30 DAYS OF NYMF: Day 25- American Vaudeville Theatre Presents...TRAVESTIES OF 2012

Travesties of 2012 is the latest and (I think I may say) most perfected iteration of a vaudeville show we have been producing since 1996, called the American Vaudeville Theatre. I am especially excited about the show for several reasons. One: our involvement in NYMF has made it especially easy to attract the very best acts. I can safely say this is the most solid bill of performers I've ever been able to present to the public. This particular conglomeration of amazing humans, taken in aggregate, is a bit jaw-dropping. Every performance of our show is different, but to see, for example, a world class rodeo roper, a contortionist, a mind-reader, a torch singer, clowns, sketch comedians, and a tap dancer all on the same bill in this day and age is an extremely rare theatrical experience. To get all that for $25 is, frankly, a steal! Also, this is the first show we've produced in the theatre district. We've played many a classy venue, but our usual turf is downtown and Brooklyn. It's a gas to play to different kind of audiences…curious theatre lovers who are coming to the show cold just to check us out. And better still they seem to walk away happy! Interesting too to see our show in an illuminating context. There's been a tendency over the past few decades for people to overly associate vaudeville with circus. In reality acrobats, clowns, jugglers and animal acts are only one component of the vaudeville experience. The main stem is much more in line with what we think of as musical theatre. Back in the day, the top acts were all comedians and singers, or a combination: singing comedians. My dream vaudevillian for the modern era would be a contemporary Broadway clown like Nathan Lane. Mr. Lane, if you're reading this, I'd like to offer you two comps.

-Travis Stewart

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