Just seeing the stars (Morey Ansterdam, Rose Marie, the Nicholas Brothers, BOBBY Short (not "Billy" as another contributor to this space wrote), the great Carl Ballantine, and many more provides the viewer with a living scrapbook and a real feeling for what it was like. After seeing this, I am sorry that vaudeville was dead when I grew up. Unfortunately, many of the performers from this show are now gone too. This is another reason why this oral history is so valuable to us now. It is a record of those days.
I remember vividly the great old variety shows I grew up with (Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, etc.). A great number of these people and their guests were products of the vaudeville era. It was niceto see many of them able to sing, dance and do comedy. You had to in order to survive. Vaudeville was a terrific training ground and this program shows us why.
I remember vividly the great old variety shows I grew up with (Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, etc.). A great number of these people and their guests were products of the vaudeville era. It was niceto see many of them able to sing, dance and do comedy. You had to in order to survive. Vaudeville was a terrific training ground and this program shows us why.