Some of you know that I have a fascination with Vaudeville and the roots of modern entertainment. We often forget that many of those who first established the conventions of movies, television, and popular music performance were first vaudevillians. I am also a big fan of swing music, both early and the neo-swing revival of the 90s. I have sometimes daydreamed about opening a modern vaudeville theatre.
The artists of that era were truly amazing performers and their energy and talent is often missing from our modern entertainment industry.
Watch the amazing video above, from the film “Stormy Weather.” It showcases the extraordinary talents of some of my favorite performers from that bygone time: the fantastic Cab Calloway and the stupendous Nicholas Brothers . Fred Astaire said this sequence was the finest piece of tap dancing ever filmed.
Interesting… the old Utah Theater on Main Street in Salt Lake has just gone up for sale. It was in Today’s Salt Lake Tribune. I have worked in theater for a long time, and at one point I put a group together to investigate the purchase of the old Promised Valley Playhouse from the Church when it was moth-balled about ten years ago in favor of a parking structure.
I’d be tempted to try to buy a theater like that if I were wealthy. It is sad to see so many beautiful old theaters being demolished to make space for modern society. Despite the miracles of modern technology, there really is nothing like seeing a live performance.
In college, some friends of mine and I put together a vaudeville-ish variety show. That project is what later lead us into puppetry. We still sometimes bounce around the idea of a variety show hosted by a puppet master of ceremonies we call Tom Foolery…
Wow, those guys must have really strong groin muscles… lifting themselves up like that from doing the splits. Yowza! That was pretty entertaining to watch.