Hi Everybody, My name is Arthur Chittenden and I recently received some data from New Orleans which made mention of Eddie Chittenden who worked as a volunteer organizer at the schools in the area arranging and directing the school fund raising musicals, black-faced minstrels concerts drama events. Quote:- "According to my recollections (I was 6-11 years old at the time), Mr. Chittenden was an Englishman who was retired from the vaudeville stage in New York, and before that a veteran of music hall performances in his native Britain. He did the directing of these productions on a volunteer basis, and they were quite popular until the mid-50s, when the emerging civil rights movement changed sensibilities about the propriety of the whole genre, particularly under church sponsorship, and the local archbishop put an end to them." Any suggestions on where to look, actors directories etc. will be greatly appreciated. Best Wishes Arthur (Chittenden one-name study) Sydney Australia.

Hello all Wonderful memories are surfacing. Blackpool still attracts the hundreds of thousands every year. Some of the early shows I remember as a girl were .. 'Old Mother Riley' Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane .. Tessie O'Shea .. Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warris .. they appeared with Tess in a show called HAWAIAN SCANDALS. George Formby in pantomime .. Sandy Powell .. Wee Georgie Woods .. so many others and many of the dance bands. Could any one give the words of the song sung by two ladies who appeared in Michael Barrymore's show just a few years ago. It was called 'The Blackpool Trams'. I grew up in Cleveleys and how I remember those trams in the holiday season. Full up with sunburned visitors and we would have to wait for at least four trams before one would stop with room for us. But the Blackpool shows were marvellous. Palace Varieties, New Opera House, Feldmans, the Piers, Icecapades at the Pleasure Beach. Plenty of memories .. Marjorie in New Zealand

Brian and I were given a notebook that contained part of the notes made by the spieller of a certain show on the prom - how many can guess which one ? Ladies and Gentlemen in a moment Im going to turn those tokens into money or the equivilent of money in your hands but while you puzzle it over, why, or how, you are standing in front of a show a show that was banned from London owing to the interferance from a body of narrow minded people who consider this perfornance too daring for the British public to see but being aware of B/pools reputation for attracting broard minded people it was decided that the show should open here but first of all please do not associate this theatre with a side show because it is a first class theatricial entertainment of the most daring and amazing kind introducing performers such as Yasmin. Now Yasmin is a young girl who you will meet inside who will give a stage demonstration that has only been seen in the Kasbah in Algiers and who because of the nature of her performance was actually refused a visa to enter the United States of America to fulfill a professional engagement at the Palace Theatre Broadway New York City. At this point I am instructed to emphasise the fact that there is nothing in this show that would embarrass the ladies in any way as a matter of fact for one or two excellent reasons my producer asks me to extend a special invitation to every lady in my audience especialy those who are married or those who are contemplating marriage because he considers, and rightly so that it is vitally important to their future married happiness that every lady in this audience should see this show. Another of our artistes is Sonia who was a lovely girl, I use the word was because she is lovely no longer owing to a certain kind of torture that I dare not describe outside here but a torture that was received at the inhuman hands of the Imperial Japanese Army in a Japanese Prisoner of was camp in Malay during the last war she is now completely unlike any other girl you have ever seen I cant go into details regarding the exact nature of the torture but the girls and the ladies among the married men among you after seeing her reportrayal on our stage you will realise why a leading Sunday newspaper in this country in Britain offered her a large amount of money for her life story but they were stopped by the athorities from ever publishing it and the original manuscripts and photographs in relation to the case were ordered to be immediately confiscated and destroyed. Owing to the lack of time I will not describe any more performers but even those two that I have described two performers taken at random from a cavelcade of beauty and talent from all parts of the world these two alone apart from the others are capable alone of giving you an entertainment that you have never seen unless you have been to Port Said or Marseilles but at this point I wish to state that this young lady and myself are in no way connected with the show inside we are employed to work on the outside here strictly for publicity reasons inside the theatre there is a totally different troupe of Continental performers but owing to the law that exists in this country I am compelled to bring to your attention to notices No 11 The taking of photographs inside this theatre is strictly forbidden, (again) Children under the age of sixteen are not addmitted into this theatre unless they are accompanied by an adult and in that case they are addmitted free, we are not allowed by law to accept money from children under sixteen but if you do have kiddies with you we welcome you to bring them in free Lastly I am asked to state that there is no waiting inside whether one person goes in that door or whether one hundred and one people go in the curtain goes up, the show begins, the show last for fifteen minutes quarter of an hour, you are all garranteed a comfortable tip up seat, the theatre is air conditioned and I repeat again we do start right away. But , before I tell you the price of addmission I think that it is my duty to warn you, if you are narrow minded, if you are predjudiced in any way or if you possess no sense of humour you may not enjoy this show as much as you should because this show was devised and produced for broadminded men and women of the world with a sense of humour, but by the same rule if any of you men have any lady with you that you honour or you respect, your wife or your sweetheart, do not be afraid to bring them in, they will not be insulted by any filth or indecensy, they will not be embarrassed by any vulgarity , they will enjoy a show that can be described as being daring in the Continental way but it is backed by a money back garrentee not to give offence to any person in any way. Now the price of addmission, we keep it as low as possible to avoid you paying entertainment tax that should be paid in a show of this description where theres a highly paid troupe of continental performers, remember a fifteen minuet show you are all garrenteed a seat, not one moment to wait inside we keep the price down to a rock bottom minimum one shilling to adults one shilling and children with adults are admitted free. Those of you to whom I gave a token I said I was going to turn them into money or the equivalent of money they are now worth one shilling each just hand them into the box office and you get a front seat free with the compliments of the management and to the rest of you we are starting right away so I invite you all to get your tickets at the box office, take your seats and witness a show, a show that you will never forget Sue & Brian Nicholson of Lancashire mailto:[email protected] MSN IM [[email protected]] Home page for books, research , Blackpool places and churches [http://www.sueathome.co.uk] Staffordshire Garden Furniture Online [http://www.idofurniture.co.uk] Now Operational UK-CENSUS-HELPER

