The documentary Gaslight Square: The Forgotten Landmark is getting revived this month for some showings on the HEC cable channel. The film, which has previously aired on PBS affiliate KETC and was named a Best Local Short Subject at 2003 St. Louis International Film Festival, tells the story of the entertainment district that flourished in midtown St. Louis from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s. This month's broadcasts will include additional segments featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with the film's director and producer.
Jazz was part of the Gaslight Square scene, in particular the traditional sounds of sousaphonist Singleton Palmer and his Dixieland Six. But the area also attracted national attention as a showcase for such then-up-and-coming entertainers as Barbara Streisand, The Smothers Brothers, Woody Allen, George Carlin, and Lenny Bruce.
The documentary will be shown on HEC at 9 p.m. on Thursday, January 19; 8:30 on Sunday, January 22; 9 p.m. on - 8:30 Thursday, Janury 26 and once more at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 29. You can check your local TV/cable listings for HEC-TV, or visit the channel's Web site.
I saw and enjoyed Gaslight Square: The Forgotten Landmark when it aired a while back on Channel 9, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in St. Louis history, especially music/entertainment history. In addition to the film's site, linked above, director Bruce Marren has also helped set up a site about Gaslight Square itself, which includes some vintage stills used in the film.
A few years ago, the area that once housed the nightclubs of Gaslight Square was redeveloped into a neighborhood of new single family homes. But its years as an entertainment district still live on in this film, in the memories of those who there, and in singers and musicians such as Jeanne Trevor, Mae Wheeler and Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, all of whom were part of the scene back then and are still active as performers now.
(edited 1/17/06 to fix a typo and add a sentence to the first graf)
No comments:
Post a Comment