The Vaudeville Star Read online

“Up yours!” Everyone heard her say.

  Ruby sat quietly in the empty audience as the performers onstage began to disperse. Bessie smiled as she made her way back to Ruby.

  “W-was that part of the act?” Ruby said, her eyes wide.

  “What? Vern and Zeta? Not at all! That’s just Zeta throwing her weight around and Vern not caving in. They do that performance at least once a week,” she said, laughing.

  “How does it end?” Ruby wondered.

  “Usually after Max and Vern have groveled enough, Zeta will return. But she should be careful. She’s almost thirty-five, and this can’t go on forever.”

  Ten minutes passed, and Vernon made his way to where Bessie sat with Ruby. He eyed Ruby with interest but spoke to Bessie.

  “I swear, Bessie. Someday that woman is going to drive me into an early grave,” he said coldly.

  “Vern, do you have a minute? I would like to introduce you to someone,” Bessie asked.

  “Sure, sweetheart. For you, anything.” He lit a cigar that he pulled from his shirt pocket.

  “This is my dear cousin, Ruby. She’s come to New York from Mississippi.”

  Both women had agreed that to save time and questions Ruby would be “the cousin from Mississippi.” Ruby didn’t mind, and the white lie hurt no one.

  “Ruby, this is Vernon—” Before she could finish the introduction, the manager was already eyeing Ruby with renewed interest.

  “Ruby, huh?”

  “Yes, sir. My name is Ruby Mae Sutton. Everyone calls me Ruby.”

  “Well, Ruby. You are quite the looker. An ingenue if ever I saw one,” he remarked.

  “Ingenue?” she repeated, unsure of the word.

  “A young and pretty actress,” Bessie explained.

  “What do you do, Ruby?” he said, puffing on his cigar.

  “I sing. Though I don’t know if I’m any good,” she admitted.

  “Well, let me tell you something, Ruby. A typical vaudeville show has nine acts, but I only have five acts, though the sisters, Bessie here, and Zeta perform twice. Our top billing is Zeta. She is well liked by the audiences, and they come to see her perform. Why, I’ll never know. But there it is.”

  “I understand, sir.” Her hopes were dashed. There was no place for her here after all.

  Vernon was studying Ruby. “You’re young and fresh. You have a trim figure. Turn around,” he told her.

  Ruby flushed pink, but Bessie nodded to do as Vernon asked. Ruby made a small circle and felt uncomfortable as she did it.

  “I’ve got an idea,” he said, smiling. “You can be our card girl.”

  Bessie smiled, but Ruby was lost. “Card girl? What is that?”

  “Simple. Before each act, you’ll come out carrying a card with the next performer’s name.”

  “That’s it? That’s all I need to do?” Ruby asked, hopeful again.

  “Sure. But you’ll need to wear something nice. Something that shows a bit of leg. Maybe a corset and some stockings.” Vernon smiled, warming to the idea.

  “You want me to go out onstage before perfect strangers in my undergarments?” Ruby asked, mortified.

  Vernon frowned. “Now you listen to me, missy. My show may not be the best in town, but I have top-notch performers. Zeta may be a pain in my ass, but she has performed in London and Rome, and you have performed absolutely nowhere, correct?”

  “Except at Miss Porter’s School,” Ruby whispered.

  “Miss Porter’s—oh Christ! Miss Porter’s School! Take it or leave it,” Vernon said before stalking away.

  Ruby turned her tear-filled eyes to Bessie. “I can’t go onstage in my chemise and corset!”

  “Come on, Ruby. It isn’t all that bad,” Bessie said. “We’ll find you something nice to wear. He just wants you to show a bit of leg to keep the audience from leaving. Sometimes they do in between performances. But you’ll keep them glued to their seat.”

  Together, Ruby and Bessie went downstairs to where the costumes were kept.

