vaudeville

     

Vaueville was a genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Developing from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque, vaudeville became one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America. Each evening's bill of performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts. Types of acts included (among others) musicians (both classical and popular), dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and short movies.

Trivia about vaudeville

  • Bob Hope started in show biz in this theatrical form as half of the dance team Hope & Rosequist
  • (Jimmy of the Clue Crew reports from Times Square.) In 1904, Oscar Hammerstein I brought Times Square this new entertainment form, with dancing girls and comedy teams
  • Something gone for good is said to be "dead as" this form of entertainment that played the Palace Theatre
  • The French phrase meaning "Songs of the Valley of the Vire" became this word for a type of stage entertainment

Found pages about vaudeville