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Theatre

American Culture and 1920s Netherlands

September 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The interior of dancing Pschorr, Coolsingel, Rotterdam ca. 1928-1932 (Stadsarchief Rotterdam, collection topography Rotterdam)During the 1920s, the Netherlands excelled in dullness, it is said. But Kees Wouters shows how the cobwebs of pillarized society were blown away by a new musical wind from the West: Jazz! Exalted by many, vilified by others, Dutch musicians playing American jazz conquered music halls and radio waves alike and even made the Dutch dance.

According to Dutch historian Hermann von der Dunk, writing in the early 1980s, life in the Netherlands after World War I was as exciting as in a girls’ boarding school. Nothing much happened. Despite the presence of about a million destitute Belgian refugees, the horrors of the war had largely passed the Netherlands by. [Read more…] about American Culture and 1920s Netherlands

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Black History, Catholicism, Cultural History, Dance, Dutch History, Film History, Jazz, Musical History, Netherlands, Performing Arts, Religious History, Theatre, Vice, World War One, World War Two

Josephine Baker and Illustrator Paul Colin

July 25, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

Detail of photo of Joséphine Baker in 1940, photographed by Studio HarcourtA century ago this year, Josephine Baker traveled on a one way ticket from Philadelphia to New York City, having left her recently-wed husband behind.

Born an illegitimate child in a St Louis ghetto on June 3, 1906, Freda Josephine McDonald had a dismal childhood of poverty living in an area of rooming houses, run-down apartments and brothels near Union Station. The city was beset by racial tension and violence. [Read more…] about Josephine Baker and Illustrator Paul Colin

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art Deco, Art History, Black History, Cultural History, Film History, French History, Harlem, illustrators, Jazz, Josephine Baker, modernism, Musical History, New York City, Performing Arts, Theatre, womens history, World War One

1850-1880s New York City: ‘Thirty Years in Gotham’ Columns Going Online

July 18, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Fanciful illustration of the inside of Harry Hill's saloonNew York Almanack friend Jerry Kuntz has been collecting and transcribing columns that appeared between 1880 and 1886 in the New York Sunday Mercury entitled “Thirty Years in Gotham.” The articles were published with the byline “by Harry Hill,” but were drafted by ghost writer Isaac George Reed.

Harry Hill, the proprietor of the most infamous dance hall in Manhattan from the 1850s through the 1880s, likely offered comments, notes, and suggestions on some of the articles. The columns covered topics dealing with the history of the city of New York: its institutions, characters, neighborhoods, social life, politics, disasters, sports, criminals, and more. [Read more…] about 1850-1880s New York City: ‘Thirty Years in Gotham’ Columns Going Online

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: boxing, Crime and Justice, Gambling, Genealogy, Journalism, Manhattan, New York City, Online Resources, Performing Arts, Political History, Social History, Sports History, Theatre, Vice

Greenwich Village’s Free and Independent Republic & John Sloan at Jefferson Market’s Night Court

July 10, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

John Sloan's The City from Greenwich Village, 1922 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)Painters such as James McNeill Whistler and Childe Hassam exported the streetscape from Paris to America by creating various impressionistic vistas or bird’s-eye city views. As society became increasingly urbanized, art took a less genteel direction. Members of New York Ashcan movement urged painters to drop orthodoxy and depict the bustling streets of the city.

Although not an “organized” school of painting, the unity of the group consisted in a desire to grasp urban realities. The name ashcan (dustbin) was initially hurled against these artists as a term of derision – it became a banner of distinction.

As committed urbanists, these painters were both observers and participants. John French Sloan, Robert Henri and friends created a dynamic record of metropolitan street culture. Although attacked by their opponents as being “devotees of the ugly,” these artists looked for aesthetic vitality in ordinary life. [Read more…] about Greenwich Village’s Free and Independent Republic & John Sloan at Jefferson Market’s Night Court

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Art History, Crime and Justice, Documentary, Greenwich Village, Labor History, Legal History, modernism, New York City, NYPD, Political History, Socialism, Stanford White, Theatre, Urban History, Vice

A True Tempest: American Passion for Shakespeare & The Fate of a First Folio

June 27, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Loss of the steam ship Arctic (lithograph by N. Currier). This year marks the 400th anniversary of the printing of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, one of the key books in the English speaking world.

