Comments from barkas4

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barkas4
barkas4 commented about Ambassador Theatre on Jul 4, 2007 at 10:04 am

Check all the major newspapers of January 29, 1922 and the not so major ones. They all ran headline stories about the crash that occured the day before. NOAA, other weather information websites, and some eyewitness accounts on the web also have the correct date. Only the Army Quartermaster’s website is incorect.

barkas4
barkas4 commented about Ambassador Theatre on Jun 5, 2007 at 5:57 pm

The Knickerbocker Theater disaster happened on January 28, 1922, not on the 22nd as stated above.

barkas4
barkas4 commented about Scoop Theatre on Jan 1, 2007 at 8:49 am

My mother’s step sister/mother was a singer in vaudeville in Louisville in the 20’s. Are there any records for entertainers that appeared there? She was Galena Wade/Piemontesse/other. She was very young and I do have a picture of her on stage of some theater. My grandfather and grandmother also might have been in the theater as musicians: Oreste Natiello and Pauline (Winscott) Hamlin.

barkas4
barkas4 commented about Ambassador Theatre on Dec 30, 2006 at 6:22 pm

I have not been on this site lately and am pleased that there are some relatives of survivors of the Knickerbocker disaster. My grandfather (Oreste Natiello) was in the orchestra (french horn). His brother was the conductor: Ernesto Natiello. If you have not already contacted Debbie Chambers, do so. She is writing a book about the disaster and has many resources to share. She can be found on Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com. Just search for her postings or for information on the Knickerbocker Theater. She lined me up with a Canadian Company that did a documentory on the Knickerbocker. You can get a copy of it from Disasters of the
Twentieth Century website. Go to their store. The documentary is good and I enjoyed being in it but some of the information is not
true, even some of what I said. I had no opportunity to review
questions ahead of time or to edit what I said. I was probably
nervous or my memory was not that good that day. I was surprised at some of what I said. I never knew my grandfather but have done a
lot of reading on the theater – mostly old newspapers and some
websites. Debbie sent me picures.

barkas4
barkas4 commented about Lincoln Theatre on Mar 23, 2005 at 7:48 pm

Geare also designed the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington D.C. in 1921. It collapsed in a snowstorm in 1922 and killed 98 people. My grandfather lost his arm while he was there in the orchestra. His brother, the conductor died. Geare later committed suicide.

barkas4
barkas4 commented about Hilbert Circle Theater on Mar 23, 2005 at 10:40 am

My great uncle, Ernesto Natiello, conducted at the Circle in the early 1900’s. He was also the musical director of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington D.C. in 1922 when the roof collapsed from 28inches of snow on it. He died that day from head a broken skull. My grandfather played in the orchestra and lived but lost his arm. Ernesto’s wife also lived but the child she took to the theater died. Ernesto was a graduate of the Milan Conservatory and a student at several American consevatories. He devotedn “his rich experience in many music style to the musical interpretation of photodramatic subjects” and “syncronization of music scores”. (Washington Post Oct. 16, 1921)