The Spirit of Vaudeville is a celebration of the musical vaudevillians of the Jazz Age. It opens with a singing, banjo strumming, guitar picking, tap dancing rendition of the 1920‘s hit “The Charleston.” I learned the song from the great vaudeville string musician, Roy Smeck who was in Al Jolson’s talking picture “The Jazz Singer”.

 Some of the characters in the show were actual vaudevillians such as Roy Smeck, Ukulele Ike, Will Rogers and Sir Harry Lauder and some of them I made up. You get to decide which is which. There is a Russian Charleston played on the tenor banjo by Igor Skavilovich, a  tap dancing hat trick dance by Moishe Fiedelspeiler and the All Star Klezmer Hot Shots, clog dancing rope tricks and cowboy jokes by Will Rogers, an Irish jig and waltz clog dance, a routine where I tap dance while playing the bones in my left hand and the harmonica in my mouth while juggling with my right hand, and a Scottish number by Sir Harry Lauder complete with The Scottish Charleston played on the bagpipes. 

The show has a lively quality but there are poignant moments as well. Each of the musical numbers is introduced with a short story that I act out to guitar accompaniment. The audience will leave the theater with their hearts a bit lighter as they have just been touched by the spirit of vaudeville.