I’ve long wanted wanted to create a July 4th celebration that also celebrated one of the more famous people to have that birthday (though there are dissenters as to whether he was born that day), multi-talented Man of the Theatre George M. Cohan. Why am I so interested in him? Many reasons. He’s one of the most significant people ever to be born in Providence (a town with which I have a 400 year old connection) and for many years made his home in Great Neck, Long Island (where I currently live.). Above all, though he was hugely significant in the theatre an the culture at large (to this day many Americans know some of his best known tunes), Cohan has been largely forgotten by the public at large — and he deserves to be remembered. While I’ve written about him, delivered talks about, and even staged tributes to him in my vaudeville shows, I’ve not yet done a July 4th event, mostly because (the elephant in the room) everyone is always otherwise engaged on that day! But this year may possibly be different. If it’s not…well, shame on you! And if you absolutely must congregate at a cook-out, wear a mask and stay six feet away from everyone else. (Yes, I do have to nag, judging by the people I see on the streets and the pictures I see of everywhere else).
At any rate, as promised, at 2pm (Eastern), this Saturday, July 4, I’ll be giving a Zoom talk on the great Song and Dance Man. The talk will be free to my Patreon contributors, and $5 to all others (via travsd1965@yahoo.com at PayPal). But Patreon is a better deal, as there will be many talks in the future, all of which will be free with your contribution. Find out how to do that here. Link and log-in info will be shared with all who express an interest.
(Travalanche) 
You must be logged in to post a comment.