The Rise and Demise of Vaudeville Essay

During this period, musicals (which were labeled “musical comedies” at the time) were in the form of acceptable of guilty pleasures - the appeal of women and their sexuality, silly characters that made fools of themselves, or the goofy country girl dancing through the chores of the day. Ziegfeld’s Follies, Marx brother shows, and Al Jolson playing his character in blackface are great examples of these shows that focused on showing off the stars and gave little care to the

Broadway was one of the first forms of entertainment. Before there were television programs, or movies, there was Broadway. Broadway originated in New York in 1750, when actor-manager Walter Murray built a theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street. A musical would show about once every weekend. The shows were very male based, and would commonly show a relationship between young boys and their fathers. Women were slowly integrated into Broadway, and as society changed its point of view on women, so did theatre.

At the end of World War I, an excited America was poised for a cultural renaissance; patriotism was on the rise, the strong concept of Manifest Destiny had passed its peak of influence, and, most importantly, there had not been a clear shift in culture for decades. The Jazz Age of the 1920s was about to dawn, bringing with it youthful, risqué morals and a carefree look on life. From these ideals, a new, strongly American form of entertainment would emerge: musical theatre. Most commonly found in New York City on Broadway even to this day, musical theatre became an escape from reality and an entry into the imagination. The grand and splashy components that make up what is considered a classic Broadway musical can ultimately be traced back to Cole Porter. Porter’s writing, albeit at times controversial or raunchy, was able to harness the frantically beating heart of the Jazz Age and turn it into treasured shows. Using his unique melodies, romantic or idealistic lyrics, and his pioneering of writing about the human experience, Cole Porter shaped American music and theatre from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Love also became a principle element of Greek theatre during this time. Greek comedy inspired much of modern romantic, generational, and situational comedy. Satyr plays blended elements of tragedy and comedy, and featured mock drunkenness, sexual props and costumes, as well as pranks and gags. Influence of the satyr plays can be seen in genre of burlesque, which involved elaborate, risqué parodies of well-known operas, plays, and ballets. Modern comedies, which typically involve practical jokes, sexual humour, and drunkenness, are inspired by satyr plays as well.

The 19th century was a mark of new things to come about in different countries, these new things were music, theater, and other forms of entertainment. Because of the many wars fought during this time there was much depression and people needed a relief. We all know theater has been around for many decades, but it really started to scatter during this time, people needed entertainment and something to look forward to. Of course, music halls and minstrel shows were present but there was nothing that contained both of the features that these theaters had, and then came about vaudeville. Vaudeville highlighted many famous people’s careers and even helped started many of these stars’ careers. It grew as years progressed and became a loved entertainment for many years to come. Vaudevilles’ creation was the start of our current forms of entertainment and is the heart of the American entertainment industry in the 19th century.

At the start of the 20th century, the popular vaudeville shows that crossed the nation became

Throughout the late 1920's an important theatrical movement developed: The Workers' Theatre Movement. In the end, it diminished around the middle of the 1930's, and one of the developments aiding the decline of the Workers' Theatre Movement, was the creation of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project was the largest and most motivated effort mounted by the Federal Government to organize and produce theater events. Once the government took on the duty of putting people to work, it was able to consider the movement. The Federal Theatre Project’s purpose was “to provide relief work for theatrical artists that utilized their talents and to

Jukebox musicals began in film and later shifted to theatre. They had begun to make theatre more popular with the public, which had begun to gravitate towards film and music. By combining the two, they gain some of the same as well as a whole new audience. I will discuss how this came to be by speaking of the shift that occurred.

“Shrunken perhaps by the vicissitudes and exigencies of the times, Broadway presented itself admirably throughout the Thirties. It not only managed to preserve the best, but also nurtured and expanded them. At the brink of the new decade, Broadway stood smaller but brighter”

Two great writers of American musical theatre, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, had one idea in common. They wanted to present to the American public a new and revolutionary musical that would stand out above the rest. They wanted to make an impact on the societies of the era. They wanted to be creative and do something that was considered rebellious. When they finally combined their ideas together they created an American masterpiece in musical theatre: Oklahoma!. It was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, starting the most successful creative partnership in the history of American musical theatre.

Wilson's obituary offers a good summary. Charles Ishwood wrote it for the New York Times in 2005, though it was excerpted by Calvert for a theatrical study guide: "In bringing to the popular American stage the gritty specifics of the

The reason we still have theatre today is purely because of Roman and Greek dramas. Even just the term “play” comes from Latin’s “ludus” meaning to play. Nowaday we still use this entertainment to distract our people from surrounding issues. Comedy is

Now a quick history lesson, Musical Theatre technically was created in 5th Century BCE Ancient Greece, when staged comedies and tragedies would be told with a bit music and dance…but Musicals didn’t fully emerge into the world until the early 20th Century when the art form went to London, England, and then to America, which formed the famous theatre district, Broadway. Now that the basics are covered of where Musical Theatre came from, this paper is more about how Broadway Musicals evolved into what they are in present day, how people have reacted to such performances, and how musical theatre has impacted not only America, but also the world.

It is not Shakespeare, nor is it Opera. It has been called Minstrel Show, Burlesque, Vaudeville, Extravaganza, Operetta, Musical Comedy, Musical Revue, Musical Theatre and it has been described in a variety of terms including “Low Brow” and “Middle Brow” but never “High Brow.” It had also been praised and condemned for its broad cultural connections and appeal. Although Musical Theatre is not a Shakespearean or Operatic subcategory. It was highly inspired by many Operas and theatrical iambic pentameter and phrases of the great Shakespeare himself. For example, Rent was inspired by La Boheme and Miss Saigon was inspired by Madame Butterfly. As a result, They sparked the beginning of the amazing cultural phenomenon of Musical Theater. Vaudeville is a type of show and entertainment that was very popular within the United states during the early 20th century, that had a mixture of special acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance. Burlesque is a comical work that is usually something highly embellished, or a pastiche of some kind. It is often found that many Burlesque works usually had a striptease of some sort. In the beginning- showing legs was considered profane and highly scandalous yet was highly entertaining for many people. Minstrel shows were a shameful form of entertainment that had begun to rise in the 1840’s. With this came the creation of “Black Face.” Black face is when white men would

In Elizabethan England, before the theatre was accepted, there were various forms of entertainment. Whether one lived in a small town or the great city of London, dances were very popular, as well as meeting with friends at the local pub for sing-alongs. Chess, checkers and tennis also happened to be popular games at the time, along with hunting, fencing and bear-baiting for the upper class. However, once the Globe Theatre was introduced in 1599, new standards for human fun and enjoyment were created (Mabillard). Because of the Globe Theatre, talented actors, and brilliant playwrights such as William Shakespeare, the world of entertainment has forever been changed.