I spent years doing 1930s research—especially Larry Hart material—for my time travel novel, BROADWAY REVIVAL. And I started putting some of that to use in a nonfiction survey of the 1935-36 season (plays and musicals)…except the JUMBO chapter ballooned to 20,000 words.
So now I’m doing a JUMBO book, it’s currently at 40,000 words.
As said above, the Durante material was specifically tailored for him, and might sound odd to modern audiences. The book by Hecht and MacArthur was thin to begin with, and got cut even further by Billy Rose in favor of more and more circus/vaudeville acts. I have been exhaustively delving into iron-jaw artists, the “wingless Pegasus” named Doheos; Josie DeMott, a Barnum legend (and suffragette!) returning to the ring at 67; Nagafy the fire-eater; Charles De Camo and his brilliant dog, Cora; Jim Mandy, the man with the iron skull…and so many more!
Laura in LA, still stuck in the thirties |
