Skip to main content

Featured

When Grandpa Trod the Boards: From The Colleen Bawn to the Irish Cultural Garden

Title page from The Colleen Bawn script.   In 1933, when Joseph John Gilbride was 23 years old, he took to the stage. Grandpa had a bit part as a soldier in a production of the 19th century Irish play, The Colleen Bawn , by Dion Boucicault. The play was produced in Cleveland's Little Theater in Public Hall. 1   My grandpa's name and address in The Colleen Bawn cast list. 2   Now, it's not a huge stretch to imagine Grandpa doing a bit of theater. He was an outgoing fella, prone to jokes, puns, and visual nonsense that made his grandkids laugh.  Cut-up Grandpa checks out his new headphones, getting a smile from Grandma! 3 But beyond the novelty of thinking about a young Grandpa playing a soldier, it was the context of this Theater of Nations endeavor and the groups that helped produce  The Colleen Bawn  that grabbed my attention.   Beginnings  It began with this announcement on 13 December 1929 in The Plain Dealer: Races of City to Give Plays with P...

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Newspaper Clipping II

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Newspaper Clipping II -  January 29th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

 



This clipping is a bit of a mystery, as it was loose in a box of my Mom's things. I don't have a date or a newspaper. I'm assuming that it is from The Cleveland Press, as they are listed as a sponsor of this Folk Festival in which my Mom, Anna Margaret "Margie" Kozlina Gilbride, was performing. She is shown in the small trio to the right, on the left side. 

Mom participated in Croatian folk dance for several years, and I'm lucky enough to have several great photos of her in her costumes. I never saw any of these costumes in person, so they must have belonged to the troupes and not to her personally.

I know that Mom went on at least one tour with a folk troupe, as I have a great letter from her to her family describing the hotel she was staying in. (See Mom's Big Trip.)

I plan to do some further research to date this article and find out more about the folk festival event. Look for updates in a future post.


Comments