Variety Shows ( #AtoZChallenge )

If all the world's a stage then a variety show is like a microcosmic representation of the universe in all of its infinite variety...

A holy grail of television variety shows

       One of the biggest attractions of the vaudeville stage show was the variety of entertainers presented.  In the span of a couple hours on the same stage one could enjoy singers, dancers, and comedians along with jugglers, magicians, acrobats, or whatever talent had been employed for that show.  It was an extravaganza intended for the delight of audiences who didn't get to see such things on a daily basis.

        While radio might have helped vaudeville in several ways, the advent of television was the death knell for vaudeville.  If movies had already taken a toll on the vaudeville show, television essentially sealed the deal.  The live stage variety show became a rare event in theaters while these shows became the mainstay of television.  Families in the fifties and sixties regularly gathered around their television sets to watch variety shows throughout the week.  For over two decades The Ed Sullivan Show was the most popular of them all.

          For performing acts like my family--The Juggling Jacksons-- an appearance on The Ed Sullivan show was synonymous with "hitting the big time."    A big break came in the spring of 1970 when the show's talent coordinator contacted our agent to have us come to Philadelphia to audition for the show.  It was uncommon for my father to accept an audition offer, but it was worth making the exception for a chance at Ed Sullivan.  

           Since we were living in Tennessee at the time, my father decided to take some time off from work and make the trip a vacation.  We visited NYC and DC among other places.  The audition went very well and it looked like we would be set for the upcoming season.  Then the show was cancelled from the CBS line-up.  After over 20 years and our chance to make it on national TV the Ed Sullivan dream vanished.  

          There are still variety revues being presented throughout the United States and other parts of the world--there likely always will be as long as there are entertainers with skills to present to audiences. There is not the organization in routing or organized tours like there were in the heyday of vaudeville, but there is certainly the potential to do so.  After all, with the resources available today a very organized tour could be put together--and some have been.

          Today's audiences are more sophisticated than a hundred or even fifty years ago. It's like they've seen everything and have access to anything they'd want to see by looking no further than their computer screens and television sets.  Still, people enjoy being entertained.  Variety shows have evolved in some cases in order to accommodate modern minds.  Then there are the retro shows that seek to recapture the flavor of the old shows.  Something for everyone is like a mantra for modern times.

          Perhaps there is something worth considering in this thought.  I am considering something.

          When is the last time you saw a live variety show, whether professional or amateur?  Are there any television variety shows that you still watch and enjoy?    Which bands have you seen that have incorporated elements of novelty entertainment?

Theaters ( #AtoZChallenge )

Those vaudeville days of riding the rail from town to town playing the  marvelous old theaters must have been a grand time!  Also rather grueling I'd guess, but grand nevertheless...

Lincoln Theater Marion Virginia

The Ritz  Tiffin Ohio

          During the seventies and eighties when I was on the road with stage show companies, we played hundreds of school auditoriums, legion halls, and other facilities that had been booked for us.  Some of these were very nice with good stages and decent lighting while others were a challenge to set up in and make the show look as high-quality as we could.  There are some stories to be told about some of these odder venues, but I'll save those for another time.

          Some of my favorite places that we played were the old theaters from the vaudeville era.  Those were the days when theaters were constructed with themes in mind.  They were luxurious and ornate with fancy chandeliers, wall murals, and velvet seats.  Going to a theater for a show or a film was not just an outing, but an event.  Fortunately for us today, a good many of these old theaters have been maintained and in many cases meticulously restored to their earlier glory.

          Though it was usually pretty awesome to behold the auditoriums and to appreciate the large stages that facilitated our work presenting our show, it was perhaps even more fascinating to experience the aura of the history in the backstage area and dressing rooms.  After setting the show up, if I had enough time, I would often explore those backstage areas and places like the basements if they had them.  One could imagine the players of past time preparing for their own shows and presenting them to the packed houses who would attend. 

          Thinking back on some of those theaters we played, there are many I recall while others I would have to think deeply to revive those memories.  We played small theaters as well as big theaters. There was the Tivoli Theater in the small town of Spencer Indiana and the Ritz in Tiffin Ohio.  Playing in my parents' home state of West Virginia, our shows performed at the Metropolitan in Morgantown and the Robinson Grand in Clarksburg.  Then there were the elegant houses such as the Missouri Theater in St Joseph and the Saenger in Hattiesburg Mississippi.