  “You know it isn’t what you think, Ruby. Everyone wears less clothing onstage. That’s part of the reason we stay afloat. Wait until you see what the Hungarian sisters wear; you’ll be shocked. And even me, my dress shows my ankles, and Zeta wears revealing dresses. It’s what they want to see,” Bessie explained. “A little flash of skin, it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

  They found a striking dress that had a tight corset with off-the-shoulder sleeves, and though the skirt was long in the back, it opened in the front to reveal her knees and ankles. Ruby felt naked, but Bessie was pleased.

  “It’s perfect, Ruby! It shows off your small waist and legs, but not too much.” Bessie smiled.

  “Not too much?” Ruby looked at herself in the mirror, entirely unconvinced.

  The material was striped pink and white satin with the corset nipping in her already small waist. The off-the-shoulder sleeves were attractive, but her legs were completely bare from the knees down, though the skirt protected her backside all the way to the floor.

  “Let’s show Vern. He has final say on all costumes,” Bessie said.

  Vernon smiled broadly when Ruby walked in wearing the satin gown. “Oh yes! That is perfect, sweetheart. What did you say your name was?”

  “Ruby, sir.”

  “Excellent. You can start this Friday,” he directed and then told her the amount of her wage, which seemed pitifully small.

  The wage was lower than she had expected, but she could manage. She had saved up enough for her room and board, and the job would help.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  When they returned to the costume room, Ruby thankfully pulled on her simple day dress, happy to have her body covered once more.

  “Take the costume with us. We need to clean it,” Bessie told her.

  When they returned to the boardinghouse with the costume in tow, Ruby finally came face-to-face with the Hungarian sisters, who also roomed at Mrs. Hodges’ and were in the same show as Bessie and Archie. She had not had a chance to meet them earlier at the theater due to Zeta’s outburst.

  “Disgraceful,” Olga Vadas said as she entered Ruby’s room uninvited. Olga and her sisters, Blanka and Greta, had left behind their native homeland of Hungary to come to America to take to the stage. They performed risqué dances to music hall songs and were very popular with the male audience members. They had been performing for several years. Olga was a curvy woman with a large bosom and small lips.

  Ruby occupied the window seat while Bessie was at the table studying the gown for stains and repairs.

  “What is disgraceful, Olga? Have you met Ruby?” Bessie said without looking up.

  “Hello, Ruby. I am Olga Vadas. Disgraceful is the way that pompous prima donna has everyone in the theater falling over themselves to do her bidding. She should be careful. She is of an age,” Olga finished ominously.

  “Of an age?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, my darling girl. She is of an age. That age when women are no longer looked at as beautiful, and thus—poof—they disappear from the stage,” she said dramatically.

  “That’s awful,” Ruby sighed.

  “But true,” Bessie chimed in.

  Another knock came, and Blanka rushed in. She was the eldest Vadas sister and looked the exact opposite of Olga. Blanka was slender with large blue eyes and frizzy brown hair. She was briefly introduced to Ruby before she turned on her sister.

  “Olga! Where have you been?” A rush of Hungarian filled the air as the two women went back and forth.

  It was an old argument that needed no translation. They had somewhere to be, and Olga was not ready. In a flurry of words in both English and Hungarian, the two women soon left the room together, bidding Ruby and Bessie good-bye.

  “You’ll soon meet everyone in the show. Most of them are good people, and many of them have been in the business for a long time. Our comedian, Lou McDoo, has been in vaudeville since the 1880s and even worked with the great Tony Pastor,” Bessie explained.

/>   Ruby raised her eyebrows. Everyone in vaudeville knew of Tony Pastor. He had been a circus ringmaster and then a theater manager who started the vaudeville shows. In 1881, he staged a clean vaudeville show in New York, hoping to draw females and families to his doors. It worked.

  “Why did he leave Mr. Pastor?” Ruby asked.

  Bessie shrugged as she threaded a needle from her sewing kit to fix a small tear in Ruby’s costume.

  “I think they didn’t get along. This is a wonderful business, and the applause is great, and for a while you can be on top of the world. But it’s as Olga said. For women especially. Beauty and youth are prized. But that’s something you don’t need to worry about for quite some time.”

  Ruby ignored the compliment and looked out the window at the passersby. “Is it like that for everyone?”

