Folks talk about it
The Reviews Are In!
"A fascinating, entertaining reproduction of a past era resulting in a wonderful addition to anyone's library, especially to those addicted in any way to the theatre!"
- Janine Sarnowski, Actres/Model, Seville, OH
""How to Enter Vaudeville" is an Informative, entertaining, great reference tool for the theatre novice or aficionado's personal library. This is an authentic, quality reproduction made with attention to detail and painstaking restoration from the original copy. Money well-spent."
- Kevin Horak, Actor, Aurora, OH
"What a great gift! Please send me two more, I keep giving them away!" - J. Herraghty, Sheffield, England
The Original Ad
GET ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE
I tell you how! Fascinating profession. Big salaries. Experience unnecessary. Splendid engagements, always waiting opportunity for travel. Theatrical agents endorse my method. Thirty years, experience as both manager and performer. Illustrated book "All About Vaudeville" sent Free. - FREDERIC LADELLE. Sta. 97, JACKSON. MICH.
About How to Enter Vaudeville"How to Enter Vaudeville" was published in 1913 and originally printed in Jackson, MI for aspiring Vaudeville performers. Today, it stands as an easy-to-read history of the performing arts, Vaudeville and how grandma and grandpa survived without TV!
First advertised in dime novels, this book offered 56 pages of insight on Vaudeville. "How to Enter Vaudeville" outlined 90 different types of acts, makeup techniques, costuming, handling your baggage, "eliminating crudity and amateurishness," and much more. What's more, it gets into the nitty-gritty of what made the Vaudeville circuit tick.
This book takes you back 95 years, with advice for entering the industry, getting booked, getting a manager and even dealing with stage fright and naming your act!
Explore an era when experience was unnecessary and a desire to entertain could put food in your belly and smiles on faces of folks from Buffalo to Peoria. How can I get a copy?
Making This Great Book Available to You
After searching for years, we finally obtained a pristine copy of "How to Enter Vaudeville." A copy of this book belongs to the Library of Congress. Our copy (no, not the Library's) is a 2nd edition was published in Los Angeles (the 1st edition was published in Jackson, Michigan). It was disassembled carefully, scanned in high resolution and reproduced on high-quality paper, close to the original.
Now, you can own a piece of performing arts history - at a price considerably better than buying an original! Buy a Copy
About the Author
Frederic LaDelle, was apparently a pseudonym of Frederic Kirkpatrick (1866). According to his granddaughter, he was a trapeze artist and a clown from 1884-1904, then entered Vaudeville with a magic act that was second to none until 1932.His invaluable advice is collected in "How to Enter Vaudeville."
A Word to the WiseThis book is not 100 percent politically correct. It contains a few depictions and descriptions that some may consider offensive (i.e. the depiction, and caricatures, of African Americans, Asians, Jews, Krauts, Micks and others).
"How to Enter Vaudeville" offers an excellent insight into the performing arts in America and is an invaluable reference guide for actors, magicians, jugglers, dancers, musicians, theater historians and anyone who wishes to learn more about Vaudeville.