Dickinson's Little Vaudeville On The Move...Again!

If you follow show business history (and who doesn’t?) you know that the history of Vaudeville is all about “troupers” on the move…or on the run.

During the early 1900s, some Vaudeville families traveled and worked together (like the Keatons; you’ve heard of Buster?) Others stayed close to home.

But whether they traveled or worked locally, families earned a living entertaining audiences large and small.

If you lived in the Chicago area (like Jack Benny of Waukegan, or the Marx Brothers, New Yorkers who lived briefly on a chicken farm in LaGrange) the Orpheum Circuit was the Vaudeville employer of choice for “medium-time” talent that appealed to Midwest or West Coast audiences. 

The Orpheum Co. sent you, your props/costumes/etc. by train from city to city, stage to stage. Your itinerary included stops in CA, CO, IL, IN, MI, WI, IA, LA, MN, MO, NE, OR, UT, WA, plus three cities in Canada!

You wanted the applause of a delighted audience, but if you didn’t measure up you might be booed, or pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables.

You were supposed to do two or three shows a day, but sometimes you had to do six to eight, but those who really loved it didn’t mind too much. You were supposed to be paid regularly, but sometimes wages went missing, and no one liked that.

You were supposed to have a clean dressing room at every theatre, but sometimes you shared a room with an animal act. No one wants fleas!

None of this applied to performers who were Headliners.

Becoming a Headliner was everyone’s dream.

It was especially the dream of family members back home waiting for their share of your pay to arrive by mail. Sometimes the money was accompanied by an optimistic note telling everyone how you were on the road to being a Headliner, making the “big time” at New York City’s “Palace Theatre.”

But a note wasn’t necessary as long as the money arrived.

Vaudeville schools didn’t exist in the “good old days” to prepare a youngster who had Vaudeville ambitions. There were a few dance schools, voice schools, but they were usually too expensive.

You learned and honed your Vaudeville talent on the cold, wet street corners, “busking” for spare change, dodging impatient pedestrians and “mud” flung up from horses or horseless carriages.

Times sure have changed, haven’t they?

Your child doesn’t have to risk the dangers, inconveniences and indignities of a street corner, show-business education!

Vaudeville may have died in 1932 (at least according to Ed Wynn), but it’s alive and kicking at Dickinson’s Little Vaudeville!

Kids can learn a comedy bit, song & dance routine, or genuine Vaudeville slang!

It’s a safe place, a family place, a warm and fuzzy place for kids 5-17 who want to learn Vaudeville skills, hear funny stories about America’s show-business roots, and make a ton of friends!

Mrs. D. founded Dickinson’s Little Vaudeville in 1993.

And just like the Orpheum Circuit, we even have a traveling troupe!

Kids who join “The Palace Revue” get the chance to perform in front of a live audience on a regular basis.

No, we don’t tour the country. We do Benefit Shows in the Northwest Suburbs.

And why do we have Dickinson’s Little Vaudeville these days?

We have fun. We give kids self-confidence. We teach manners and customs that may be old-fashioned but are more important than ever.

We collect food for local food pantries.

And, most importantly, we teach kids to never give up.

Dickinson’s Little Vaudeville just closed a chapter in its history when it closed the doors on its old studio.

Did we give up? No!

We went looking for a new home and found one through the kindness of strangers. Well, they’re not strangers anymore.

We now share some time and space with a wonderful new dance studio: The Megleo School of Dance, 39 S. Northwest Highway, in Palatine.

Megleo’s teaches dance to all ages, including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, and poms. For dance details, you can reach Kelly Megleo at 847-577-6106.

To learn more about Vaudeville, or earning a Vaudeville badge for Girl Scouts,  call Donna Dickinson at 847-632-0890 or check our web-site, Littlevaudeville.com