A Little Vaudeville goes a long way
Sometimes you meet a person who is genuine and does for others out of pure joy instead of personal financial gain.
Donna Dickinson of Palatine is such a person.
(Heather Eidson/Staff Photographer)
Classes:
• To register for Little Vaudeville class: Contact Donna Dickinson at (847) 632-0890 or e-mail donnavaudeville@comcast.net.
• When are classes? 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays for ages 5 to 7; and 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. for ages 8 to 15.
• Also: Dickinson invites senior citizens to sign up for lessons, and the community may request a performance for charity events.
Performance:
• What: Dickinson's Little Vaudeville act will open for Buona Notte Pavarotti starring the other three tenors and a 32-piece orchestra.
• When: 8 p.m. Saturday, May 3
• Where: The Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles.
• Cost: Tickets are $29 to $75.
• Call: (630) 587-8400
• On the Net: www.onestientertainment.com.
Not only has she been teaching the forgotten art form of vaudeville to school-age children since 1993, she has made next to no money doing it. Yet, she carries on -- and with gusto.
"There's totally nothing professional about what we do," she said. "It's for kids who want to be on stage. My main goal is to keep my kids having fun and keep this as cheap as possible."
Dickinson's Little Vaudeville accepts any child into the program, which is organized by five-week sessions. Learning a vaudeville act is fun and requires absolutely no experience.
The greatest reward for Dickinson has been seeing her children return year after year, especially now that The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles gives her access to teach on its vaudeville stage.
The partnership, which was formed on the Internet, couldn't be a better match. The theater originally was built for vaudeville, and Dickinson has one of the few vaudeville children's troupes in the country.
Dickinson has a library of choreographed skits she has created over the years, and easily leaps into the mix as she teaches children an Al Jolson routine, singing the song, Swanee. While going through the lyrics with four local St. Charles children, she explains it along the way.
"Who does he (Jolson) want to go home to?" she shouted out.
One child answered: "His wife."
Another belts out: "His hamster!"
Everyone has a good laugh. But the answer is his mother. And just like that, Dickinson teaches children a little theater and a little history. Names like Will Rogers, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Baby Rose Marie and the Marx Brothers are but a few she shares.
The whole idea behind the variety-based vaudeville act is to be silly enough to make the audience laugh.
"The most memorable shows are when things go wrong because adults are so forgiving of children," Dickinson said.
She recalled a show when a little boy went on stage and presented a box to the audience, announcing as he opened it that it was empty.
But the box wasn't empty. The rabbit was still in it from rehearsal.
Dickinson said the audience thought that was hilarious, but she went on stage, took away the rabbit and the boy began again, announcing, " now it's empty!"
Little Vaudeville does about six shows a year, and the next performance will be the opening act for Buona Notte Pavarotti at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Arcada. Dickinson also takes the troupe to perform for food pantry benefits in the Chicago area. She has another group of children in Arlington Heights.
A trained figure skater who spent her early career in professional ice shows, Dickinson latched onto vaudeville after her own children became intrigued by it. But, she couldn't find them a teacher or a class.
She was accustomed to choreographing and coordinating ice shows, so it wasn't a stretch for her to move into vaudeville theater, she said. She did some research and began teaching.
She thought her children eventually would lose interest and move onto something else, but they never did. So she kept teaching, taking all children who wanted to learn.
She owns enough books, memorabilia and props from the vaudeville era to start a small museum. In fact, she and the owner of The Arcada are talking about launching one.
But for now, Dickinson will keep on doing what she does best -- inspiring young children. For her, there is no greater reward.