Encore Performance! Trouping through Texas

Well now, what with this, that and the other, it's been quite awhile since I've been here, and it's high time I had my say about something.

A lot has changed for our shops during the intervening years, so on this January evening in the year 2020, I'm reprising this peek into a theatre history- cum- biography book that's now available, with many others, on Prospero's Bookshelf.

Trouping through Texas Harley Sadler and His Tent Show, written by Clifford Ashby and Suzanne DePauw May and published by Bowling Green University Popular Press in 1982, this entertaining and well written book tells the story of the early 20th century native Texan "hero" entertainer.

At a time in the American Southwest when there was little tolerance between the pulpit and the stage, Sadler became the exception - to the extent that rural preachers called him "as near a certifiable saint as ever emerged from the Baptist Church." And when "Old Harley" came to town, they were known reschedule their regular Wednesday night services to avoid competing with his performances.



This delightful paperback is 187 pages long, measures 9" x 6 inches and is in very good vintage condition. It is well illustrated with black and white photographs, including this shot of the company for Siege of the Alamo.

Prospero's Bookshelf ©2020