  Bessie pondered the question. “Comedians are exempt. I’ve seen fat, slobby men who are middle-aged and older who still command the stage. Some of the singers like Zeta go on for some time because they have fans who adore them.”

  Ruby nodded and looked out the window and saw a man staring up at their building.

  “I think that’s the key,” Bessie explained. “You must be like Zeta. Once you have star billing, you must cultivate your audience and make people return to see you.”

  “Look at Lillian Russell! People come from all over to see her, and you are much younger and prettier than she is,” she told her new friend.

  Everyone had heard of Lillian Russell, a popular singer who performed at a local music hall in New York. She had a long career, and Ruby envied her longevity.

  “There!” Bessie said as she finished embroidering the small tear and held it up for Ruby to see.

  “It’s so gaudy,” Ruby said as she looked at the distasteful garment once more.

  “Yes! It is gaudy! Look, I don’t mean to sound harsh, Ruby, but here goes nothing. If you want to dress normally and be respected and revered, then go on the stage as an actress. You can do comedy, drama, Shakespeare, or whatever takes your fancy. But you told me when we first met that you want to be onstage in vaudeville and sing.”

  “I do,” Ruby said, nodding.

  “Then stop worrying and show a little leg. You aren’t selling your body to men—”

  “Bessie!” Ruby said softly.

  “Well, you aren’t, but it will get you noticed,” she said the last words with emphasis.

  Ruby nodded and picked up the repaired garment. She moved her hand along the silk bodice and resigned herself. Bessie was right. A little leg was nothing, and it would get her noticed.

  5

  Ruby briefly met the performers of the vaudeville show before her first entrance onto the stage as the “Intro Act” card girl. Everyone introduced themselves to her before going off to their dressing rooms. The Vadas sisters greeted her warmly and spoke Hungarian as they ambled off while the comedian, Lou, kissed the back of her hand and then dropped an egg into it.

  “Ah!” she cried out, but the egg wasn’t real.

  “Welcome, my dear,” he said, smiling and throwing the egg into the air and then catching it.

  Lee Chen was a magician from China who no one knew anything about. He wore a long black traditional Chinese gown that Ruby would later find out was called a changshan. He seemed very mysterious, and when she introduced herself to him, he only bowed slightly and said nothing.

  Besides the dancing siblings, the only other performer she had yet to meet was Zeta Riggi, the Italian singer. But Zeta had top billing and would not deign to meet a lowly card girl. Many theater managers used card girls to keep the audience interested between acts, and they often looked like Ruby: a young, trim girl wearing a revealing gown to keep the audience engaged.

  Ruby was nervous as she waited backstage for her first card entrance. She watched as “Vaudeville Vern” welcomed the audience and talked a little about the acts to follow. He was wearing the black-and-white evening clothes of a gentleman, and she was surprised to see the audience’s response to him. The moment he stepped onstage, the house fell silent.

  Ruby liked being backstage. She liked to watch the bustle of movement as the stagehands moved along the fly to change scenery or drapery, and the small orchestra pit in front of the stage filled with musicians who played for each act.

  She tried to stay out of everyone’s way, and when Vern announced the first act, Lou McDoo strolled onstage wearing an outrageous costume of humungous pants, a shirt and vest, and a tiny hat on his head. He garnered a large laugh from his costume alone.

  “What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Bessie whispered to her.

  “I wanted to watch the show from the wings.” Ruby turned to her friend, who wore a glittering gown of light blue. “You look like a fairy princess, Bessie. So pretty.”

  Bessie looked down at the gown. “I do? That’s funny. I’m so used to it.”

  “I think it’s so fitting that you’ll be the first act I introduce. Since I owe this all to you,” Ruby told her friend.

  “Nonsense! When you are like Zeta with top billing, then thank me.”

  More laughter came from the audience as Lou managed to ride a tiny little bicycle across the stage. When the final applause ended and Lou exited the stage, Ruby picked up the large card that read, “The Dancing Duo” and walked out onto the empty stage.

