Lollipop

Take a journey back in time to an era when movie theatres were movie houses, jazz was king, and vaudeville was one of the premiere forms of entertainment. Lollipop is the late Reva Howitt Clar's memoirs of her colorful career with the legendary brother and sister producing team of Fanchon and Marco and the first inside account to give detailed insight into the workings of this famous pair. A first-hand chronicle of the weekly shows, rehearsals, costumes, publicity stunts, and backstage intrigues that typified any vaudeville performer, Lollipop sweeps the reader into the jazz age, when live stage show entertainment served as the West Coast's main link to the current music and dance trends in New York, detailing Clar's ten-year association with Fanchon and Marco from 1923-1933, first as a dancer, then as co-director of their dance school. The text also highlights the eventual fade of vaudeville from the entertainment circuit, caused by the Great Depression. Supplemented with historical tidbits and anecdotes from her daughter, Clar's memoir offers an intimate portrait of vaudeville life from the viewpoint of a non-headliner. This diverting and entertaining glimpse of a lost era in American culture is an enjoyable read for students of American popular culture, vaudeville, and theatre history.