(Corbis/Getty Images)The Stage Door Canteen was organized and run under the auspices of the USO’s American Theatre Wing. While they were eating, drinking, and smoking, they took in music and acts provided by Broadway talent. Liam Maguire's Irish Pub This is the second year that Stage Door Canteen has played for our American Cancer Society a Auction. Halloween Parties
A VIP volunteer was Donald Nelson, head of the War Production Board, who might be seen clearing tables. Alfred Lunt, arguably Broadway’s greatest actor but a recognized amateur chef as well, worked both in and out of the kitchen.As for the canteens’ clients, one necessity stood above all. On July 30, 1942, CBS launched a weekly radio show, “Stage Door Canteen,” which ran for the duration of the war, and the big motion picture studios chipped in with feature films—RKO with While the three soldiers and their sweethearts were played by relative unknowns, the real stars were the stage celebrities who happened to drop in and do their “bits”: Ethel Waters sang “Quicksand”; Edgar Bergen did a comic dialogue with Charlie McCarthy, his diminutive alter ego; Gracie Fields performed an odd coupling of “The Lord’s Prayer” and “The Machine Gun Song”; Katharine Cornell recited Juliet’s balcony scene to a GI Romeo; and Gypsy Rose Lee did a modified strip-tease number. In 2007, celebrating their fifteenth anniversary, they toured Ireland, playing gigs in Dublin and at several beautiful rural theaters, as well. (Getty Images) Given New York City’s big stamp of approval, Stage Door Canteens soon opened in Washington, D.C., and other major American cities, including Boston, Cleveland, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, and in Hollywood, the last being spearheaded by actress Bette Davis. They stamped their feet so lustily in response to the jokes Hope delivered with his sidekick, Jerry Colonna, that one table gave way and hit the floor.Servicemen at the Philadelphia canteen could draw lots each weekend for free long-distance telephone calls. Soul Band Six bands, including those of Guy Lombardo and Count Basie, took turns providing the dance numbers. Gertrude Lawrence brought some of her costars from their hit musical Chorus girls perform a number from Sons o’ Fun, the hit Olsen and Johnson revue, in 1941.
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They are all amazing musicians who obviously love what they do. Brass Band (Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library)Those who took advantage of her offer witnessed a landmark theatrical first night. Lonely, he wanders into Times Square and is overwhelmed by the lights, the traffic, the people with someplace to go. The big bands aren't left out, with appearances by five including Benny Goodman and Count Basie.
An institution on their native Cape Cod, Stage Door Canteen has headlined every major music festival in that area and have opened for the Boston POPS. So the actress, who had been a canteen hostess before winning her role, had come back to paper the house with free tickets for servicemen.Bette Davis shows the Hollywood Canteen’s Hall of Honor to Marlene Dietrich and Bob Hope in 1943. John Vacha, a retired teacher of history and journalism, is the author of four books on the history of regional theater. from Falmouth, MA on
The New York canteen was probably the most receptive to African American servicemen. Picnic Copyright 2020 Stage Door Canteen | All Rights Reserved | 32, No.
Liam Maguire's Irish Pub Junior hostesses were also warned that “talk of war must be taboo,” lest useful information such as ship assignments reach Axis ears. The number of claimants shattered all the laws of probability. “Are you really Donald Nelson?” a dubious sailor asked. Like canteen personnel, all acts contributed their services, and a portion of the box office take was earmarked for the Stage Door Canteens.Such concentrations of talent were far from typical in even the New York and Hollywood canteens.
He walks up to them and asks what’s going on.
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The original New York canteen actually closed twice, first when its lease beneath the 44th Street Theater expired on June 30, 1945. Engagement Parties
This article appears in the Summer 2020 issue (Vol. Probably most important to the servicemen were the junior hostesses—to dance with, to talk to, or just to remember on their next posting. Stage Door Canteen is a seasoned outfit comprised of some of the most polished professional musicians in southern New England. The movies and Berlin’s hit song had aroused public interest in the canteens. Stage Door Canteen is a legendary big band out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the southernmost tip of Cape Cod. Celebrations
!Want to download our music? Boasting a resume that includes international touring and hundreds of weddings and private functions ranging from the New Jersey Shore to the Canadian border, STAGE DOOR CANTEEN is the ONLY dance band in New England fueled by horns in the authentic tradition of the "Big Band Sound!"
“But what do you want with me?” she cried, with feigned naiveté.But the fact that a Stage Door Canteen could be opened in the former Occupied France was evidence that the canteens back in the States had done their job, and they began to close after V-J Day. Contact bandleader Robert Gamache for more information about availability today!Our diverse arrangements draw from a variety of musical backgrounds and styles that can accommodate all musical preferences.