Donna at the Auditorium Theatre, Winston-Salem, NC, – 18-20 Oct 1923.

Donna Darling Vaudville
100 Years Ago
by Don Taylor

It doesn’t appear there was any pre-show advertising for Donna’s Revue, as the first ad for her show appeared on opening day, October 18, 1923. The five Keith Acts included:

• Walter Law & Company – The headliner at the Auditorium. Walter was a movie star who had just starred in the 1923 version of “The Flying Dutchman.”
• Bill Dooley & Company – Songs, Comedy, Dances.
• Hickman Bros. – Comedians.
• “Done in Oil” – A short comedy starring Jimmie Adams.
• Donna Darling – in her revue with her dancing fool, Murray Earle, and her Beau Brummel[i], Tod Watson in a song and dance romance.
• An added attraction was AMAC, a magician, who performed “The Elusive Lady.[ii]”

Advertising for the show appeared in both the Winston-Salem Journal and the Twin City Sentinel.

The Winston-Salem Journal ran a photo and short write-up about Donna on October 19^th.

Starring with Keith at Auditorium This Week

Miss Donna Darling who starred yesterday afternoon and last evening at the Auditorium theatre in her review, assisted by Murry Earle and Tod Watson. Miss Darling has just returned from the west where she closed the season with the Orpheum circuit. She is the sister of Miss Grace Darling the famous movie star, and like her sister she is also a movie star. Miss Darling was also prima Donna with the famous play “Chin Chin.” She will be at the Auditorium theatre today and Saturday, and her act is certainly worth the time that it takes to see the bill. Everyone who loves good vaudeville should see the bill this week.

Reviews

Johnson Hall wrote a review of the show in the October 19^th edition of the Winston-Salem Journal.

Bushels of Fun at Auditorium

Donna Darling’s Review is one of the High Spots of the Show

… It is a program that grips the audience from the beginning to the end, only to find that the best comes last, for there is no questioning the fact that Miss Donna Darling’s review is the highest spot of the show, despite the man good things that have gone before….

… But when Miss Donna Darling brings on her review the audience sits up and takes notice. Here is a real star—a prima donna that played in the original cast of “Chin Chin”, a fore-runner of “Chu Chin Chow.” Miss darling has a sister in the movies, but the movies can’t sing, and Miss Donna Darling can. Besides that, she is winsome, attractive, and—Well go see for yourself—Its worth twice the price for the show.

---

Auditorium Theatre

The Elks Auditorium, located on the corner of West Fifth and North Liberty Streets, opened in 1903. On 27 April 1916, the hotel next door (The Neil Hotel) caught fire and it and the Elks Auditorium were quickly engulfed in the flames and destroyed.[iii]

The Auditorium theatre opened in 1918 on the same site as the Elks Auditorium. In 1930, it was renamed the State Theatre and operated until its closure in 1952[iv]. It was later demolished; today it is a parking ramp.

Parking ramp where Auditorium Theatre once stood.
Image courtesy Google Maps.

---

Specifications for the Auditorium Theatre – 1921[v]
C. J. McLane, Manager

Seating Capacity 1,528

• Proscenium opening: 32 ft
• Front to back wall: 36 ft
• Between side walls: 50 ft
• Between fly girders: 40 ft
• To rigging loft: 70 ft
• To fly gallery: 30 ft

Newspapers—Morning Journal – Evening Sentinel.”
Hotels—Zinzendorf, Frances, Phoenix, Winsal Café, Liberty Café.

---

Endnotes

[i] Beau Brummel – an extremely or excessively well-dressed man.
[ii] See Magicpedia article “Bill Amac” for more information about this act.
[iii] See the Winston-Salem Time Traveler “Elks Auditorium Fire… 100 Years Ago.”
[iv] See Cinema Treasures – “State Theatre, 453 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, NDC 27101.”
[v] James Cahn-Gus Hill theatrical guide and moving picture directory, v.20, 1921 – via HathiTrust Page 275.