20 notes &
One of the coolest things we got to see today was a volume of Vaudeville “reviews” done by various talent scouts and forwarded to Tony Pastor, the “Father of Vaudeville.” The volume we looked at was dated 1902, beautifully marbled endpapers, and each “report” was taped neatly to a page. Some were typed, some carbon, and some even looked like early mimeograph! Pastor had quite a network! (click on pics to see lg version).
We managed to find the Three Keatons, who got a great review. Also found good old Ed Gray (who was obviously awake), Thomas Nast (THAT Nast..in Vaudeville???), and Tom Nawn (one of the Union Officers in ‘The General’).
I’m puzzled by the terminology, though! The phrases “Can close in one.” “Work in one.” ”Open in two, close in one.” are common throughout the reports and I’m baffled by their meaning. ”Can close in one” also appeared on one of Joe Keaton’s handwritten letters - he added it in pen beneath their logo.
Can any thespians or Vaudevillians out there shed some light on the strange lingo?
I spoke to a friend of mine who studied theatre at Columbia. I do PR for their company on occasion so I asked her about it. Billing or Bill is a list of the acts, basically a play bill. A set is an allotted time period like 20 mins or 30 mins. All in one could mean an act that has singing, acting and dancing. Open generally means to open the show or opening act. Closing would be the same, close the show or closing act. It could also mean to book the act for one week, see how it goes and then book for two. Get one in would probably mean that they should book them on their bill ;)
She said she was going to try and get more information for me from some people who did research on Vaudeville. She also said that Vaudeville actors were considered bottom of the rung and many times couldn’t get jobs, loans, etc. But for many, it launched careers. i.e. Buster
I also found this link that had a list of Vaudeville terms…I like the Vaudeville term for Buster.
Buster — A broadly-performed comic stage fall.
