Vaudeville Program

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Here are some interesting facts about the best tap dancers of all time. Bill Robinson 'Bojangles' was born in 1878. He began his dancing career when he was 6-years old. At 12-years old he joined 'The South Before The War' traveling company. His first performance in front of a white audience did not happen until he was 50-years old. He acted in movies during the 1930s with famous starts like Will Rogers and Shirley Temple. While visiting a dance class, he performed a tap dancing routine for one hour without repeating the same step twice. He insisted that his feet were responding to the music and his head did not know anything about it.

John 'Bubbles' Sublett was the greatest improvising dancer of all time. He created a real innovative style of tap dance known as the 'rhythm tap'. He was 6-years old when he joined up with Ford Lee 'Buck' Washington. They worked together as 'Buck and Bubbles' until Buck past away in 1955. The team was featured in more than twelve Hollywood productions. After Buck died, he toured with Bob Hope in Vietnam entertaining the troops.

Gene Kelly was born in 1912 in Pittsburgh, PA. He taught dancing in their family-owned studio for six years before moving to New York. He landed his first big break when he was cast in Rodgers and Hart musical 'Pal Joey.' He won an honorary Oscar in 1952 for 'his versatility as an actor, singer, director, dancer and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film'.

Fred Astaire was born in 1899 in Omaha, NE. He began to dance at the age of seven, with his sister Adele. They danced together until she retired in 1932. He began his movie career in 1933 dancing with Cyd Charisse, Eleanor Powell, Ginger Rogers and Judy Garland. His singing, though untrained, was admired by some of the greatest songwriters at that time. His choreography is famous for its inventiveness, wit and musicality.

Gregory Hines was tap dancing when he was 5-years old. He performed as part of the family act of 'Hines, Hines and Dad' with his brother and father. He performed in numerous Broadway productions and in 1992 won a Tony for 'Jelly's Last Jam'. He was a great actor and outstanding 'tap dancer'. In 2001, he starred and produced a Showtime original film, 'BoJangles' where he played tap legend Bill Robinson.

Ann Miller born in 1923 started dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets. When she was 13-years old, Lucille Ball discovered her in San Francisco's 'Black Cat Club'. She ended up landing a contract with RKO and becoming famous for her tap dancing abilities. She starred with James Stewart and Jean Arthur in 'You Can't Take It With You' which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1938.

Eleanor Powell started performing with the Vaudeville Kiddie revue in 1923. She signed with MGM in 1935 and got her first starring role in 'Broadway Melody of 1936'. Her endless energy, enthusiasm and fantastic dancing delighted the audiences. She danced with Fred Astaire in 'Broadway Melody of 1940' to create one of the greatest tap sequences in film history. These are only some of the best tap dancers of all time who have opened the door for other dancers who want to get in the business.

Terrence Bennett maintains a number of tap related websites & blogs. Want to see the best tap dancer performing? Find the web's greatest collection of tap dancing video at FamousTapDancers.com!

Harry Houdini: An Introduction to His Life and Works

Born in 1874, Harry Houdini would become one of the world's most renowned magicians. He began his magic career performing in sideshows at cheap attractions known as Dime Museums. He played the Wild Man in circus acts and taught himself all of the traditional card tricks.

He began the rudimentary versions of his escape acts in the 1890s. He met his wife while he and his brother Dash were performing at Coney Island under the billing of The Brothers Houdini. Bess Rahner replaced Dash and the program was renamed The Houdinis. Bess remained Harry's stage assistant for the rest of his career.

In 1899, Harry met another person who would become a vital part of his professional career- manager Martin Beck. It was Beck who encouraged the young magician to focus more on the escape acts and less on the more traditional magic. Beck booked The Houdinis on a vaudeville circuit. The act was so popular that the duo was on stage at the best vaudeville houses within months. They then toured Europe, where Harry became known as "The Handcuff King" due to his ability to escape from those restraints.

As part of his act, Houdini would encourage the local police to put him in handcuffs and lock him up in their jail- often after allowing them to conduct a strip search. These antics brought him a great deal of success and material wealth. He was able to purchase a gorgeous dress, originally made for Queen Victoria, as a present to his mother and a home stateside in Harlem, New York (where it remains standing to this day).

In the early 1900s, Houdini was back in the United States performing and escaping from entrapments such as handcuffs, jails, ropes, chains and straightjackets- often when hanging from rope in plain view of the audience. Imitators began to spring up, inspiring Houdini to move his escapes to water filled cans. The chance of his drowning brought the audiences back in. He encouraged others to come up with things from which he could escape. These entrapments ran a wide gamut from mailbags to nailed shut crates to the belly of a whale that had washed on shore.

Houdini never claimed that his escapes were due to any supernatural powers, but promotional materials from the time claimed he could "dematerialize". He did let out some of the "tricks" behind his stunts while he was alive to others in the magic community. Many types of locks and cuffs could be opened with the proper amount of applied force. Some others could be opened with shoe strings. He often carried picks or keys hidden on his body and could regurgitate a small key. When he was tied or straitjacketed, he allowed for space to move by puffing out his chest and shoulders, moving his arms away from the rest of his body and then dislocating his shoulders.

Houdini's death has become a sort of legend on its own. After one of his shows, Houdini was approached backstage by a college student named J. Gordon Whitehead. Whitehead asked if there were truth to the rumor that the magician could take any hit to the stomach. Whitehead hit Houdini three times before the magician said to stop. There were several more blows put in during which Houdini seemed to be in pain. That incident occurred on October 22, 1926 and Houdini did not die immediately. He made it to a show in Michigan on the 24th and performed with a high fever. He was diagnosed with acute appendicitis but refused treatment. He died of peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix on Halloween night of 1926. He was 52 years old.

About the Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for magic, art, and Tantra. You can find the best marketplace for magic, art, and Tantra at these 3 sites for magic, Harry Houdini, art, and Tantra.

Does anybody have the complete lyrics to "I Played the Part," from "Slings and Arrows."?

"Slings and Arrows" was a Canadian production aired on the Sundance channel. It had three seasons, and appeared to be based on the experiences of those who had worked with Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival. It had some quite catchy vaudeville-style songs played at the beggining and end of each program. This particular song was played at the end of at least one of the programs, and I was told that its lyrics are printed amongst the extras of the season 3 dvd's, which I don't own.

http://www.lyricsdownload.com/raven-mystify-lyrics.html

Try this.

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Can't Miss It: Thursday
A NICE SHOWING : Things just aren’t what they used to be. Kids these days. Internet. What not. Still, we do what we can. Seattle may be one of the techiest cities in the country. Does that hurt our cred? No Problem -- we’ve also formed a strong relationship with the performing arts of yore, namely variety, Vaudeville and burlesque. Dare we say Seattle has the best burlesque in the country? We’ve ...

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