          Playing theaters such as these added a certain element of greater legitimacy to what we were doing as a touring theater company.  Somehow it was like being a part of history to be in such historical places.  And the good news is that most--maybe all--of those old theaters we played 30 to 40 years ago are still in operation.  Additionally, many shuttered former vaudeville houses are being restored to their former glory and reopened for touring companies and local productions.

         Someday I'd like to go back to some of these theaters to experience them again.  To wander the backstage areas, explore the dressing rooms, and feel those exquisitely adorned auditoriums all around me.  A tour sounds like fun.  To stand on the stage under the lights one more time would be exciting as it evoked old memories.

          Those wonderful old theaters--they are out there all across America.   Just where I would like to be.  One that I've got my dreams fixated on is the Lincoln Theater in Marion Virginia.  I've never played that theater or even been inside for that matter.  Marion is like my dream town--has been for many years.  Knowing that there is an elegant old restored theater there makes it all the more appealing.   Yes, there are enough old restored theaters across America to make for a fine tour. 

             That sounds like a pretty cool dream to me.


Are there any old vaudeville era theaters where you live--restored or not?   Have you ever performed or watched a performance in one of these types of theaters?   Does anyone have any information about Marion Virginia or the surrounding area that they'd like to share?




                 

Vaudeville Victim

           In the 1950s it was almost as though the United States was waking from a sleep sometimes filled with dreams and other times nightmares.  The second half of the 20th century saw the emergence of the victims of the first half.  There were the victims of wars, the Great Depression, and political and social change.  And then there were the victims of vaudeville.  My father was a victim of vaudeville.


         My father was born as vaudeville was dying.  November 16th of 1932, ten years after my father's birth, the famed Palace Theater in New York switched to a movies only programming schedule.  The live vaudeville shows were becoming a thing of the past as the popularity of talking pictures swept the nation.

        Some of the vaudeville stars made the successful transition from stage to screen.  Bob Hope, W.C. Fields, Al Jolson, Mae West, and many others did well in the new medium.  The biggest group of artists to suffer was the variety acts--the magicians, acrobats, animal acts, and jugglers.  The touring vaudeville circuit was no longer the lucrative guarantee for work that it had been prior to talking pictures.

         After leaving his stint in the Navy during World War Two and a couple of seasons on the basketball team of West Virginia University, my dad began pursuing a part time career as a juggler.  He still had the dreams that many entertainers of that era had:  Vaudeville was going to come back bigger than ever.  


         The shows he worked in the fifties almost seemed like vaudeville.  Veteran acts from that past era were booked on shows with newcomers like my dad.  Some of the acts were legends in the business.  The show line-ups were often much like those one might have seen twenty years earlier, except now the venues were different.  Instead of the grand old theaters of the heyday of the vaudeville era, now the shows were in nightclubs and at corporate functions.  The working entertainers were still living the dream.

          But that dream was dying.  Rock and roll had arrived and was here to stay.  And then there was the biggest vaudeville threat of them all--television.  The vaudeville dreamers no longer dreamed of getting booked on a "circuit" or of playing the Palace Theater.  Now it was The Ed Sullivan Show or one of the other television variety shows.  The dreams of the vaudevillian dreamer didn't die easily.

           My dad never made it to The Ed Sullivan Show--almost but no cigar.  We auditioned our act for the show producers and they were very interested.  Then the show went off the air.  We worked regularly and performed in some big time shows.  We made some pretty decent money for a job on the side, but my dad was no idle dreamer.  He always kept a good daytime job.  His juggling act was something he did because he loved it and he had a vaudeville dream that started in his childhood.

          Many people today may have never heard of vaudeville or may not have an idea of what it was.  Now vaudeville is mainly only of interest to a few historians or a handful of hobbyists who have an interest in the era.  Movies about vaudeville are not especially popular anymore and are only occasionally run on classic movie channels.  Vaudeville is dead and so are most of its victims.

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         Have you voted for Alex J Cavanaugh's book trailer yet?  Alex is one of the A to Z co-hosts. The trailer for his book CassaStar is part of the You Gotta Read Reviews Book Video Contest.  Make sure you click on over and vote for his trailer.   Voting will close 11:59 PM Central April 26--that's tonight if you are reading this today!  Show your support for our gracious A to Z co-host Alex J. Cavanaugh and if you've never visited his blog now is a good time to do so.


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If you haven't heard yet, there will be an A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post on Monday May 2nd.  Read more about this post here.
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Are you a fan of vaudeville?   Do you have any favorite vaudeville inspired movies?  What is your favorite genre of performance entertainment?




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