Published seven years after the playwright’s death, many plays that were never printed in his lifetime, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar, might otherwise not have survived. [Read more…] about A True Tempest: American Passion for Shakespeare & The Fate of a First Folio

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Archives, Cultural History, Libraries, Literature, Manhattan, Maritime History, Massachusetts, New York City, Performing Arts, Pilgrims, Publishing, Shipwrecks, Steamboating, Theatre, Writing

Zita Johann: Rockland County’s Classic Movie Star

May 26, 2023 by Clare Sheridan Leave a Comment

crossroads of rockland historyZita Johann (1904–1993), best known for her role in The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff, lived for many years in Rockland County. The latest episode of Crossroads of Rockland History explores a new book on the actor by local author Tom Stratford, Along Came Zita (BookBaby, 2023). [Read more…] about Zita Johann: Rockland County’s Classic Movie Star

Filed Under: Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Film History, Historical Society of Rockland County, Nyack, Performing Arts, Podcasts, Rockland County, Spiritualism, Theatre

Fulton County Theater Getting Historic Marker

May 25, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Glove Theatre courtesy Wikimedia user LX MillerThe Glove Theatre, built-in 1914, is a hidden treasure in downtown Gloversville, in Fulton County, NY. Originally designed as an 800-seat theater that could show an array of performances, from vaudeville, concerts, and ultimately movies. In 1920 it became the flagship theater and home office of Schine Enterprises until 1965. It did not originally have a marque, but in 1939 the current marque was installed to resemble other local theaters. [Read more…] about Fulton County Theater Getting Historic Marker

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, Events, History Tagged With: Fulton County, Glove Theatre, Gloversville, Historic Preservation, Montgomery County, Performing Arts, Theatre, William Pomeroy Foundation

What Do We Tell Our Children about the Holocaust?

May 12, 2023 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, Meryl Frank in her book Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust (Hachette Books, 2023) tells the story of her cousin Franya Winter, a celebrated Yiddish stage actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe who died in the Holocaust. [Read more…] about What Do We Tell Our Children about the Holocaust?

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Education, Film History, Genealogy, Holocaust, Jewish History, Performing Arts, Podcasts, Theatre, World War Two

Vulgarity & Vice: Times Square in the 1920s

May 7, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 3 Comments

The Girl with the Whooping CoughThe 1920s was a decade of change and upheaval. While Europe was recovering from the First World War, the United States saw a period of economic growth and prosperity in which the country’s focus shifted from rural areas to the cities. It was also a time of great creativity in art and entertainment. New York City set the pace. [Read more…] about Vulgarity & Vice: Times Square in the 1920s

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Crime and Justice, Cultural History, French History, Jewish History, Legal History, Manhattan, New York City, Performing Arts, Theatre, Urban History, Vice

Exotic Animals, The Van Amburgh Circus & The Lion King of Fishkill

March 22, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Van Amburgh’s MenagerieThe term “exotic pet” refers to wild animals kept in captivity in a domestic setting for the purpose of personal interest or entertainment. With globalization the trade has increased dramatically, although its real scope is difficult to ascertain because for most species there is no registration requirement. Its scale may be a contemporary concern, but the practice itself has a long history. The public has always been obsessed with non-native animals. [Read more…] about Exotic Animals, The Van Amburgh Circus & The Lion King of Fishkill

Filed Under: Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Circus, Dutchess County, Fishkill, Manhattan, Museums, New York City, Newburgh, Orange County, Performing Arts, Religious History, The Bowery, Theatre, Westchester County, Wildlife, zoology

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