travsd

Evelyn Kaye and her Magic Violin

BBAGB.spitFFFFviolins[1]

Today is the birthday of Evelyn Silverstone, a.k.a Evelyn Kaye a.k.a Evelyn Kaye Klein (1911-1990).  A Julliard trained violinist she was discovered by bandleader Phil Spitalny, who made him the star of his All-Girl Orchestra, called the Hour of Charm Orchestra when it was featured on the Hour of Charm radio program (1934-1948). In addition to the radio shows, the orchestra toured and performed live in presentation houses and similar venues. They were also featured in the films When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942) and Here Come the Coeds (1945). Spitalny and Kaye married in 1946. After the show went off the air the orchestra continued to perform as a live act until 1955.

To find out more about the variety arts past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.

Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013). He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.

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