Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a type of entertainment that became very popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1870s until the early 1930s. It was similar to music hall shows in Victorian Britain. A typical vaudeville performance included many different acts all together, such as musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, acrobats, clowns, and even films.

Vaudeville shows were made up of many short, unrelated acts that would perform one after another. These acts could include anything from playing music or singing to doing tricks with animals or performing amazing stunts. It was a way for people to see many different kinds of performances in one night.

Vaudeville came from many different kinds of earlier shows, like concert saloons, minstrel shows, and freak shows. For several decades, it was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in North America, South America, Australia, and Europe. Many people loved going to see these lively and varied performances.

Etymology

The word "vaudeville" might come from a French phrase meaning "voice of the city." Another idea is that it started from old songs by a poet named Olivier Basselin. Some believe it is linked to a place called the Vire River Valley, known for fun songs. In 1949, a newspaper said it came from this valley in Normandy where cheerful songs began. A dictionary also supports this idea, saying the word comes from songs of the Valley of the Vire.

Beginnings

See also: Comédie en vaudevilles

Vaudeville started to appear in the early 1860s and became more popular in the 1870s and 1880s. It was a cleaner, more polite kind of entertainment compared to other shows of the time. Before the American Civil War, people enjoyed different types of performances like plays by Shakespeare, acrobatics, singing, dancing, and comedy.

In the 1840s, minstrel shows became very popular. Medicine shows traveled around, offering comedy, music, and jugglers, along with selling tonics and other products. Wild West shows also entertained people with trick riding and stories about the frontier. Vaudeville brought together many of these traveling shows into a more organized form in cities.

From the mid-1860s, an entertainer named Tony Pastor started offering polite variety shows in New York City. He opened his first theater on the Bowery in 1865 and later moved to Broadway. Pastor wanted to attract families, so he did not sell alcohol and kept the shows family-friendly. His idea worked, and other theater managers followed his example.

Popularity

B. F. Keith started in Boston, building many theatres that brought vaudeville to the United States and Canada. Later, E. F. Albee helped make vaudeville very successful. They created circuits that allowed performers to travel and perform in many places, making vaudeville very popular.

Vaudeville became known for its polite and family-friendly shows. Performers were asked to avoid certain words and behaviors to keep the shows suitable for everyone. By the late 1890s, vaudeville had many theatres and performers, with circuits like the Orpheum Circuit and those owned by Alexander Pantages becoming very popular.

At its height, vaudeville attracted people from all walks of life. Performers could work their way up to better-paying jobs in bigger theatres. The Palace Theatre in New York City was a top venue, featuring famous performers like Will Rogers and Eubie Blake. Shows included a mix of sketches, individual performers, acrobats, and musical pieces, ending with a grand finale.

Vaudeville also included performances in different languages and cultures, helping many families share their traditions. It became one of the most popular places for people to gather, along with churches and schools.

Performance bill for Temple Theatre, Detroit, 1 December 1902

The manager's comments, sent back to the circuit's central office weekly, follow each act's description. The bill illustrates the typical pattern of opening the show with a "dumb" act to allow patrons to find their seats, placing strong acts in second and penultimate positions, and leaving the weakest act for the end, to clear the house. In this bill, as in many vaudeville shows, acts often associated with "lowbrow" or popular entertainment (acrobats, a trained mule) shared a stage with acts more usually regarded as "highbrow" or classical entertainment (opera vocalists, classical musicians). (1) Burt Jordan and Rosa Crouch. "Sensational, grotesque and 'buck' dancers. A good act ..." (2) The White Tscherkess Trio. "A man and two women who do a singing turn of the operatic order. They carry special scenery which is very artistic and their costumes are original and neat. Their voices are good and blend exceedingly well. The act goes big with the audience." (3) Sarah Midgely and Gertie Carlisle. "Presenting the sketch 'After School.' ... they are a 'knockout.'" (4) Theodor F. Smith and Jenny St. George-Fuller. "Refined instrumentalists." (5) Milly Capell. "European equestrienne. This is her second week. On account of the very pretty picture that she makes she goes as strong as she did last week." (6) R. J. Jose. "Tenor singer. The very best of them all." (7) The Nelson Family of Acrobats. "This act is composed of three men, two young women, three boys and two small girls. The greatest acrobatic act extant." (8) James Thornton. "Monologist and vocalist. He goes like a cyclone. It is a case of continuous laughter from his entrance to his exit." (9) Burk and Andrus and Their Trained Mule. "This act, if it can be so classed, was closed after the evening performance." "The Opera" in Kirksville, Missouri was on the Vaudeville circuit. Vaudeville played in both large and small venues in cities and towns.

Women

In the 1920s, many women started performing in vaudeville shows. Bands like The Ingenues and The Dixie Sweethearts became well-known. Women were able to perform alongside men and find success in their acts.

Famous vaudeville performers included Marie Dressler, who began her career as a young girl and became known for her comedy. Another was Trixie Friganza, who started in opera but became famous for her comedy acts. She also supported women’s rights and helped those in need. Betty Felsen was a ballerina who performed in many vaudeville shows. May Irwin was known for her comedy and songs, and Sophie Tucker became successful after deciding to perform as herself. Other women who started in vaudeville included comedienne Moms Mabley and blues singers Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, and Bessie Smith. Women also helped run theaters and create new performance opportunities.

