vaudeville
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What is vaudeville?
Vaudeville is light entertainment that was popular in the United States from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s. Vaudeville shows consisted of 10 to 15 unrelated acts, including magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained animals, jugglers, singers, and dancers and was the counterpart to the music hall and variety in England. Tony Pastor, a ballad and minstrel singer, is credited with giving the first performance of what came to be called vaudeville by the late 19th century and making it respectable.
Many future stars were developed under the vaudeville system, but the great financial depression of the 1930s and the growth of radio and later of television contributed to the rapid decline of vaudeville, and to its virtual disappearance after World War II.
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What types of acts or performances were included in vaudeville shows?
Vaudeville shows, a popular form of light entertainment in the United States from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s, included 10 to 15 unrelated acts. These shows featured a variety of performances, such as:
- Magicians
- Acrobats
- Comedians
- Trained animals
- Jugglers
- Singers
- Dancers
Vaudeville developed many stars, such as W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, and Lillian Russell. Motion pictures were introduced in 1896 and gradually took over more of the performing time. Vaudeville declined due to the Great Depression and the growth of radio and television. Tap dancers were also featured in vaudeville and nightclubs.
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When and where was vaudeville most popular?
Vaudeville, a type of light entertainment, gained popularity in the United States from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s. It consisted of 10 to 15 unrelated acts, such as magicians, comedians, and trained animals. Tony Pastor is credited with giving the first performance of what came to be called vaudeville in New York City in 1881. Vaudeville declined due to the Great Depression, the growth of radio, and the advent of motion pictures.
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How did vaudeville acts appeal to different audiences?
Vaudeville variety shows became popular in the United States from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s. These shows included 10 to 15 unrelated acts, such as magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained animals, jugglers, singers, and dancers.
Vaudeville evolved from coarse shows in beer halls for male audiences to "straight, clean variety show[s]" for family entertainment. Vaudeville appealed to a wider audience by offering a diverse range of acts in a single show and maintaining high standards of performance.
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What were some famous vaudeville performers or acts?
Vaudeville was a popular form of entertainment in the United States from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s, featuring unrelated acts such as magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained animals, jugglers, singers, and dancers. Many stars developed under the vaudeville system, including W.C. Fields, a juggler and comedian; Will Rogers, a cowboy and comic; Lillian Russell, known as the "American Beauty"; and Joe Jackson, a pantomimist. Other famous vaudeville performers include Eva Tanguay, a singing and dancing comedienne; Bert Williams, a comedian and singer; and Bill Robinson, a dancer known for his tap routines.
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Why did vaudeville decline, and what forms of entertainment replaced it?
Vaudeville's popularity waned due to the Great Depression and the rise of new entertainment forms. The advent of "talkies" in motion pictures around 1927 led to films with "added acts" of vaudeville, gradually overshadowing live performances.
The growth of radio offered comedy programs and narrative techniques, drawing talent from the vaudeville stage. Musical films also captured vaudeville acts, providing new stardom for performers and extending the possibilities of tap dance. These new forms of mass entertainment, including revue, musical comedy, film, and later television, led many vaudeville performers to drift away, contributing to its decline.
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vaudeville, a farce with music. In the United States the term connotes a light entertainment popular from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s that consisted of 10 to 15 individual unrelated acts, featuring magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained animals, jugglers, singers, and dancers. It is the counterpart of the music hall and variety in England.
The term vaudeville, adopted in the United States from the Parisian boulevard theatre, is probably a corruption of vaux-de-vire, satirical songs in couplets, sung to popular airs in the 15th century in the Val-de-Vire (Vau-de-Vire), Normandy, France. It passed into theatrical usage in the early 18th century to describe a device employed by professional actors to circumvent the dramatic monopoly held by the Comédie-Française. Forbidden to perform legitimate drama, they presented their plays in pantomime, interpreting the action with lyrics and choruses set to popular tunes. It eventually developed into a form of light musical drama, with spoken dialogue interspersed with songs, that was popular throughout Europe.
In the United States the development of variety entertainment was encouraged in frontier settlements as well as in the widely scattered urban centres. In the 1850s and 1860s straight variety grew in popular favour. Held in beer halls, the coarse and sometimes obscene shows were aimed toward a primarily male audience. Tony Pastor, a ballad and minstrel singer, is credited both with giving the first performance of what came to be called vaudeville by the late 19th century and with making it respectable. In 1881 he established a theatre in New York City dedicated to the “straight, clean variety show.” His unexpected success encouraged other managers to follow his example. By the 1890s vaudeville was family entertainment and exhibited high standards of performance.
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Many future stars were developed under the vaudeville system—e.g., W.C. Fields, juggler and comedian; Will Rogers, cowboy and comic; the famous “American Beauty,” Lillian Russell; Charlie Case, monologuist; and Joe Jackson, pantomimist. European music hall artists such as Sir Harry Lauder, Albert Chevalier, and Yvette Guilbert also appeared in vaudeville in the United States.
By the end of the 19th century the era of the vaudeville chain, a group of houses controlled by a single manager, was firmly established. The largest chains were United Booking Office, with 400 theatres in the East and Midwest, and Martin Beck’s Orpheum Circuit, which controlled houses from Chicago to California. Beck also built the Palace Theatre in New York, which from 1913 to 1932 was the outstanding vaudeville house in the United States. In 1896 motion pictures were introduced into vaudeville shows as added attractions and to clear the house between shows. They gradually preempted more and more performing time until, after the advent of the “talkies” about 1927, the customary bill featured a full-length motion picture with “added acts” of vaudeville. The great financial depression of the 1930s and the growth of radio and later of television contributed to the rapid decline of vaudeville and to its virtual disappearance after World War II.