vaudeville (vôd`vĭl), originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin Basselin, Olivier (ōlēvyā` bäsəlăN`), 15th cent., French miller of Vire, Normandy.
..... Click the link for more information. and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. Similar to the English music hall music hall. In England, the Licensing Act of 1737 confined the production of legitimate plays to the two royal theaters—Drury Lane and Covent Garden; the demands for entertainment of the rising lower and middle classes were answered by song, dance, and
..... Click the link for more information. , American vaudeville was a live entertainment consisting of unrelated songs, dances, acrobatic and magic acts, and humorous skits and sketches by a variety of performers and acts, each on stage for about five minutes. From humble origins in barrooms and "museums," vaudeville became the dominant attraction in American popular entertainment, playing in hundreds of theaters throughout the United States. It flourished from 1881, when Tony Pastor Pastor, Tony, c.1837–1908, American theater manager, b. New York City. Pastor appeared on the stage from childhood and became an experienced acrobat, dancer, and singer. He opened his first theater at 444 Broadway, New York City, in 1861.
..... Click the link for more information. gave the first "big time" vaudeville show in New York City, until 1932, when its greatest center, New York's Palace Theatre, abandoned live shows and became a movie theater. Such headliners as George M. Cohan Cohan, George Michael (kōhăn`, kō`hăn, kō`ən), 1878–1942, American showman, b. Providence, R.I.
..... Click the link for more information. , Harry Houdini Houdini, Harry (h
..... Click the link for more information. , Eva Tanguay, W. C. Fields Fields, W. C. (William Claude Fields), 1880–1946, American comic actor, b. Philadelphia as Claude William Dukenfield. He began his career as a juggler, and much later appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and in Earl Carroll's Vanities.
..... Click the link for more information. , Fay Templeton, Will Rogers Rogers, Will (William Penn Adair Rogers), 1879–1935, American humorist, b. Oolagah, Indian Territory (now in Oklahoma). In his youth he worked as a cowboy in Oklahoma, and after traveling over the world, he returned to the United States and worked in vaudeville
..... Click the link for more information. , Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor Cantor, Eddie, 1892–1964, American entertainer, b. New York City, originally named Edward Israel Isskowitz. Cantor became one of the best-known theatrical figures of his day.
..... Click the link for more information. , Jimmy Durante, Irene Franklin, Fred Allen, George Burns Gracie Allen, 1906–64, b. San Francisco, American comedy team (1923–58). In vaudeville in the 1920s, on radio (1932–50) and television (1950–58) and in films, they played an endlessly patient husband and scatterbrained wife.
..... Click the link for more information. and Gracie Allen, Bob Hope Hope, Bob, 1903–2003, American comedian, b. London as Leslie Townes Hope; he came to the United States at the age of five. Famous for his "ski-jump" nose, topical humor, superb timing, brashly irreverant attitude, and rapid-fire delivery, Hope enjoyed immense
..... Click the link for more information. , Jack Benny Benny, Jack, 1894–1974, American comedian, b. Waukegan, Ill., as Benjamin Kubelsky. His shows on radio (1932–55) and television (1950–65) made famous his miserliness, reproachful silences, and violin. His films include To Be or Not to Be (1942).
..... Click the link for more information. , Edgar Bergen, and the Marx Brothers Marx Brothers, team of American movie comedians. The members were Julius (1890?–1977), known as Groucho; Arthur (1888?–1964), originally Adolph and known as Harpo; Leonard (1887?–1961), known as Chico; and two other brothers, Milton (Gummo) and
..... Click the link for more information. began their careers playing the vaudeville circuits. Beginning in the 1890s there also was an invigorating influx of performers from England and France who were a major influence on the growing sophistication and high quality of vaudeville. The popularity of radio and motion pictures caused vaudeville's decline, and many established performers moved into the new media. Television, however, brought about a revival of vaudeville-style revues.

Bibliography

See C. W. Stein, ed., American Vaudeville As Seen by Its Contemporaries (1984); S. Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams in American Vaudeville, 1865–1932 (1984); A. Slide, ed., Selected Vaudeville Criticism (1988); Trav S. D., No Applause—Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (2005).

vaudeville

Light entertainment popular in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It consisted of 10–15 unrelated acts featuring magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained animals, singers, and dancers. The form developed from the coarse variety shows held in beer halls for a primarily male audience. Tony Pastor established a successful “clean variety show” at his New York City theatre in 1881 and influenced other managers to follow suit. By 1900 chains of vaudeville theatres around the country included Martin Beck's Orpheum Circuit, of which New York's Palace Theatre was the most famous (1913–32). Among the many entertainers who began in vaudeville were Mae West, W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Milton Berle, and Bob Hope. See also music hall and variety theatre.

vaudeville

1. Chiefly US and Canadian variety entertainment consisting of short acts such as acrobatic turns, song-and-dance routines, animal acts, etc., popular esp in the early 20th century

2. a light or comic theatrical piece interspersed with songs and dances
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vaudeville (redirected from vaudevillian)

Bibliography

vaudeville

vaudeville
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