Chin-Chin in the News – 16 November 1919 – Trinidad, CO – Unknown Theatre

Vaudeville/Chin-Chin

My grandmother was a vaudeville star and I am following her career, trying to learn of her many performances. In October 1919, she joined the cast of the Charles Dillingham production of “Chin-Chin” “Chin-Chin” played in the US and Canada until June 1920. I monitor several newspaper services watching for new venues that the show played while she was a cast member.

I recently received a notification from the folks at Elephind that they had added the “Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection to their searchable items. As such, I ran a quick search and had two new findings. The first entry is from the Denver Jewish News dated 5 November 1919. It was an ad for Chin Chin playing at the Broadway Theatre in Denver, a venue I had learned about previously.

The second article found was from the Walsenburg World dated 20 November 1919, Page 5, Column 3, Para 12, which read:

Walsenburg World – Nov 20, 1919 – Page 5, Column 3, Paragraph 12.

“Mr. and Mrs. George Blickhahn, Mr. and Mrs. James Flynn, Mrs. B. Gardner, Aldolph Unfug, Miss Clara Kincaid of La Veta, and Lois Sporleder all spent Sunday in Trinidad seeing ‘Chin Chin.’”

The previous Sunday would have been November 16, 1919. Trinidad is a small town about 40 miles southeast of Walsenburg and about 11 miles north of the New Mexico border.

It appears that the show may have been at West’s Theatre, however, I’ll need to confirm that with additional research. The show played in Denver from the 9^th to the 15^th, went south to Trinidad for the 16^th then returned back north to Pueblo on the 18^th and Colorado Springs on the 19^th.

New Venue Added:

Nov 16, 1919 – Trinidad, Colorado – (Probably) West’s Theatre.