Side Show has returned to Broadway in a glorious production that is sure to take your breath away. From the stellar performances of its stars, Emily Padgett (Daisy Hilton), Erin Davie (Violet Hilton) and David St. James (Jake), to Bill Condon’s inspired direction, and the evocative costumes (Paul Tazewell), lighting (Jules Fisher, Peggy Eisenhauer) and scenic design (David Rockwell), this is a production will leave you breathless.
In case you have been under a theatrical rock for the last 15 years, Side Show, by Bill Russell (Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens) and Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls, Tap Dance Kid) chronicles the life stories of conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton, and their struggle to find independence, freedom, credibility and love. Although you may know that the Hilton sisters were very real people, you many not know some of the more interesting tidbits about their lives.
Daisy and Violet, born 5 February 1908, at 15 Riley Road, Brighton, England have a bus in honor of their birth home.
Their mother's name was Kate Skinner, an unmarried barmaid. Coincidentally, actress Emily Skinner, no relation to Kate Skinner, played Daisy Hilton in the original 1997 production of Side Show.
The Hilton sisters were conjoined at the hips and buttocks. Although they had a fused pelvis they did not share any organs. At several times during their lives they considered separation but the operation was risky.
Contrary to popular belief, the Daisy and Violet were not identical twins. Daisy was a natural blonde and Violet a brunette. They were, however, the same physical size at 4 feet, 11 inches tall.
During their performing hey-day, the sisters performed with artists such as Bob Hope, Harry Houdini and Sophie Tucker.
The “romantic” lives of the Hilton sisters was always a topic of great speculation. Both twins did marry however the marriages did not last long. Violet's marriage to a dancer, James Moore, in 1936 was annulled. Five years later Daisy married actor Harold Estep (stage name Buddy Sawyer) a union that lasted only ten days.
The musical Side Show depicts their struggle to free themselves from the exploitation that, although supported them financially, marginalized them from society. Ironically, once they finally made it to Hollywood, their first job was in Tod Browning’s 1932 film Freaks where they were once again marginalized.
Side Show was not the first musical to be produced about the Hilton sisters. In 1989 Twenty Fingers Twenty Toes, with book by Michael Dansicker and Bob Nigro and music and lyrics by Dansicker, premiered at the WPA Theatre and ran for 35 performances.
When their careers fell into decline the sisters took to touring the country as a side attraction to the 1951 film Chained for Life. The Hiltons made their last public appearance was in 1961 at a drive-in cinema in Charlotte, North Carolina where they were abandoned by their manager and left, nearly penniless, to fend for themselves.
Their final job was as produce weighers at the Park-N-Shop grocery store located at 3512 Wilkinson Boulevard, in Charlotte, NC.
The twins died in January 1960, apparently succumbing to the Hong Kong flu. According to the medical examiner's report, Daisy died first with Violet following between two and four days later.
Leslie Zemeckis' 2012 award-winning documentary (Hollywood Film Festival 2012) Bound by Flesh chronicles the lives of the twins.
