Donna Darling at the Moon Theater, Omaha, – September 24–26, 1925

By Don Taylor

After completing her engagement at the Columbia Theater in Columbia, Missouri, on September 22, 1925, Donna Darling and her troupe traveled roughly 310 miles to Omaha, Nebraska. They had September 23 for traveling before opening at the Moon Theater on September 24.

In reviewing newspaper coverage of this appearance, I found a curious advertisement in the Omaha Evening Bee of September 24, 1925 (p. 4). The paper announced:

“Bobbed Hair Bandits”
Make Raid at the Moon”

Dona Darling and Girls style themselves as “The Bobbed Hair Bandits of Vaudeville,” for advertising purposes. They are at the Moon theater for three days, Saturday inclusive, as feature attraction of the week-end vaudeville program. Other acts are Willis and Willis, Walsh and Crook in “Oh, How Pretty,” and Joe Deming, “The Singing Comedian.”

This is the only instance I have seen where Donna was promoted under the “Bobbed Hair Bandits” title. The phrase likely alluded to Celia Cooney, the so-called “Bobbed Hair Bandit,” a notorious New York criminal whose exploits in 1924–25 received widespread press attention. The bobbed haircut itself symbolized modern womanhood and new social freedoms of the 1920s. It seems that Donna experimented with the label briefly but did not continue to use it.

The Moon Theater, Omaha

1918 – Opened as Moon Theater.
1929 – Transitioned to burlesque programming
1933 – Renamed Town Theater
1958 – Remodeled as Cooper Theater (Cooper 70)
1974 – Closed
1975 – Demolished.

Today, it is the home of the Union Pacific Railroad Company offices.