We have a mention of Wilson Barrett in our research - Elsie (or Eliza) Maisey was the daughter of George Maisey of Dulwich, London, and before her marriage in 1881 she had a very sucessful theatrical career. Eliza Maisie was primarily a Shakesperian actress and for some years was the leading lady for Wilson Barrett - a very famous stage personality in those years. Her marriage to William Henry Wellsted did not end her stage interests and she remained a leading member of the East Yorkshire Dramatic Society, and also undertook acting and singing for every well-known charity in the Hull area. We would love to recieve any information about Elsie as we have very little of her history before marriage. And as it would help us track her down - would like to share any information re Wilson Barrett too Sue & Brian Nicholson of Lancashire mailto:[email protected] MSN IM [[email protected]] Home page for books, research , Blackpool places and churches [http://www.sueathome.co.uk] Staffordshire Garden Furniture Online [http://www.idofurniture.co.uk] Now Operational UK-CENSUS-HELPER

It's amazing what a few words can do for your memory! When I was six, my parents took me to Blackpool for the first time and for their first holiday after the war (WWII). It rained everyday bar two for the whole fortnight and as boarding house landladies in those days turfed you out in the morning and let you back only at teatime we spent a lot of time in expensive places like the Tower Circus and the Golden Mile. I have two distinct memories: 1. The seaspray over the promenade which Dad and I used to dodge - that's the spray, not the prom 2. Seeing George Formby and an actress sitting in an open landau pretending to be the King and Queen in a parade. and now, thanks to the various messages here, 3 I've suddenly remembered the circus and the water fountains! Thank you Janice Toowoomba

Hi, I am currently in the process (8.00pm BST) of including a 'Search' facility on the web site, so if you go there and you see strange things occurring, it's just me fiddling about. Regards, Dave Jassie - List Administrator for - THEATRE-UK-L NIR-ARMAGH-L JASSIE-L [email protected] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jassie/ - THEATRE-UK Web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~nirarm/ - ARMAGH Web site Greetings from Lincoln, England

