Vaudeville at the Sportatorium? — 1936

by Paula Bosse

Original Sportatorium, in all its octagonal glory

by Paula Bosse

I saw this ticket recently on eBay:

SPORTATORIUM, Cadiz and Industrial Blvd.
Harley Sadler In Person
And His Company of 100 Stage Players Present
UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
And Vaudeville, Musical Floor Show, Refreshments

…What?!

The ticket is undated, but “vaudeville” had mostly faded by the 1930s. The original (octagonal!) Sportatorium was built in 1935 and opened as a premiere sporting venue for wrestling (and boxing) in December 1935.

The new sports bowl, under construction at Cadiz and Industrial, will have its official opening Monday night, December 9, when Promoter Bert Willoughby will offer the biggest wrestling program ever staged in Texas, if present plans go through as outlined. This 10,000-seating capacity structure, built as the home of wrestling, will also entertain many other events, such as boxing, basketball, indoor circuses, style shows [!], conventions and gatherings of all kinds. (Dallas Morning News, Dec. 1, 1935)

Sounds huge. But it’s really hard to keep those seats full — especially on nights when wrestling is not scheduled. By the end of April, there were already plans to do something about one of their biggest problems.

“We feel,” declared [manager W. T.] Cox, “that this concern is too big and that there is too much money already invested to have five or six dark nights a week, so we are going to make it possible for everyone, with anything to show, to bring it to our place, whether it be a political gathering, religious services or merchants’ and manufacturers’ exhibits. The policy of the house will be to encourage and promote sports, but it will be available to all.” (DMN, Apr. 20, 1936)

Sportatorium management came up with the idea of presenting a massive show on non-wrestling nights. They gave Harley Sadler — a longtime traveling Texas showman (and later a politician) — a long-term engagement in which he basically crammed as much “show” into one evening as was humanly possible. A stage was built, and many of those 10,000 seats were removed in order that patrons could sit at tables to enjoy the relentless, non-stop entertainment. Sadler’s company consisted of 100 players. 100!

So what could a Sportatorium visitor expect on one of these Harley Sadler nights? Brace yourself:

The Sadler players will offer two complete plays each evening — an original four-act [play], “The Siege of the Alamo” — and a three-act modern comedy farce, “This Thing Called Love.” In addition to those two complete plays, he will offer vaudeville acts, a band, novelty numbers, and 32 singing waitresses […]. The show will start at 8:30 and run for 8 hours, for those who care to stay that long. (DMN, July 8, 1936)

EIGHT HOURS! And, there were 3 different shows produced weekly. That’s a lot of entertainment. Perhaps too much entertainment. But ladies got in free.

July 12, 1936

I’m not sure how long this “residency” lasted, but however long it was, I assume all involved — performers and spectators alike — were exhausted afterward.

***

Sources & Notes

Source of the top photo of the Sportatorium is unknown, but I came across it on the wrestling website World Class Memories. (this Sportatorium page is a great read). (If you know the source of this photo, please let me know.)

Sportatorium ticket was found on eBay (still there, as I write this).

More on the history of the Sportatorium here.

More on empresario Harley Sadler can be found at the Handbook of Texas, here.

Previous Flashback Dallas posts on the Sportatorium can be found here.

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