Black vaudeville

Main article: Black Vaudeville

Black performers and audiences were part of a separate Vaudeville circuit that was kept apart from white audiences. Even though some famous acts like Lewis and Walker, Ernest Hogan, Irving Jones, and the Hyers Sisters performed for both black and white people, early shows for white audiences usually only allowed one Black act per show. Black performers also faced unfair treatment when eating or staying in hotels.

Entertainers and business owners like The Whitman Sisters, Pat Chapelle, and John Isham started their own traveling shows. Others bought and managed theaters, creating their own Vaudeville circuits, like Sherman H. Dudley and the Griffin Sisters. Later, in the 1920s, many performances were organized by the Theatre Owners Booking Association.

African-Americans worked to challenge unfair stereotypes that white performers often used. They brought their own true style to the stage through music, comedy, and dance. They helped create new kinds of American music and dance, such as blues, jazz, ragtime, and tap dance. Well-known Black entertainers in Vaudeville included comedians Bert Williams and George Walker, dancer and choreographer Ada Overton Walker, and many others. Black songwriters and composers like Bob Cole, Ernest Hogan, Irving Jones, Rosamond Johnson, George Johnson, Tom Lemonier, Gussie L. Davis, and Chris Smith wrote many songs that white singers performed, helping to start African-American musical theater.

Immigrant America

Vaudeville was not just a way to have fun; it also showed the changing city life and how different groups of people interacted in America. Many people from Ireland came to the United States in the 1800s. They faced some unfair treatment because they looked and acted different from people who had lived there longer. Vaudeville shows often made jokes about these new immigrants, calling them "greenhorns," which meant they were new and not used to life in America.

As more people from other countries arrived, they met the Irish in cities. The Irish, who already spoke English and had been there longer, started to take important jobs in vaudeville. They performed and helped plan the shows. In these performances, they sometimes made funny jokes about themselves and other groups, showing the mix of cultures in the city. Unfortunately, this also led to some unfair treatment of other groups, like African Americans, as shown in certain types of performances.

Even though these shows sometimes perpetuated stereotypes, they also helped different groups understand each other better. People from China, Italy, Germany, and Jewish backgrounds also used humor to show their own cultures. Vaudeville reflected the real life of city people, with most of the audience coming from working-class families.

Selected vaudeville artists

Main articles: List of vaudeville performers: A–K and List of vaudeville performers: L–Z

Vaudeville shows featured many different types of performers. These included musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, acrobats, clowns, and jugglers. The shows also had athletes, famous speakers, and short scenes from plays or movies.

Decline

The growth of cheaper movies in the early 1910s was a big challenge for vaudeville. Movies were first shown in vaudeville halls in the United States in 1896 at Koster and Bial's Music Hall. Many famous performers like Al Jolson, W. C. Fields, and Charlie Chaplin started in vaudeville but then moved to movies, where they could earn more money and work in better conditions.

By the late 1920s, most vaudeville shows included movies. The introduction of talking pictures in 1926 made movies even more popular because they could now have spoken dialogue, unlike the silent movies before. This made movies more like live performances and helped them become more popular than vaudeville. By 1930, most theaters that used to show live vaudeville were now showing movies only. The Palace Theatre in New York City stopped live shows and switched to movies in November 1932, which many consider the end of vaudeville.

Theatre architecture

The most impressive examples of theatre buildings from the Gilded Age were built by big vaudeville leaders. These buildings showed off their wealth and big dreams. One famous theatre owner, Alexander Pantages, often worked with architect B. Marcus Priteca, who designed theatres in a special style called "Pantages Greek."

Smaller vaudeville shows were held in many different places, like old saloons, simple theatres, or halls that could be used for many things. Even small towns sometimes built their own theatres. For example, in northern New England, some old wooden buildings called Grange Halls are still used today. These halls had wooden stages where people could see many different shows, from child performers to contra-dances, visits by Santa, local musicians, or even enjoy homemade foods like whoopee pies.

Vaudeville's cultural influence and legacy

Many vaudeville performers went on to become famous in movies, radio, and television. Some, like Bert Lahr, used their skills in live shows, radio, and films. Vaudeville helped shape new forms of entertainment, with comedies in the 1920s and 1940s borrowing ideas from vaudeville. Shows like The Rudy Vallée Show and later The Milton Berle Show used a host to introduce different acts, a style that started with vaudeville.

Today, we still see vaudeville influences in TV and movies, such as America's Got Talent. Words like "flop" come from vaudeville. In professional wrestling, there was even a team called The Vaudevillians. In the Philippines, shows like Eat Bulaga! and It's Showtime_ use vaudeville-style live performances and comedy.

Archives

The records of the Tivoli Theatre are kept at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. The Performing Arts Collection at the Arts Centre Melbourne also holds many items from vaudeville performers, including costumes and set designs.

The American Vaudeville Museum, one of the biggest collections of vaudeville memories, is at the University of Arizona. The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto have the world's largest group of vaudeville props and scenery. The Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward F. Albee Collection at the University of Iowa has many books that managers used to note down the acts each night.