Hi Folks Someone mentioned an artist who made recordings with Regal Zonophone. I'm told that my grandfather also recorded monologues with this company. Does anyone know if it is still possible to obtain copies of old recordings? Is there a music library list which could tell me if such recordings still exist. I live within travelling distance of London, England - incase that helps. Thanks to you all Gloria - Kent _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Hi, Forwarded to the list on behalf of Jon Gray (not a subscriber) Please reply directly to [email protected] Message reads - I am trying to trace my family tree, and I am looking for a John Fitzgerald whos stage name was Jonny Dawes, he was a red coat at butlins and then he was in the black and white minstrels. He came from the leeds area and would be about 70 now. I would love to hear from anyone that has any information on the black and white minstrels as they were before my time. Thankyou April age 24 Regards, Dave Jassie - List Administrator for - THEATRE-UK-L NIR-ARMAGH-L JASSIE-L [email protected] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jassie/ - THEATRE-UK Web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~nirarm/ - ARMAGH Web site Greetings from Lincoln, England

Does anyone know the birth date of Olive GILBERT? She was a contralto who sang in Ivor NOVELLO shows and was also in the "Sound of Music" in 1961. My father always said that she was a cousin of his and I would like to find out if this is true. I need her birth date before I can go any further . Hope someone can help me Joy LINDEN

Hoax Alert - SULFNBK There has been an email HOAX circulating recently. The subject line may contain "***Virus Alert***" or mention SULFNBK.exe. If you happen to receive a copy of this message, please ignore it, and do NOT pass it on. Please note - DO NOT DELETE ANY FILES FROM YOUR COMPUTER. If you have already deleted any files from your computer, or you need any further help, please contact me directly Regards, Dave Jassie - List Administrator for - THEATRE-UK-L NIR-ARMAGH-L JASSIE-L [email protected] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jassie/ - THEATRE-UK Web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~nirarm/ - ARMAGH Web site Greetings from Lincoln, England

I rember Charlie Kunz. He was a pianoist and had his own programme on the BBC Raio. Pre War I think. I also lives in Blackpool and well remeber Charlie Correli and Paul. I alway went to see him at the Tower Circus 1952-56 and would see him sometimes on the Golden Mile after the show having a Hot Dog or Something. He and Paul split up about that time. I don't know what hapened to Paul Regards George. George Smith <[email protected]> Home Page: http://www.localdial.com/users/airforce LRFHS Page: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~leicsrut Jersey Island Page: http://www.jerseyvirtual.net

Joy, From www.imdb.com Olive Gilbert Date of birth (location) 1900, Carmerthen, Wales, UK Date of death (details) 19 February 1981, Hove, East Sussex, England, UK [email protected] Chilliwack, BC icq: 2360148

Hello, listers! I haven't any relatives in the theatre, at least, not that I know of. But what I do have are several turn-of-the-century cigarette cards with pictures of music hall actresses. These are American cards, but the actresses' names sound British and Continental. I am not sure if they are just a bunch of American girls trying to sound exotic or not, but thought I'd list the names here, as I'd love to reunite these cards with family members: These are all Sweet Caporal cigarette cards: Rose WITT Mrs. CARLINGTON Rose SUTHERLAND Nina FARRINGTON Emily BANCKER Emma HANLEY Charlotte RAY Miss MILLET Pearl E. LA RUE Minnie SUPREE Annie ST. TEL Face A. L'ENNEMI This one is a Kimball cigarette card: Sarolta If any one of these lovely ladies is in your family, reply to me off-list and we will figure out the logistics of how to get you her card. Susan Eckert Rochester, NY USA Focusing on HARRIS and SHERRARD in Lincolnshire, other names are STILES (Sussex), PARKER (Switzerland), ECKERT (Germany), GERBER (Alsace?) [email protected]

