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RARE 1920s LOS ANGELES BURLESQUE THEATER WORKING ARCHIVE — DALTON BROTHERS / FOLLIES THEATERA remarkable surviving piece of the Dalton Brothers' Los Angeles burlesque theater circuit, this numbered #28 binder contains TWO distinct period manuscript versions of the one-act comedy “Broadway Jones.”This is the kind of material that rarely survives: actual working theater manuscripts associated with a major Los Angeles burlesque operation, preserved together in their original working format.The two versions are different in form and content, providing an unusually direct glimpse into the revision and working development of stage material.WHAT YOU GET• Dalton Brothers / Follies Theatre archive binder #28
• TWO period manuscript versions of “Broadway Jones”
• Script #1 — 16 pages plus Cast & Plot page
• Script #2 — 15 pages plus Cast & Plot page
• Different versions showing changes between drafts
• Period 8½ x 13-inch theater manuscript pages
• One version appears hand-typed; the other is more clearly a carbon copy
• Original period binding / clips and working characteristics
• Hand-bound oilcloth cover with “B'way Jones” handwritten on cover
• Binder marked #28
No author is identified on the surviving manuscripts.Comes with COA from the Museum of Mom and Pop Culture+++
THE DALTON BROTHERS & FOLLIES THEATREThe Follies Theatre at 337 S. Main Street in Los Angeles was presenting burlesque by 1919. The Dalton Brothers took over operation of the theater in 1925. Historical accounts identify Pete, Roy and Frank Dalton as major figures in Los Angeles burlesque; burlesque historian Leslie Zemeckis has referred to them as “the Minskys of L.A.”Contemporary Billboard documentation identifies the Follies as one of the Dalton Brothers' houses, with musical comedies presented in condensed form.The Dalton Brothers also operated their Broadway theater nearby, creating a larger Los Angeles theatrical circuit in which material could circulate between houses.WHY #28 MATTERSThe numbered binder is important.This isn't simply an anonymous manuscript that happened to survive.It appears to be part of a larger working theater archive, and the presence of two versions together gives the collector something particularly interesting: evidence of how the material existed and changed as part of an operating theatrical organization.NOTE: We can not identify this as a George M. Cohan manuscript merely because "Broadway Jones" was the title of a Cohan 1912 play. Cohan's "Broadway Jones" is a documented full-length Broadway comedy, but these surviving manuscripts are specifically described as anonymous one-act burlesque material.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
The Dalton Brothers Broadway Theater and The Follies Theater, also run by the Daltons, were within blocks of each other in downtown Los Angeles in the late 1920s and early 1930s. One of the folders notes "Return to FOLLIES THEATER" and a companion binder from the same notes "DALTON BROTHERS BROADWAY THEATER". It appears these scripts and sides were shared by both theaters on the Dalton Brothers' Burlesque Circuit.
Burlesque historian Leslie Zemeckis calls Pete, Roy, and Frank Dalton "the Minskys of L.A." in her book "Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America." Earlier, the Daltons had been State Fair concessionaires in Texas and had run a string of theatres out of Dallas. In the early 20's they had operated the former Pantages on Broadway as Dalton's Theatre. At some point, the Follies was called the Folies Bergere. That's seen in the mosaic floor at the entrance in photos from the 30s.
Pantages opened their new theatre at the corner of 7th Street & S. Hill Street in August 1920. Pantages sold the building in 1925 to the Dalton Brothers, who owned the nearby Follies Theater. It was renamed Dalton’s Theatre (or Dalton’s Broadway) until 1928 when the name was changed to the Arcade Theatre, after the Broadway Spring Arcade Building, which is located directly next to the theater. The Dalton Brothers renovated the Arcade in 1932 and reopened it as a burlesque house on July 30, 1932. Lou Costello (of Abbott and Costello) was one of the comedians who performed at the theater during this time.
*PLEASE NOTE: Screen Grabs of Follies Theater and Handbill NOT INCLUDED - IMAGES ADDED AS VISUAL REFERENCE ONLY - THANKS!
*offer WITH CONFIDENCE AND ENJOY!Alan J. AdlerMuseum of Mom and Pop Culture
