“Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspapers articles and advertising regarding my grandmother, Madonna Montran (aka Donna Montran and aka Donna Darling). I am always excited when I find a new venue for my grandmother’s exciting show business career of the 1910s and 1920s.
This week I received a notification from Newspapers.com that I had 36 new hits on my alerts – 15 from “Montran,” 15 from “Walter Wills” (which suggests “Chin Chin”), and 6 from “Dona/Donna Darling” from seven different newspapers dated between 3 May 1920 and 5 March 1928.
The articles related to six shows during her career. Four of the shows I had previously in my list of Donna’s performances. They were:
- Lyceum Theatre, Paterson, PA – May 7 -8 1920 – “Chin Chin.”
- Colonial Theatre, Lancaster, PA – April 17, 18, & 19, 1922 – “Special Easter Show.”
- Grand Theatre, Saint Louis, MO – July 7-9, 1923 – Donna Darling show.
- Majestic Concerts – Brooklyn, NY – Mar 5, 1928 – Donna Darling and Somory [sic] Clark in “The Princess and the King.”
Can anyone translate?
Adding more clippings to what I already had is always good. However, what is particularly cool about the Grand Theatre clipping is that the newspaper that speaks of Donna is written in German. I don’t know what it says. I tried OCRing the words and transcribing the text to no avail. All I really know is that the article mentions “Donna Darling” and was published during the week Donna was in Saint Louis, Mo. Hopefully, someone who reads German and German font will help me out.
The other two venues were new to me.
- Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, PA May 29, 1920 – Chin Chin
- Keeney’s Theatre – Brooklyn, NY – Aug 1921, Donna Montran.
So, I’ve been able to add two new shows that Donna was a part of. I will add All of these clippings to future venue writeups.
Have a great week.
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