Vaudeville (/ˈvÉ"Ë d(É™)vɪl/; French: [vodvil]) is a theatrical
genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th
century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or
moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition
or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular
in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early
1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its
French antecedent.In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian
Britain, a typical American vaudeville performance was made up of a
series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill.
Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers,
dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists,
strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns,
illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays,
athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville
performer is often referred to as a "vaudevillian".Vaudeville
developed from many sources, also including the concert saloon,
minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American
burlesque. Called "the heart of American show business", vaudeville
was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America
for several decades.The origin of the term is obscure but often
explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville
("voice of the city"). A second speculation is that it comes from the
15th-century songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin, "Vau de Vire".
In his Connections television series, science historian James Burke
argues that the term is a corruption of the French "Vau de Vire"
("Vire River Valley", in English), an area known for its bawdy
drinking songs and where Basselin lived; Around 1610, Jean le Houx
collected these works as Le Livre des Chants nouveaux de Vaudevire
[fr], which is probably the direct origin of the word. Some, however,
preferred the earlier term "variety" to what manager Tony Pastor
called its "sissy and Frenchified" successor. Thus, vaudeville
marketed itself as "variety" well into the 20th century.
genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th
century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or
moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition
or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular
in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early
1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its
French antecedent.In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian
Britain, a typical American vaudeville performance was made up of a
series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill.
Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers,
dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists,
strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns,
illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays,
athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville
performer is often referred to as a "vaudevillian".Vaudeville
developed from many sources, also including the concert saloon,
minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American
burlesque. Called "the heart of American show business", vaudeville
was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America
for several decades.The origin of the term is obscure but often
explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville
("voice of the city"). A second speculation is that it comes from the
15th-century songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin, "Vau de Vire".
In his Connections television series, science historian James Burke
argues that the term is a corruption of the French "Vau de Vire"
("Vire River Valley", in English), an area known for its bawdy
drinking songs and where Basselin lived; Around 1610, Jean le Houx
collected these works as Le Livre des Chants nouveaux de Vaudevire
[fr], which is probably the direct origin of the word. Some, however,
preferred the earlier term "variety" to what manager Tony Pastor
called its "sissy and Frenchified" successor. Thus, vaudeville
marketed itself as "variety" well into the 20th century.
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