The Roaring Twenties: The Federal Theater Project

After World War 1, America had to demobilize and revert back to a peace time economy. During the 1920’s, it was viewed as a prosperous economy since there was a new labor force due to demobilization, new inventions, and a new infrastructure. Also moral spirits were high since America along with the Allied Powers defeated Germany and the Great War was finally over. However, America began making many economic policies and decisions that will eventually lead up to the Great Depression.

One of the most interesting and influential time frames in the history of America was the 1920’s, or the Roaring Twenties. The Roaring Twenties was in the decade of the 20’s (1920 to 1929) and was called the “Roaring Twenties” because people in America just boomed. World War I just ended and people prospered because of it. The society was like a well-oiled machine, with everyone dancing and using similar slang, and a lot of people enjoyed it. Not everything was great, because this was also the time where prohibition of alcohol came into play, and the Ku Klux Klan gained popularity as a result. Even though all of these were prevalent at the time, how did the Twenties affect history as a whole?

Compare and contrast the American musical theatre in the 1920s with that of the 1930s. How did each reflect and absorb its era? What forms & styles were dominant, what was the same, what was different and why? Do we see elements from these decades in shows today? Use examples from specific musicals.

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – William Shakespeare

Many years and musicals later, as a junior heavily involved with the musical program, my director came to me with an exciting proposition. She’d heard of a program that was being utilized all throughout the world: the International Thespian Society. As the class representative of the musical, she proposed to me that we look into the possibility of our school creating an official chapter of the organization.This program, which would allow students to win awards for hours put into the theatre arts, push themselves to obtain higher rankings on the thespian scale, travel to theatre competitions, and meet students just like themselves at sponsored conventions, was the perfect way for myself and many other students at my school to pursue their love for theatre year round. Being part of this prestigious program would help the musical program to expand by grabbing the attention of students schoolwide with the countless opportunities it offers. The strength of the International Thespian Society would provide a strong base of support for the future of our school’s musical program in a society that continues to cut funding to arts programs of schools

The Roaring Twenties were a time of new behaviors, attitudes, and freedoms which were all presented during the Prohibition. The Roaring Twenties were an era of social, political, and dramatic change. During this age, freedoms were expanded yet, in some cases, they were diminished. Prohibition was an enormous part of this era. Prohibition was ratified as the 18th Amendment in 1919, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol. The three main contributions from Prohibition were: bootlegging, organized crime, and the failure of Prohibition. Prohibition very much contributed to the atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties in a detrimental way to society by creating a period of time in which even the average citizen broke the law.

There is a controversial debate about the 1920s, whether it was “roaring” or whether is was destitute. In the perspective of some historians, the 1920s brought a rapid increase in urbanization and boom in the economy, however, these historians fail to see the evident terrors that the 1920s brought. The positive uproar on the 1920s did not stand a chance against the rising negative roar of residential schools, the Stock Market Crash, and credit debt. Due to these tragic events, 1920s was brought a dark and negative atmosphere rather than one of contentment.

The Roaring Twenties of America, which was from 1920-1929, saw a great social and economic prosperity. People were happy, and were celebrating the victory of World War 1. The gasoline price was lowered, right to vote for women was granted, and America was climbing towards a great success. In 1929, Herbert Hoover became the president of the United States of America, and he said, “ Given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation”(Roark, Pg. 703). After few months of his inauguration, his words contradicted, the Roaring Twenties halted. During the Roaring Twenties, the stock market prices increased steeply. The rapid

America in the 1920’s was called the new era. It is called a new era because it became a turning point in American society, and marked a separation from the 19th century and the 20th century. We soon begin to develop our own social norms, music, and culture as we evolve into a modern nation. The 1920s was also a time of significant economic, political, and social change.

The 1920s, or better known as the roaring twenties changed the lives of women in America politically, physically and mentally. Women were granted more freedom, the right to vote, changed their physical appearance, and focused on materialistic goals instead of moral values. Before World War I, women would wear a high collar, long straight skirts below the knee and long hair that was tied loosely. The roaring twenties brought along swing dancing and jazz which changed the way women dressed and danced. Not only did the roaring twenties bring along flourishing taste in music, but flappers came into play. Flappers were women who wore short sparkly dresses, cut their hair into a bob, wore heavy make-up, drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and partied all night.

A ten year gap can really impact a society. This is evident in the times of the 1920s through the 1930s. These decades are very different from one another. This paper compares and contrasts the traits of these times in the world of pop culture. Pop culture is an accurate way to observe the past because it shows everything that was mainstream and a staple of the time.

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

For American farmers, the Great Depression began not with the stock market crash in 1929 but with the collapse of agricultural prices in 1920. Thus the entire decade of the 1920s was a time of poverty and crushing indebtedness, leading to ever-rising foreclosures of family farms. More than 90% of American farms lacked electricity, and the proportion of farms with access to a telephone actually decreased over the course of the decade. Furthermore, rural Americans overwhelmingly native-born, white Protestants found the modern, sexualized, multi-ethnic culture of the cities deeply offensive to their traditional beliefs. Their antagonism toward the perceived cultural excesses of the "Roaring Twenties" fueled a political backlash that allowed a

1920’s Broadway was booming! Due to the changes in song formatting, the modernization of plot line, and with a variety of dance style, The Jazz Age catapulted Broadway to a higher dimension than ever before. Like most hits, the Jazz Age fizzled out due to unforeseen circumstances. The Jazz Age ended with the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression. The country suffered, investments dropped, banks failed, and crashing companies caused massive unemployment rates. Along with the rest of the country, Broadway was negatively impacted by The Great Depression. However, despite the loss of jobs and struggling venues, the decade of the thirties proved to be an enlightening and rich experience for Broadway. Through research, we will open the curtain with the negative effects that The Great Depression had on Broadway during the 1930’s, then venture into the rising action where we will be begin to see the turning point, and finally end the show in the final act with the light at the end of the tunnel.

Throughout centuries, theatre has been an enormous impact throughout society. During the 18th century, theatre had played a significant role to society because it emphasized "Rationalism" (The Age of Reason), which began to lead away from the limitations of Neoclassicism. Then in the 19th century, theatre was important because it introduced "Melodrama" or music drama to increasingly emphasize the emotions and personalities of the characters. And finally the 20th century, in which where it had transformed the whole ideology of what theatre was truly represented.