Key Vaudeville Review Found!

Good press work by the management, which stressed the
Eight Chicago Steppers and Dick Lucke’s Arcadians,
packed the 2,000-seat auditorium…

I am quite sure that this photo describes the act in the review below!
Dick Lucke and His Arcadians & Marie Veatch and Her 8 Chicago Steppers
Great Grandpa is pianist Dick Lucke; Great Grandma is the dancer above him, Dottie Seery Lucke; Walt is Dick's brother, second from left on saxophone.
'Augmented Vaudeville' Stage, ca 1925, staged in Chicago for this photograph by H.A. Atwell.
Augmented Vaudeville: the newest style of vaudeville,
with very elaborate staging, costuming and choreography.

On a recent visit to the Harold Washington Library, I requested some microfilm reels from their Variety collection. While some publications have since become dust, Variety has maintained their archives from their start in 1905/1906. This opportunity was awesome on so many levels. First of all, it was my first time using a microfilm machine, and I've always been curious about them. Second, the prospect of discovering photos or new information was very high. I had 1924-1930 to look at, with dozens of occurrences of the Luckes being somewhere within the reels. I soon learned that the page numbers listed online don't correspond to what's on the reel. Because of that, it will take longer than I thought to go through the reels. It's fun work though. I still have several years to go through, and am certainly motivated by this great start!



Review as found in microfilm reader in 2011



At left is what thrilled me at the library, as I first saw it! This review covers what I think may be the first time Dick & Dottie took the stage together! Dottie would have been 18, still in highschool or fresh out. It has wonderful, long forgotten details about what their production was like.

Below is the review in full, both via print press as seen in 1924 by my great grandparents & other fellow "youngsters" & Variety readers, and via blog press as transcribed by me in 2011. (click on the images to enlarge)

xerox copy from the microfilm reader of:

VARIETY
Wednesday, September 24, 1924
Vaudeville Reviews
Orpheum Road Show No. 1
Terre Haute, Ind., Sept. 19.

VARIETY

Wednesday, September 24, 1924

Vaudeville Reviews

Orpheum Road Show No. 1

Terre Haute, Ind., Sept. 19.

This city, bearing the theatrical reputation of a cold audience town because of its proximity to Chicago lessons in amusement sophistication, opened up in support of the Orpheum Road Show No. 1. It played four days at the Indiana.

Good press work by the management, which stressed the Eight Chicago Steppers [my great grandmother Dorothea Seerey was among these eight dancers!] and Dick Lucke’s Arcadians [Dick Lucke would soon be her husband, & his brother, Walt Lucke on saxophone, would soon be her brother in law!], packed the 2,000-seat auditorium with curious ones the opening day. It is a Moore & Megley produced show.

After the Chicago premiere, the unit moved to South Bend, Ind.  From here it jumps to Evansville and then to St. Louis. Engagements are to be lengthened to a week after the date here. Two more acts and an increase in the jazz band from seven to ten members is contemplated.

Bicknell, who models in clay, together with the Steppers, makes the first act lengthy but interesting. Albert Malotte, pianist, and Mary Jane, vocalist, follow with a double. Miss Jayne starts in a Spanish number that has atmosphere supplied by the Windy City Girls in a Latin-costumed ensemble. Malotte goes over the average variety assembly’s head with his “classicisms” on the pipe organ, but lends a welcome touch of novelty.

The one weak spot is “Laughs, Laughs, and More Laughs,” staged by George Wilson and Hilda Ward. Wilson works from the audience and the turn smacks of the four-a-day. It is a drop in the entertainment standard as a whole. Wilson, however, makes good in the afterpiece. He and Ben Pierce, who features another round of humor with Lee Ryan while the revue set is being assembled, manufacture some real merriment during the closing whirl of melody and dance. Wilson sits in a box and nibbles at a banana as Pierce pulls the rube stuff, leading the Arcadians as a village band.

Lucke and his boys have the average brass layout, the three saxes doing effective doubling. “After the Storm” allows the youngsters a bit of imaginary inclement weather frolic. The drummer, in a fair tenor, vocalizes a portion. He also solos earlier.

Jane Smith makes her initial bow as “The Little Stepper” with the band. Her Irish jig strikes popular fancy and her enthusiasm is reflected in the succeeding turn-out of the Steppers. Miss Jayne and Malotte have an extreme with “An Old Fashioned Waltz”.

The radio and phonograph are utilized as material for the afterpiece. Several members of the Steppers entertain in duos, further specialties being contributed by players of the regular acts.

The whole company works hard and the show looks like a trump card in Vaudeville if the proposed changes are made and Ward’s stuff pepped up a bit. –Bob Berlin

Richard Lucke on the vibes

Getting crafty!

I recently walked into Chicago's Frame Factory  with a shoe box full of family treasures. The staff was very friendly, helpful and creative. On this visit, I left with a single shadow box and lots of ideas to get me started.

My priority was getting my great-grandmother's diary in an air tight place, yet still have it viewable and accessible... not just buried away somewhere, forgotten.

A couple of days ago, I dug through my craft supplies & found some nice black archival paper. It's acid free, which is important. Non-archival paper could damage the diary by hastening the aging process.

I carefully glued the black archival paper to the cardboard insert that came with the shadow box. Next, I centered the diary inside the box. With a delicate hand I oh-so-carefully put it all back together. Voila! Good enough for now.

That didn't keep me satisfied long, however. I had to improve it. I didn't like the way the diary was simply propped up on the bottom of the shadow box, tilted against the glass. I dug around my craft supplies again, and an old cardboard jewelry box caught my eye. Hm! I thought maybe it would make a great little shelf for the diary, centering it nicely within the case.

I cut the box in half, then eyeballed the overall balance of the case. I wagered the box still needed a little trim. Next, I carefully wrapped the trimmed box in the black paper scraps that were left over from the other day. I wrote a little story of how I received the diary, complete with the date I received it, and tucked the story inside the "shelf" for future generations to discover. Last, I placed a silica gel packet behind the book. The silica gel is great for keeping old books (and other things) fresh and safe from moisture, so save those packets from the landfills! It also helped to keep the book flat against the glass.

In the end, it looks like a little craftiness yielded a nicely preserved family heirloom.
See you next time on Jenny's Crafty Corner! :)