Juggling Through Broadway's Palace Theatre With Illusionist Charlie Frye
(© David Gordon)
Charlie Frye gets to the Palace Theatre nearly two hours before showtime each night. Frye is one of the several skilled artists taking the stage nightly in this season's engagement of The Illusionists — Turn of the Century. His specialty? A vaudevillian blend of magic, slapstick, and juggling, among other skills that have taken him to stages across the world and helped him earn honors like the 2015 Award of Excellence from the International Jugglers' Association.
There's a long history of vaudeville at the Palace. During the genre's heyday from 1913 when it opened to the early 1930s, it welcomed the likes of Ed Wynn, Will Rogers, Bert Williams, The Marx Brothers, Fanny Bryce, Florence Mills, Ethel Waters, and scores of others.
Frye's early arrival time at the Palace allows him to soak up its history as he gets ready for the night's performance. We followed him around the historic Broadway venue for an inside look at his rehearsal process.
