News and Korean Business and Economy, Pyongyang News. Just over 10 years ago, in 1998, Roy Richard Grinker published his important book Korea and its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished War. (Asia Times Online)
'War Music' an ambitious undertaking for ACT Apr 4, 2009
With few exceptions, such as a bright soft-shoe vaudeville turn by Sharon Lockwood and Ernst, most of Groag's Greek gods scenes strain for laughs they fail to earn (Aphrodite's Botticelli pose wasn't funny the first time). There are also several finely executed scenes, such as one involving the river Scamander, that add nothing to the story or theme. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Bill Tapia: String master brings ukulele back Apr 3, 2009
A vaudeville veteran at 13, Tapia helped support his family by busking on Honolulu beaches. By the early 1920s, when jazz was in its infancy, he had figured out how to infuse pop and Hawaiian tunes with a lilting sense of swing on the uke, but his love of jazz soon led him to banjo and guitar. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Events calendar Apr 3, 2009
Snake River Community Players invites performers to participate in an old-style vaudeville variety show, honoring Wendell's centennial. To join, bring a song, dance, skit or other talent to the Wendell High School auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m. APRIL 17 or 9 a.m. to noon APRIL 18. (Burley South Idaho Press, ID)
The Man from Mukinupin Apr 3, 2009
Enoch's fluid reading is well served by Richard Roberts's sand-floored set (featuring an intriguingly anachronistic caravan) and Rachel Burke's vaudeville hall lighting and shadow play. Jim Cotter's songs, arranged by Allan John and played live on a jangling upright piano, organ and tuba, sparkle intermittently though the creepy atmospheres created on double bass and scratched piano strings are effective. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Almighty Voice should take a deep breath Apr 2, 2009
The play is divided into two: Half tells Almighty Voice's story in a straightforward, lyrical manner, and half takes the story's cultural baggage apart through a postmodern vaudeville act. But first acts first: In Moses's sympathetic version of the legend - told in nine scenes, each meant to represent one phase of the lunar cycle - Almighty Voice (Derek Garza) has a young wife (Cara Gee) and the cow is killed for their wedding feast. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
5 Things You Didn't Know: New Yor... Apr 2, 2009
People thought the slang came from vaudeville. Vaudevillian Billy Tucker called New York the "Big Apple" in the Chicago Defender newspaper as early as 1922. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Jerome Anderson (3) Apr 1, 2009
He started a vaudeville variety show for legislative entertainment in the 1960s that is the precursor to today s Legislative Attach Party. Jerry s shows were complete with costumes, dancing secretaries, music and lyrics he wrote himself with the help of a friend who was a Broadway producer. (Helena Independent Record)
Lowell is no run-of-the-mill film festival Mar 30, 2009
The RKO Keith on Bridge Street was a regular stop on the vaudeville circuit, but was razed for parking in 1976. There were others - the Rialto, the Crown, the Royal, the State. (Boston Globe)
Time for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the local stars Mar 29, 2009
In the midst of "Gypsy," the fabled Broadway musical about the ambitions of an indefatigable stage mother loosely based on the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, the Mama Rose character yearns for billing for her vaudeville troupers. You know, name recognition that would validate these struggling performers. (Honolulu Advertiser)
Music's gentle man Mar 28, 2009
" Little was born under a gum tree on the banks of the Murray in 1937. He is a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe. His parents, James and Frances, were part of a travelling vaudeville troupe. Music was their life, and his, and it became through the random tragedy of life a balm, too. His mother died when he was a teenager, and songs became, in his words, his medication. He sees himself at age 72 as a link through the years. The Messenger album strengthened Little's voice so that a new generation... (The Age, Australia -- Entertainment)
A mesmerizing Geoffrey Rush sparks 'Exit the King' Mar 28, 2009
The actor is a total chameleon, part vaudeville comic, part circus clown, part overwrought tragedian, in his larger-than-life portrayal of a monarch who's dying while his kingdom collapses around him -- dying, but refusing to go quietly. "I will die when I feel like it," he sniffs royally. (WSVN-TV Miami, FL)
