Tony Mistlin: How many can say this? I saw Jolson and Irving Berlin
Now that it’s 2017, I realized that I’m on of the few people alive in the United States who has seen both Al Jolson and Irving Berlin in person. I saw Irving Berlin in New York in a play called “This is the Army.” Service men and women in uniform were allowed into any Broadway show for free; we got to stand at the back of the theatre.
During the show, I turned to the person next to me and said “that guy playing the piano, why are they letting him sing – he can’t sing a note?” The guy told me “That’s Irving Berlin!” I saw Al Jolson in San Francisco in 1949 in a show featuring almost everybody who was famous in show business, but Al Jolson was by far the star of the show.
Tony Mistlin, Ripon
This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Tony Mistlin: How many can say this? I saw Jolson and Irving Berlin."