Ada Roach was an American musical comedy actress and entertainer on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits. She was head of the Ada Roach Company (also called "Ada Roach and Company") from 1915 to 1917, and partner of Ruth Freeman in the Roach-Freeman Duo into the 1920s.
Ada Roach | |
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| Occupation(s) | Comedy actress and entertainer |
| Years active | 1910s–1920s |
Career
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In 1913 Roach performed with The Killarney Girls, a touring group presenting Irish songs and dances.[1][2] As head of the six-person Ada Roach and Company from 1915 to 1917, she starred in Charles F. Horner's The Heart of the Immigrant (1915),[3] "a stirring musical play which also abounds in histrionic and educational features", on the lyceum circuit.[4] The show toured for two years.[5] In Nebraska, the company's car broke down and they carried their luggage six miles on foot, rather than miss their curtain.[1]
She was called a "bundle of sunshine" guaranteed to "chase the shadows from the face of the sourest of the sour."[6] Her exuberant comedic talents were held to be especially welcome during wartime.[7] By April 1918 she was partnered with fellow Killarney Girls alumna Ruth Freeman in a two-woman act, the Roach-Freeman Duo. They performed as part of the Liberty Girls show in 1918.[8][9] Roach sang Irish songs, played accordion and banjo,[10] and told stories, while Freeman presented a Swedish persona and played violin.[11][12] The Roach-Freeman team moved to New York in 1922.[13] They were both in the cast of a touring musical comedy, Meet Cousin Mary, in 1923.[14] Roach and Freeman appeared together on the Chautauqua platforms in California and Montana in 1924.[15][16]
In 1926, Ada Roach toured with another partner, pianist Martha Trippeer.[17] She performed on radio in 1927,[18] as a humorist, storyteller, and impersonator, on WMAQ in Chicago.[19]
Personal life
editAda Roach and her niece Jane McKenna were both injured in a car accident in 1917, in Chicago, and Roach was hospitalized for a month.[20][21]
References
edit- ^ a b Harry P. Harrison, Karl Detzer, Culture Under Canvas: The Story of Tent Chautauqua (Pickle Partners Publishing 2017). ISBN 9781787206151
- ^ "Smile of Erin Worn by Killarney Girls" Lyceum News (December 1913): 10.
- ^ "The Heart of the Immigrant" Montrose Daily Express (October 9, 1917). via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
- ^ "'The Heart of the Immigrant' — Scenes from Ellis Isle" Lyceum News (June–July 1915): 7.
- ^ "Ada Roach Company" Washington County News (October 25, 1917): 1. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Chautauqua Plans Are Coming Fine" Riverside Daily Press (March 22, 1917): 3. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
- ^ "Ada Roach Makes Folks Laugh and Forget" Lyceum Magazine (September 1917): 33.
- ^ "Enroute with Ohio-Redpath Chautauquans" Lyceum Magazine (September 1918): 47.
- ^ "A Panorama of the Ohio-Redpath Circuit" Lyceum Magazine (July 1918): 23.
- ^ "Only One Ada Roach" Statesman Journal (July 23, 1921): 2. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Advertisement, Westmoreland Recorder (July 3, 1919): 5. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Ada Roach is Coming" Kiowa County Signal (June 17, 1919): 2. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Roach-Freeman Duo" Lyceum Magazine (March 1923): 33.
- ^ "Program" Kismet Klipper (August 23, 1923): 2. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Advertisement, Healdsburg Tribune (June 2, 1924): 2. via California Digital Newspaper Collection
- ^ "Roach-Freeman Duo Returns" Ravalli Republic (July 25, 1924): 4. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Chautauqua Has First Big Night" Clarksville Leaf Chronicle (June 10, 1926): 1. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Notes of Interest to Radio Audiences" Call-Leader (June 1, 1927): 5. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Ada Roach" Belvidere Daily Republican (June 22, 1927): 2. via Newspapers.com
- ^ "Injured in Auto Accident" Lyceum News (October 1917): 7.
- ^ "Ada Roach Hurt" Lyceum Magazine (November 1917): 31.
