I saw my first stage shows when I was eight, and without any permission from my grandmother, for she was very strict with me. The shows were vaudeville, put on in the little store-front theaters along South Street. These were like nickelodeons and had tiny stages and folding chairs. Admission cost ten cents, with a few front rows at twenty-five cents. I always stayed to see these shows over and over again, until the manager put me out. When I got home I'd imitate the performers who'd done anything I liked. I'd sing their songs as they'd sung them, songs like "Lovie Joe," "That Ever Loving Man," and "Barber Shop Chord." << less