Donna in the News – “Taflan’s Unique Review,” May 1930

 “Donna in the News” is my reporting of newly found newspaper 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’s clipping is from  The Evening Telegraph (North Platte, Nebraska), dated May 3, 1930.

Article

My knowledge of the twilight of Donna’s career is minimal, so it was exciting to find an article about her performing in May 1930. It is just a quick mention, but it provided the name of a new show she was in, a new venue, and information about one of her final performances. It reads:

The Evening Telegraph North Platte, NE – 3 May 1930

FOX OFFERS BIG VARIETY

Sunday and Monday the Fox theatre presents another great program on both stage and screen. The R-K-O vaudeville is headed by Taflan’s Unique Review, a company of six young men and women with special costumes and scenery, featuring Miss Dona Darling.

This clipping provides a hint regarding what Donna did after she returned from Panama. We know Donna was in Panama during her birthday, February 20, 1930. She also left Panama on March 27 and arrived in New York on April 8, 1930. Donna and Sammy had become estranged when they left Panama, so she no longer had a show with Sammy. Consequently, I’ve known nothing about her career from her return until she played in Terre Haute, Indiana, in September or October 1930, when she and Sammy were supposed to open a show again. (Although I have not been able to confirm they did perform together.) Now, I can further research “Taflan’s Unique Review” during 1930 and see where it and Donna may have appeared.

New information added to her career list:

May 4, 1930 – Fox Theatre – North Platte, NE – “…six young men and women…featuring Miss Dona Darling.