Beatrice Fairfax Tell Me What To Do 1915 – This popular vaudeville song sung by famous singing comedienne Emma Carus is about America’s first newspaper advice column, “Ask Beatrice Fairfax”, which began in 1898 and was written by Marie Manning. It anticipated the Dear Abby and Ann Landers columns by half a century. Despite becoming…Continue Reading Beatrice Fairfax: America’s 1st Newspaper Adivce Column
Category: Story
Belle Story: The Belle of Vaudeville by Katherine Raymer
Belle Storey (later shortened to Story) was one of the most important coloratura sopranos of the first 30 years of the 20th century and in many ways a pioneering artist in her field, although she is forgotten and unknown even to opera buffs today. No recordings of her artistry survive to our knowledge. Born Grace…Continue Reading Belle Story: The Belle of Vaudeville by Katherine Raymer
Bert Williams: Vaudeville’s Biggest Black Superstar by David Soren
Bert Williams (New Providence, Nassau, British West Indies, November 12, 1874 – New York, March 4, 1922) was arguably the most important black star of early vaudeville and was the first to cross the color line and the first to work openly with white performers in a major Broadway venue. He was a Mason and…Continue Reading Bert Williams: Vaudeville’s Biggest Black Superstar by David Soren
Bessie Bonehill: The British Female Male Impersonator by David Soren
Bessie Bonehill (Born Betsey Bonehill in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, February 17, 1855 – died Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, August 21, 1902) performed in English music hall and American vaudeville and plays as a singing comedienne and male impersonator, dressing up in boots and jacket with a top hat and touring across America to great acclaim….Continue Reading Bessie Bonehill: The British Female Male Impersonator by David Soren
Blanche Ring: Singing Comedienne of Early Broadway by David Soren
Blanche Ring (Boston, April 24, 1871 – Hollywood, January 13, 1961) was an early star of vaudeville and one of the most important early stars of Broadway musicals. When her superstar career dimmed in the 1920s she took on character roles in Hollywood movies. Blanche Ring ca. 1915 She came from a long line of…Continue Reading Blanche Ring: Singing Comedienne of Early Broadway by David Soren
Burlesque: The “Other” Side of Vaudeville by Sidney Pullen
American burlesque, as an institution, emerged in the late 1800s and evolved greatly up until the 1920s. Historically, a burlesque was a comedic work, and American burlesque originally reflected this traditional meaning of the term. In the United States and elsewhere, burlesques would parody well-known plays or operas, or significant political and social events (McNamara…Continue Reading Burlesque: The “Other” Side of Vaudeville by Sidney Pullen
Butterbeans and Susie: Racy Comedy Trendsetters by David Soren
One of the most important and yet forgotten acts in vaudeville was the comedy team of Butterbeans and Susie, who were really Jodie Edwards (July 19, 1893 – October 28, 1967) and Susie Edwards (born Susie Hawthorne, December, 1894 – died December 5th, 1963). The couple began with independent careers, he as a singer and…Continue Reading Butterbeans and Susie: Racy Comedy Trendsetters by David Soren
Carlo Sells Keith: Early Vaudevillian- Library Entry
This series comprises contracts, photographs, handwritten scores, notes and clippings for stage “gags” and dialogues, and stage scripts by Keith and others. The photographs are mostly of Keith and his partner and companion, Maude Parker. There is a scrapbook of script notes and collected clippings of jokes, and several notebooks with script notes. The few…Continue Reading Carlo Sells Keith: Early Vaudevillian- Library Entry
Dolly Connolly and Percy Wenrich: Ragtime Superstars by David Soren
Dolly Connolly (born Chicago December 16, 1888 – died New York November 30, 1965) was perhaps the most beautiful of the famous ragtime singers and had marked out a steady career for herself in vaudeville when she met up and coming composer and accompanist Percy Wenrich, a handsome but rather shy and nerdy fellow who…Continue Reading Dolly Connolly and Percy Wenrich: Ragtime Superstars by David Soren