University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections5209 (Accession No. 5209-001)Drake, Laura AnnLaura Drake Seattle
Historic Theaters Project Oral History Collection.42 cubic feet (2 boxes)Collection
materials are in
English.1980-2000Oral history
interviews with stage performers, audience members, and a theater manager
involved with vaudeville in Seattle.Laura Ann Drake is a professional actor in theater, film, and
television. In 2001 she opened Stage Struck, a theater school for young people.
She spent her formative years in Minnesota and since 1978 has lived on the West
Coast, in Los Angeles, and Seattle.
Drake's study of historic theater, especially vaudeville, started in
1979 with a City of Seattle "Artist-In-the-City" grant. Through her research,
Drake wrote, directed, and produced a play about the history of vaudeville in
Seattle. In Los Angeles during the 1980s, she met and directed many older
performers (some ex-vaudevillians) in a play about their lives. Realizing the
importance of the theater history she had collected over the years, Drake began
to teach the history of vaudeville in public schools through cultural education
grants from the King County Arts Commission. Drake wrote a play about
vaudeville for her students and Roosevelt High School students. It was
performed at the Moore Theatre, one of Seattle's oldest performing venues.
The collection consists of seven interviews conducted by Laura Ann
Drake with stage performers, audience members, and a theater manager, all of
whom were involved primarily with vaudeville in Seattle and elsewhere on the
West Coast. Drake taped the interviews on audio cassette tapes with support
from a special projects grant from the King County Landmarks and Heritage
Commission in 1999-2000. All recordings were made in 2000, with the exception
of the Ted Harris interview, which was made circa 1979 or 1980. Each audio
interview is accompanied by a transcript, transcript index, and biography.
Photocopied materials, including photographs, also supplement some
interviews.
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The collection is open to the public.
Request at UW
The creator's literary rights have been transferred to the University
of Washington Libraries.
Donated by Laura Ann Drake in November, 2000.
Processed by Gene Polhamus in September 2003.
Albin, Dolores, 1906-Cody, Mora Lucille, 1919-Frudiger, Thelma N., 1905-Garner, Paul, 1909-Harris, Ted, 1904-LeRoy, ZoaunnePatterson, Gene M., 1928-Seattle Historic Theaters ProjectTheater--History--20th centuryTheater--InterviewsTheaters--Washington (State)--SeattleTheatrical managers--Washington (State)--SeattleComedians--Washington (State)--SeattleActors--Washington (State)--SeattleDancers--Washington (State)--SeattleMusicians--Washington (State)--SeattlePersonal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)SeattleOral HistoriesArts and HumanitiesPerforming ArtsSound RecordingsSeattle (Wash.)Oral historiesSound recordings1/1Overviewcirca 2000Transcripts and Summaries1/2Albin, DoloresJuly 17, 2000 Albin, Dolores , dancer, singer,
comedian. Starting in 1916, Dolores Albin performed in a vaudeville song and
dance act in Chicago. After her family moved to Los Angeles, she became part of
"Dolores and Eddy", a vaudeville act booked through the Fanchon and Marco
circuit. Later, Dolores was part of the three-person Adagio Act, where she was
thrown between two men as part of the dance act. The group performed with the
Paramount Publix Units, playing Paramount Theatres all over the country. This
interview was taped in Los Angeles.
1/3Cody, Mora LucilleApril 16, 2000 Cody, Mora Lucille , audience
member. Starting when she was five years old, Mora Cody went to see vaudeville,
live music, and silent films in downtown Seattle on a weekly basis. She recalls
many vaudeville performers and opera stars, and has detailed memories of
Seattle's historic theaters in the 1920s and 1930s. She also knew
vaudevillian/stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and jazz singer Peggy Lee as children in
West Seattle, where all three grew up.
1/4Frudiger, Thelma N. July 22, 2000 Frudiger, Thelma N. , audience
member. As a child in the 1910s, Thelma Frudiger and her sister went to see
live theater and silent movies quite regularly in Seattle. Mrs. Frudiger shares
her memories of performers, musicians, and many early theaters. At eighteen,
she started working at the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. In the
1930s she worked for the Seattle Athletic Club, and in 1941 she started working
for Boeing at Plant One.
1/5 Garner, Paul "Mousie"January 7, 2000 Garner, Paul "Mousie,"
comedian/pianist. Mousie Garner started performing as a young teenager, and by
the age of eighteen he was on the road with a vaudeville act called "Jack
Pepper with Mustard and Ketchup." He was also one of the original stage stooges
in "Ted Healy and the Three Stooges" in the 1920s and '30s. In the 1940s,
Garner served in World War II, and at the end of the war, he toured Europe with
the USO show, "Hellzapoppin." In the 1950s, he was under contract with comedic
performer Spike Jones for eleven years. Garner vividly remembers his
experiences playing the Orpheum and Fox (later the Music Hall) theaters in
Seattle. This interview was taped in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1/6Harris, Ted circa 1980 Harris, Ted , audience member and
theater manager. In the 1920s, Mr. Harris worked as assistant manager for the
Pantages Theatre, located at Third and University in Seattle. Later, Harris ran
the Trianon Ballroom. He recalls his job duties at the Pantages, the performers
who played there, and theater activity in Seattle during the 1920s and
1930s.
1/7Leroy, Zoaunne M.August 11, 2000 Leroy, Zoaunne M. , dancer, singer,
actor, child of a performer. Zoaunne Leroy started performing in vaudeville as
a child in Seattle. She and her mother had an act together, and she was billed
as "The Miniature Sophie Tucker." Later, Leroy and her mother toured in USO
shows through parts of California. When she was a teenager, Leroy became part
of the Barclay Girls Dance Troupe in Seattle. The troupe performed for
returning Korean War soldiers and also performed at the Palomar (originally the
Pantages) Theatre. Later Leroy graduated from the University of Washington's
Drama Department and began a long and successful stage, film, and television
career.
1/8Patterson, Gene M.May 12, 2000 Patterson, Gene M. , audience
member, child of a theater manager. Gene Patterson's father was the manager of
the Orpheum Theatre in Seattle and the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregon,
and her family was close to theater architect, B. Marcus Priteca. She remembers
film and live performance theaters in Seattle during the 1930s and 1940s. She
also discusses her father's life and remarks that going to the movies in the
luxurious theaters of the time was a special occasion.
Interviews on Audio Cassette Tape2Albin, DoloresJuly 17, 20002Cody, Mora LucilleApril 16, 20002Frudiger, Thelma N.July 22, 20002Garner, Paul "Mousie"January 7, 20002 sound cassettes2Harris, Ted circa 19802 sound cassettes2Leroy, Zoaunne M.August 11, 20002Patterson, Gene M.May 12, 20002 sound cassettes