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ballads and tear-jerkers; the sentimental ballad "The
Sunshine of Paradise Alley" (1895) was especially identified with her. After a few years she expanded into bawdy comical songs, such as "You're Not the Only Pebble on the Beach" (1896). She pioneered methods of engaging the audience that were so widely copied they became cliches. One was the use of a hand-mirror to reflect the spotlight into the audience, shining it on likely male customers and thus making them a part of her act. The practice of cajoling the audience to sing along on the chorus was another of Gilson's trademarks. She is credited as introducing a staged variation of audience participation which involved a teenage boy in the balcony—ostensibly a customer, but really a shill—who is suddenly inspired to sing with or to the performer.
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sheet music publishers to promote songs by including them in her act. Her popularity made her very attractive to publishers, who could be sure that songs would be heard and appreciated by a large audience when she sang them. According to publisher and songwriter E.B. Marks, Gilson could "draw tears
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Like many vaudeville stars, Gilson was known not for her singing talent, but for her personality and showmanship. Her rapport with her audience and talent for attracting customers earned her the nickname "The Little Magnet", which became part of her billing. In the beginning, her act was mainly
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She was married three times; after an early marriage to Gilson, she married J. K. Emmett Jr., and finally
Salvatore De Nufrio. She underwent several passages of depression before her death, on June 10, 1912, in New York City, at the age of 50.
139:. She emigrated to the United States with her parents as a young child. Many details of her early life are unknown, including when she made her stage debut. The first record of her performing is in 1884, at the
151:'s, and Hyde & Behman's. She was soon established as one of the top soubrettes of vaudeville. She appeared at Miner's Theatre and Tony Pastor's new 14th Street Theatre in Lower Manhattan and
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singer of the 1880s and 1890s. She was billed as "The Little Magnet" in recognition of her ability to attract and engage audiences. Due to her popularity, she was much sought-after by
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143:'s Old National Theatre, where she became a regular act. Her success at Old National led eventually to engagements at top New York theaters of the day:
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Robert G. Behrens, comments at Trav S.D., "Got A Whole Lottie Love: On Lottie Gilson and Lottie
Collins",
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Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years. Volume II: From 1790 to 1909
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sales. Songs particularly associated with Gilson include "The
Sunshine of Paradise Alley", "
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Gilson was also in the forefront of another vaudeville practice, taking money from
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Vaudeville, Old and New: An
Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America
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in
Brooklyn. She took the name Gilson from that of her first husband.
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95:; January 2, 1862 – June 10, 1912) was a popular Swiss-born American
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No
Applause—Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous
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Tin Pan Alley: an
Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song
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America's Songs II: Songs from the 1890s to the Post-War Years
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was one such balcony-singer who contributed to Gilson's act.
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Photograph of Lottie Gilson on "My little
Georgia Rose" cover
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Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2006).
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from an audience with a perfectly vapid song". Marks's "
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331:"Lottie Gilson, 'The Little Magnet'"
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309:"Prosperous Vaudeville Vocalists"
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293:Anthony Slide, "Lottie Gilson",
295:The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville
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584:19th-century American singers
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135:She was born Lydia Degen in
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173:The Little Lost Child
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506:"Lottie Gilson Dies"
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161:Gus Edwards
149:Henry Miner
145:Tony Pastor
109:sheet music
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42:Lydia Degen
553:Categories
544:Green Book
522:2015-06-27
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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