Nightclub Listings in The New Yorker
Among the headliners at Manhattan night spots singled out that week by The New Yorker was the future Mr. Television, Milton Berle, appearing at the Carnival at 8th and 51st. The listing warned that his humor was “not for children.” Jane Froman, a popular singer who had been severely injured in a plane crash while on a U.S.O. tour, was appearing at the Copacabana. Standing upright with the help of a brace and a chain, she moved through the night club audience on a platform controlled by her pianist.
“The Incomparable” Hildegarde, as Walter Winchell had dubbed her, was perhaps the number one cabaret performer of the day. Her signature song,“Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup,” was written by Anna Sosenko, her long time manager/companion. The glamorous blonde singer, originally a small town girl from Wisconsin, was at her usual New York stand, the Plaza, with her long white gloves and candelabra.
Jazz pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams and the comedian Imogene Coca (later to become famous as Sid Caesar’s wacky TV co-star) provided earthier entertainment at the Café Society Uptown on East 58th Street while folk singer Josh White (later to be caught in the crossfire between the idiot Right and idiot Left, denounced by both as a traitor) was headlining at the Café Society Downtown on Sheridan Square. Café Society would also come under a cloud of suspicion during the Red Scare of the fifties over the source of its financing and the loyalties of its owner.
Harmonica virtuoso John Sebastian, father of John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful (then two years old), was playing at the Waldorf Astoria. Flamboyant drummer Gene Krupa and his band were the attraction at the 400 Club on East 43rd Street. On 52nd Street that week, jazz fans could find Coleman Hawkins and Dizzie Gillespie at the Spotlite and Art Tatum at the Downbeat. Louis Armstrong was at the Aquarium at 47th Street and Seventh Avenue and Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra were playing at the Lincoln on 8th Avenue at 44th.
The elite of café society donned formal evening wear and headed for the El Morocco (or ElMo to those in the know) and the Stork Club, two joints where the point was their exclusivity and not their notably mediocre food and entertainment. The sophisticates of the theatrical community patronized the more intimate boites such as Tony’s, the Blue Angel, Spivy’s Roof and Le Ruban Bleu. Additional info on nightclubs, hotel ballrooms and restaurants that week can be found here among the week's New Yorker ads.