Hi Jan Glad you mentioned Paul Charlies side kick ~ the "White Faced Clown"!!! I was wondering about him as well, Do you know I really hated the Clowns when I was little ~ they really frightened me. Ask me know and I would dress up to be a "Clown" strange aint it? I was born and brought up in Blackpool, and I allways thought the "Zoo" to be a bit ragged! I allways loved the aquarium and the funny machines you put a penny in and had to turn the handle, ~ Like what the butler saw, and what twin would drink the milk quicker. Remember them? The "SHOWS" was allways the best though ~ But allways remember this kid, the "visitors" were "Millianairs for a fortnight"!!! Thats how we allways remember about our visitors!! Regards Lauren

Hiya, If anyone would like their research interests included on the THEATRE-UK web site as a permanent posting, please let me have the details and I will add them. Other contributions for the web site would be very welcome i.e., URLs to interesting sites, offers of help, pleas for help, articles for the newsletter, reminiscences, photographs, in fact anything will be considered Regards, Dave Jassie - List Administrator for - THEATRE-UK-L NIR-ARMAGH-L JASSIE-L [email protected] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jassie/ - THEATRE-UK Web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~nirarm/ - ARMAGH Web site Greetings from Lincoln, England

Hi everyone,as this list has grown a lot in the last few weeks I thought it was time to re-post my interest in finding out more about this music hall performer who was my Gr Grandmothers cousin.I have had a lot of information about B B's life on the stage and some conflicting reports about her name and personal life,searches for a B D orM cert have been fruitless so far looking under her stage or given names.Was she born in Ireland?is her name Katherine or Elizabeth?did she marry a Jack Nicholson?and was there an obituary published? Carole.

Many thanks to Vin Foster, Janice Swannell, and Josef Kemper, who suggested that "Charlie Kunz, the Medley King" was the person I was looking for. I checked him through Google and found a brief biography. I think it is unlikely that he is the right person as he was from the US (b. 18 August 1896, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA) and did not move to the UK until the 1920s, and my "Aunt Beccy" definitely had a London accent. Maybe, the family story is "Uncle Harry and Aunt Beccy are not related to Charlie Kunz" and someone dropped the NOT or maybe Charlie Kunz was a nephew not a brother. I will probably never know. Gil Croome, Ottawa ----- Original Message ----- > So far as I know, this is my only theatrical family connection. > > In the September quarter of 1895, Eleanor Sarah CROOME married Henry Frederick A. KUNZ in Stroud, GLS. The family later changed their name to KING (before WW I). In the late 1940s, Eleanor's brother John (my grandfather) married Henry's sister Rebecca after his first wife had died. > > A family story was that Henry & Beccy had a brother Charlie who was an entertainer. I would estimate that they were born 1870-1890 and probably in London. > > Does anyone know of a Charles/Charlie KING / KUNZ who was involved with entertainment: knowing the way family stories develop, he could have just been the fellow who swept out the stalls after a performance. > > Gil Croome, Ottawa

Hello everyone This is my first time on the list and I have relations who were intimately related to the Palace Theatre in Oldham. My grandmother was a dresser for George Elliot and (I'm told) Marie LLoyd. My grandfather (Frederick William Millward), father (James Millward) and uncle (George Millward) were limelight operators at the Palace for a time. In the 1881 census my great grandfather James Millword (should have been Millward) was described as a dramatic agent and was a boarder at 2&4 Rodney Street in Wigan. With him were Harry Douthwaite aged 39, an actor from America, Thomas Dilverd and actor from Tanzania and John Thompson, an actor whose birthplace was omitted. I do hope that some of the names mentioned will ring a bell with someone who can give me further information about the Palace or the people mentioned. Yours in hope Brian Millward Birmingham England

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>the fellow who swept out the stalls Far from it! Charlie Kunz was the Medley King, and one of my dad's favourites! Try doing a Google search for Charlie Kunz. There are heaps of pages. Best wishes Janice Toowoomba