Martin Beck was a vaudeville theatre owner and manager, and theatrical booking agent, who founded the Orpheum Circuit, and built the Palace and Martin Beck Theatres in New York City's Broadway Theatre District. He was a booking agent for, and became a close personal friend of the prominent magician, Harry Houdini.
Martin Beck (vaudeville)
The Martin Beck Theater, now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, at 302 West 45th Street in Manhattan
Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, while changing over time.
A promotional poster for the Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles (1894), showing dancers, clowns, trapeze artists, costumed dog, singers and costumed actors
This 1913 how-to booklet for would-be vaudevillians was recently republished.
Marie Dressler in "Tillie the Scrub Lady" (SAYRE 23576)
Trixie Friganza Hayes