In the early to mid 1950s there was a supper club over top the Avenue Restaurant (Today known as the Sports Nut Bar) . Based on advertisements the club would provide food and drinks, dancing and entertainment. The entertainer were mostly mid-atlantic entertainers who seem to play a circuit of clubs in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
An entertainer who appeared at the Tropics a number of times was Hotcha Drew. Unless the entertainer is really famous it is hard to research them as they change names and reinvent themselves. Hotcha Drew is no exception. She first appeared under the name Drusilla Drew about 1932. She was from New York and was born in 1915. She had a dancer, singer entertainer act and was popular from the 1930s through the 1950s. About 1956 she disappeared and it is unknown if she died or just reinvented herself under a different name.
In the early 1930s she hooked up with Jackie Johnson and they made a name for themselves in Pittsburgh and New York. The photo above is from when they were playing Derby Dad's
In the 1940s she worked in Atlantic City where she married Le Roy Miles, manager of the Club Harlem. She played the Apollo with Cab Calloway and was on the billboard of all the big known clubs.
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