A Sawdust Heart: My Vaudeville Life in Medicine and Tent Shows
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.73 (588 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 081667230X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-07-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Michael Fedo is the author of several books, including The Lynchings in Duluth, The Man from Lake Wobegon, and the novel Indians in the Arborvitae.. Henry Wood spent more than thirty years as a performer and director in old-time medicine shows and touring vaudeville troupes in the Midwest
A peek into early 1900 entertainment in rural America. Swidog The Sawdust Heart reveals the nature of the beating hearts and minds of Americans living in the rural northwestern states in the pre and post WW l years. The primary character, Henry Wood was born in 1898.His report on the nature of entertainment, medicine, and alternative economic opportunities available to those people is gripping. It clearly . A voice from the past brought to life Dan Kossoff Henry Wood's remarkable life is wonderfully captured by Michael Fedo in this engaging, breezy and frequently hilarious memoir. It will appeal greatly to those of us who, at some point in our lives, yearned to either run away and join the circus, head out to make a career in Hollywood or hit the road with guitar and mouth harp in hand. Fedo is pi. Arkansas Red said A tent rep or medicine show fan will like this. Written by a real "trouper", this book tells it like it is. A fine true story of "life on the road" back in the days of the traveling tent rep and medicine show. Highly recommended.
It was here that the traveling show thrived. Introduced by Wood’s grandson-in-law Michael Fedo with a concise history of these traveling shows, A Sawdust Heart is an amusing read for anyone interested in early-twentieth-century rural America. . While most books on this period of American theater history focus on major names in vaudeville and the entertainment industry, A Sawdust Heart shows what it was like for the real show-business workers and the performers who never made it big but eked out a living doing what they loved on minor stages across America. Wood spent the years 1910–1941 in traveling medicine and tent shows that featured a variety of vaudeville acts, from skits to full-length dramatic plays. He joined a traveling theater troupe, and leading lady Clarabelle Fendell helped the boy become “Jack,” a gentleman and vaudeville performer, so transformed that he was barely recognized by his own mother when he returned home. Whether recalling his experiences skydiving from hot-air balloons, serving in the air force, or being accosted by angry theatergoers unable to distinguish him from the villains he portraye
Michael Fedo is the author of several books, including The Lynchings in Duluth, The Man from Lake Wobegon, and the novel Indians in the Arborvitae.. About the AuthorHenry Wood spent more than thirty years as a performer and director in old-time medicine shows and touring vaudeville troupes in the Midwest