Infotainment Mar 27, 2009
Oscar-winner Sean Penn is set to star in The Three Stooges, a comedy based on the classic 1930s vaudeville trio, reports said. Penn, 48, who scooped his second best actor Academy Award last month for his performance in Milk, was being lined up to play Larry in the film, which is being put together. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
Sean Penn is a Stooge Mar 27, 2009
Oscar-winner Sean Penn is set to star in 'The Three Stooges', a comedy based on the classic 1930s vaudeville trio, reports said Wednesday. Penn (48), who scooped his second best actor Academy Award last month for his performance in 'Milk', was being lined up to play Larry in the film, which is being put together by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. (iAfrica.com)
Imaginative musing predicts Washington’s future? Mar 27, 2009
Think about the Roaring 20s jazz music, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, flappers, vaudeville, showboats and silent movies, he said. You left out the Great Depression. (Washington Daily News, NC)
• Wendell group invites performers to join variety show Mar 27, 2009
Rather than present a play for Dairy Days this summer, the Snake River Community Players will sponsor an old-style vaudeville variety show in honor of Wendell's centennial. "Hub City Follies" is scheduled for the evenings of June 18, 19 and 20. (Burley South Idaho Press, ID)
'Gypsy' saves the va-va-voom for second act Mar 26, 2009
Granted, there's a lot going on as Rose bulldozes her daughters into sustaining a child act on the dying vaudeville circuit. The requisite color and action is there as Baby June grows into Dainty June, resuscitating the same old shtick, but remaining perpetually 12 years old. (Honolulu Advertiser)
New Stooges Found Mar 26, 2009
Audiences have embraced The Three Stooges in a variety of mediums -- vaudeville, shorts, television and home video -- but for the communal nature of a theatrical feature remains the perfect experience. "We love The Stooges! They have been sending the world into hysterics for more than 80 years," Farrelly said in a statement last year. (IGN FilmForce)
Theatre travels through time warp Mar 25, 2009
Follies has always been a vaudeville type show something that the whole community can join in on, Kerns said. Once we decided on 70 years, we looked at what films played at the theatre and also added some world and local history, like Three Mile Island and Barbies 50th birthday. (Carlisle Sentinel, PA)
Never far from home Mar 21, 2009
But he enjoyed Shakespeare and said he wished he'd written The Gentleman Of Verona like Dorothy [Hewett] he was stagestruck and loved vaudeville and the popular theatre. " Born in Sydney in 1948, Walker grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Hughesdale. Her father, an accountant, worked for a pastoral company and her mother was musical. Her family life with her two brothers revolved around radio plays, books, singing along to the piano and overcoming the boredom of school. The actor's conservative... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Three Great Drinkers: Allen, Coward... Mar 21, 2009
That s not surprising, as he had the Irish gift of the gab, having been born Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen to a vaudeville comedienne named Isabelle Donohue Allen and vaudevillian Billy Allen. Allen did everything to extremes. (Suite101.com)
When Did Lampshades Become Essential Party Headwear? Mar 19, 2009
While it's impossible to pinpoint the first instance of a man donning a lampshade at a party, the image most likely came out of vaudeville and was popularized in early silent films. In (1917), Charlie Chaplin plays a rich yachtsman who, pursued by the police, puts a lampshade over his head and stands still as the cops pass by. (Slate)
Budget AZ: Free, cheap in Jerome, Verde Valley Mar 19, 2009
Opened in 1918 for silent films and vaudeville shows, the downstairs is now a gift shop and the upper levels lead through a cinema museum and into the restored theater. $2. (AZCentral -- Travel)
Design Annex opens in Union Square and youre wanted there too Mar 17, 2009
The two-story brick building, built in 1890, was first home to the Star Theater, which featured vaudeville acts, and in the early 20th century was a classic Nickelodeon attracting a very young and rowdy audience. In the years following, it was a dry goods store, a Salvation Army headquarters, and most recently, a Brazilian restaurant and auto glass repair shop. (Somerville Journal, MA)
