Vaudeville

:For the town in France, see Vaudeville, Meurthe-et-Moselle.

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Vaudeville was a style of multi-act theater which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. An evening's "bill" (or schedule of performances) could run the gamut from acrobats to mathematicians, from song-and-dance duos to trick high divers. Indeed, the scope of the presentations was unique in the history of American live performance: music, comedy, feats of athleticism, magic, animal acts, opera, Shakespeare, banjo, acrobatics and gymnastics, and lectures by celebrities and intellectuals of every scale.

Related Topics:
Theater - North America - 1880s - 1920s - Magic - Opera - Shakespeare - Acrobatics - Gymnastics

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A bill usually began with a dumb act (e.g., acrobats, trick bicyclists), allowing late arriving audience members to find their seats without interrupting important dialogue; peaked in the penultimate spot with the "headliner" (the biggest draw on the bill and focus of that week's publicity effort); and might conclude with a "chaser", an act considered admirable enough to feature but dull enough to chase the audience from the theatre, an important role in houses that offered continuously revolving performances.

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