travsd

Happy 100th, Concord Players (and a Salute to Fanny Brice!)

On October 20 we were honored to be the guest speaker at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Concord Players. More than this, we were delighted to learn that the roots of this impressive community theatre are much older. The company actually began in the mid 19th century as the Concord Dramatic Union with productions organized by Louisa May Alcott (remember those theatricals organized by Jo in Little Women?) So I was moved deeply by the occasion. The topic of my talk was the life and career of Fanny Brice, as the Concord Players are opening their new production of Funny Girl on November 8. (I saw a section of it at the event and was mightily entertained.) A side benefit of these talks is the additional research they necessitate. I’ve taken the opportunity to beef up my Fanny Brice post. The Sudbury Town Crier covered the event; that coverage is here. My own pix from the event below. Thanks, Concord Players, for a magical evening!

Prior to the event, I took the opportunity to ramble around Concord itself. Find that account here. 

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.