Lollipop: Vaudeville Turns with a Fanchon and Marco Dancer (Studies And Documentation In The History Of Popular Entertainment) [Hardcover]

Reva Howitt Clar (Author), Mimi Clar Melnick (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 081084186X | ISBN-13: 978-0810841864 | Publication Date: October 2002

Take a journey back in time to an era when movie theatres were movie houses, jazz was king, and vaudeville was one of the premiere forms of entertainment. Lollipop is the late Reva Howitt Clar's memoirs of her colorful career with the legendary brother and sister producing team of Fanchon and Marco and the first inside account to give detailed insight into the workings of this famous pair.

A first-hand chronicle of the weekly shows, rehearsals, costumes, publicity stunts, and backstage intrigues that typified any vaudeville performer, Lollipop sweeps the reader into the jazz age, when live stage show entertainment served as the West Coast's main link to the current music and dance trends in New York, detailing Clar's ten-year association with Fanchon and Marco from 1923-1933, first as a dancer, then as co-director of their dance school. The text also highlights the eventual fade of vaudeville from the entertainment circuit, caused by the Great Depression.

Supplemented with historical tidbits and anecdotes from her daughter, Clar's memoir offers an intimate portrait of vaudeville life from the viewpoint of a non-headliner. This diverting and entertaining glimpse of a lost era in American culture is an enjoyable read for students of American popular culture, vaudeville, and theatre history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book is fascinating and dispels much of the glamour that was, and is, attached to "the business." (New Orleans Music )

About the Author

In addition to her dance career with the Fanchon and Marco Company, Reva Howitt Clar was also a contributing editor, book reviewer, and indexer for the Western States Jewish History quarterly. A jazz pianist, Mimi Clar Melnick has been a music critic for the Los Angeles Times and has written numerous articles on jazz for The Jazz Review and various other publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081084186X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810841864
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,085,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A first-person memoir of an important era in American theatre history, July 19, 2011

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theatrehistoricalsociety - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lollipop: Vaudeville Turns with a Fanchon and Marco Dancer (Studies And Documentation In The History Of Popular Entertainment) (Hardcover)

Among the great forces in the era of vaudeville entertainment in theatres throughout the country were producers Fanchon & Marco. They produced and presented live prologues before the movies in hundreds of theatres across the country. Few today know of their far-reaching activities and even fewer know of the day-to-day lives of the thousands of performers who worked for them. This book provides a valuable first-person account of one such performer - a dancer. Even though she never became a great star, her story offers a fascinating look at the life of someone who was part of it all. Her writing may not be all that polished, but you can truly feel what she went though in her daily life and throughout her career. Fortunately, her story has been preserved and made available. Anyone interested in this era of popular entertainment should definitely read this book.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A dancer's piont of view, January 23, 2004

By A Customer

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This review is from: Lollipop: Vaudeville Turns with a Fanchon and Marco Dancer (Studies And Documentation In The History Of Popular Entertainment) (Hardcover)

Well written. Each chapter tends to be quite repetitive. The focus dwells on the hardships of rehearsing and the greuling dancers schedule. Such facts one already knows about dancers' lives, hence one doesn't need to read the book.