Tag Archives: Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway

Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923

Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway Turns 10

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This week Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923, turns ten years old. It is almost hard to believe that a book I researched for five years has been out for a decade. As I say when I give talks about the book, here are 150,000 words by Dorothy Parker you never read. Such as: “If I were to tell you the plot of the piece, in detail, you would feel that the only honorable thing for Continue Reading →

ziegfeld follies

Dorothy Parker Reviews the Ziegfeld Follies

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On Saturday I debuted my W.C. Fields History Walking Tour as part of Fields Fest, a 6-week celebration of the life of the great comedian. Dorothy Parker was a huge fan of Fields. In my book The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide, I was really happy to be able to include a photo of Parker and Fields together. One of the parts of the tour I wanted to do, but didn’t for Continue Reading →

Goldwin Starrett and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918

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All of my book research is starting to cross over, and I am reminded of this today because it is the ninty-eighth anniversary of the death of Goldwin Starrett, the young architect of the Algonquin Hotel, in 1918. It was only this month that I started really reading a lot more about the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, a global disaster that killed 21.5 million worldwide, with 675,000 deaths in the United States. I’m currently writing Continue Reading →

ziegfeld follies

As Curtain Closes on Ziegfeld, Remember Dorothy Parker and the Ink She Spilled

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The Ziegfeld name is back in the news in New York. It is for a small item—that is only important to a few people—the few souls who like going to a movie theater in a cavernous space of more than 1,000 seats. Newspapers and bloggers in New York are probably writing about the Ziegfeld name for one of the last times, and that is sad. It is because the movie theater that was built in Continue Reading →

Dec. 12 Signing at Princeton Club of New York

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I’m happy to announce I will be signing and selling copies of all 5 of my books: A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York, The Lost Algonquin Round Table: Humor, Fiction, Journalism, Criticism and Poetry From America’s Most Famous Literary Circle, Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide, Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923, The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide. Do your holiday shopping in one place. Come to the Princeton Club Continue Reading →

1923 Follies

Follies Girl and Sister Act, Showgirl Victorinne Coscia

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Kensico Vaudeville Project #: 9 Name: Victorinne Coscia Act: Dancer Born: 18 April 1898, Pennsylvania Died: 8 May 1961, New York City This is the grave of a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl who was in two of the greatest casts ever assembled, the back-to-back legendary Follies of 1922 and 1923. Dancer Victorine Voltaire was a teenager when Flo Ziegfeld cast her; her two younger sisters, Jeanne and Rita, were also dancers. (Sister acts were a particular Continue Reading →

Marc Connelly

Incredible 1920s Documentary Discovered

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A new video surfaced recently that’s just sensational to watch for anyone that adores the 1920s and the Algonquin Round Table era. It is called New York in the Twenties, and first aired on American TV in 1961. This has to be one of the best videos of the era. The amount of home movies found in the piece is amazing. Among the 1920s celebrities included in it are Heywood Broun, Enrico Caruso, Charlie Chaplin, Continue Reading →

New Article on the HuffPo About Condé Nast and Dorothy Parker

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I just had my fourth article published on the Huffington Post. Condé Nast Hired Dorothy Parker 100 Years Ago marks the centennial (and really, who else but me would make note of it) of the momentous event. I like anniversaries, and this was one I didn’t want to pass by. I write: Parker wrote some of the earliest trends pieces for Vogue. From being a secret knitter (“People look at me, and sooner or later, Continue Reading →

Condé Nast in Life and Death

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Condé Nast

Condé Nast

 

Condé Nast

Condé Nast

Here is Condé Nast himself, the man who made Vogue & Vanity Fair a powerhouse before World War I. I’m talking about him Thursday, March 26, at the Drama Book Shop during Dorothy Parker Night.

Last summer when I was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne–paying my respects to Algonquin Round Table members Heywood Broun and Deems Taylor–I stopped by Condé Nast’s grave. He’s buried beside his family in a simple plot, no ostentation at all. I also wrote about him for the Huffington Post and how his magazines launched Dorothy Parker’s career.

Many of the Vicious Circle collected paychecks from Nast, who I find was one of the most interesting men of Jazz Age Manhattan.

Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway for Her Birthday

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This Friday is Dorothy Parker’s birthday, and the Dorothy Parker Society is having parties in New York and the Catskills to celebrate. But a recent review of the new book Dorothy Parker Complete Broadway, 1918-1923, makes me want to recommend it as a birthday present from Dottie to you. Los Angeles playwright Steven Vlasak wrote: If you love Dorothy Parker, then you’ll have a major crush on this new book compiled by Parker expert Kevin Continue Reading →