  Ruby held the card at waist height so the people could see her lovely face, the card, and her legs. She was supposed to walk the length of the stage and stop, then walk the length again to where she had started and exit. It was quite simple and she was to smile the entire time.

  But as she reached the end of the first length, a huge catcall came from the audience. It was shrill and high and followed by several others. Ruby’s smile faltered, but she continued quickly across the stage, and when she reached the end, she made a jaunty little curtsy before exiting.

  “Come back!” yelled one audience member as Ruby stumbled into Archie backstage.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, steadying her.

  Ruby dropped the card at his feet. “Yes. It—it was just a bit much.”

  Archie smiled. He was tall and slender, and his red hair looked dark in the dim light. “They liked you though.”

  “They like my legs is all. Anyone can do that,” she returned tartly.

  “Really? I don’t think anyone in this building would want to see Vern’s legs.”

  Ruby laughed as Bessie joined them. “Come on, brother of mine. Let’s make magic!”

  Ruby watched the siblings move effortlessly across the stage, and she smiled at them. They were good people. Kind people. She was so grateful to have met them both.

  She picked up the next card, which bore the name “The Mysterious Chinaman.” She saw him backstage wearing his long black gown. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be in a trance with his arms dangling at his side. No one bothered him as the stagehands moved about, and several minutes passed before the Moore siblings exited the stage.

  “Lively audience tonight!” Bessie said breathlessly.

  “They are! Nothing worse than a cold crowd,” Archie agreed.

  Ruby took a deep breath and entered the stage with her new sign. Everyone clapped, and Ruby smiled brightly as she crossed the stage. When she moved back across, someone shouted, “Don’t go!”

  Ruby performed her little curtsy and winked at the audience, who roared their approval.

  “Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” she told the old stagehand backstage.

  He winked back at her and grinned.

  Ford read the telegram, which was brief and to the point. Ruby was working at one of the theaters in New York and had found a room at a nearby boardinghouse. Ford placed the telegram aside and smiled to himself. He wasn’t exactly surprised, but Ruby was a woman who did the unexpected. He had almost laughed at her when she told him of her desire to travel to New York.

  Women of her breeding didn’t do such a thing. They m
arried young and had children. But she was a firebrand, and it was something he had always admired. Their night together had changed everything for him. He knew he cared for her, but she had been dead set on leaving. He had discreetly asked one of his fellow detectives to follow her from Connecticut, and so he had.

  He was a nondescript fellow with sandy blond hair, and Ford knew no one would look twice at him. He had followed Ruby since she had left school, and finally Ford had received the update via telegram. It was time he was getting back to New York himself. He had enjoyed his time in Mississippi, but his work required him to be in New York. He would telegram the agency, find out his next assignment, and take the next train back.

  Ruby watched from the wings as the Vadas sisters performed onstage. Their song was the popular “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" that had been made famous by Lottie Collins almost ten years earlier.

  The sisters moved about the stage in a sensuous manner and flung their skirts over their backs to expose their ruffle-clad bottoms. Ruby had never seen anything like it, and she was mesmerized, her eyes wide and staring at the sisters as they pranced about the stage. And how the male audience members loved the sisters! They whistled and yelled as the chorus began and then quieted down when each sister sang a verse.

  A sweet tuxedo girl you see, A queen of swell society, Fond of fun as fond can be, When it's on the strict Q.T.

  I'm not too young, I'm not too old, Not too timid, not too bold, Just the kind you'd like to hold

  Just the kind for sport I'm told.

  The lyrics were extremely suggestive, and the men whistled and clapped and seemed to love every second of it. When the sisters flew offstage, breathless and laughing, after their song, the cat-calls continued for them to return.

  When Ruby came onstage with her card, it bore only two words, “Zeta Riggi.” As the audience saw the name, they clapped and clamored for the star of the show.

  Vernon and Max had groveled enough to have Zeta return, and as always, she had agreed. She waited until the applause died down before she entered. The applause came again, and Zeta put a hand out to wave to them. She also acknowledged the conductor of the orchestra, who in turn nodded to her.