Read complete books and articles on: Vaudeville

Vaudeville - vôdˈvĭl, originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. Similar to the English music hall, American vaudeville was a stage entertainment consisting of unrelated songs, dances, acrobatic and magic acts, and humorous skits and sketches. From humble origin in barrooms and

10 of the Best Books and Articles on: Vaudeville

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Popular Theatre (includes Chap. 14 "It's 'Big Time' Vaudeville" and Chap. 15 "It's 'Small Time' Vaudeville") » Read Now
by George Jean Nathan. 236 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...SEASON 169 ITS "BIG TIME" VAUDEVILLE 192 ITS "SMALL TIME" VAUDEVILLE 203 WHAT ITS PUBLIC WANTS...famous, was already embellishing the vaudeville stage and swatting his...
2.

Humor and Ethnic Stereotypes in Vaudeville and Burlesque, in MELUS » Read Now
by Lawrence E. Mintz. 10 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Psychology, Entire Library

...Humor and ethnic stereotypes in vaudeville and burlesque by Lawrence E. Mintz The halcyon days of the American vaudeville and burlesque theater, roughly from...easterners...
3.

The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America (includes Chap. 2 "Curtain up and Curtain down: The Age of Vaudeville") » Read Now
by Lawrence J. Epstein. 343 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

From vaudeville to the movies to television: The complete (and often hilarious) history of how Jewish comedians transformed American entertainment.
4.

Pages from the Harlem Renaissance: A Chronicle of Performance (includes Chap. IV "Improving Conditions on the TOBA Black Vaudeville Circuit") » Read Now
by Anthony D. Hill. 186 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...Improving Conditions on the TOBA Black Vaudeville Circuit 65 Chapter...Groups 166 C. Colored Vaudeville Acts working steadily with the Keith, Orpheum, Western Vaudeville...
5.

Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (includes "Vaudeville and Burlesque: Consolidation and Excorporation" on pg. 185) » Read Now
by Robert C. Allen. 350 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...whom we could ascribe the meaning of the "whole thing" if we wanted to. Open forms of popular entertainment -- burlesque, vaudeville, street fairs, masquerades, parades...
6.

Dancing till Dawn: A Century of Exhibition Ballroom Dance (includes Chap. 4 "Taking the Palace by Storm: Exhibition Ballroom Dance in Vaudeville of the Teens and Twenties") » Read Now
by Julie Malnig. 180 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This volume explores the rich history of exhibition ballroom dancing from its heyday in the 1910s to the present. Malnig's record of this intimate, theatrical genre of dance features male-female teams as performers in cabaret, vaudeville, musicals, and, later, film and television. Exhibition...
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This volume explores the rich history of exhibition ballroom dancing from its heyday in the 1910s to the present. Malnig's record of this intimate, theatrical genre of dance features male-female teams as performers in cabaret, vaudeville, musicals, and, later, film and television. Exhibition ballroom dancing is also examined as a cultural and social phenomenon that promotes new cultural standards. This first comprehensive study of a unique dance genre and entertainment form utilizes primary sources, including promotional materials and print reviews, and is illustrated with original photographs.
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7.

American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years Vol. 2 (includes "Vaudeville and Popular Music" on pg. 337) » Read Now
by Russell Sanjek. 484 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This volume focuses on developments in the music business in the twentieth century, including vaudeville, music boxes, the relationship of Hollywood to the music business, the "fall and rise" of the record business in the 1930s, new technology (TV, FM, and the LP record) after World War II, the...
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This volume focuses on developments in the music business in the twentieth century, including vaudeville, music boxes, the relationship of Hollywood to the music business, the "fall and rise" of the record business in the 1930s, new technology (TV, FM, and the LP record) after World War II, the dominance of rock-and-roll and the huge increase in the music business during the 1950s and 1960s, and finally the changing music business scene from 1967 to the present, especially regarding government regulations, music licensing, and the record business.
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8.

Fools and Jesters in Literature, Art, and History: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook (includes "George Burns and Gracie Allen: The Jewish Vaudeville Tradition") » Read Now
by Vicki K. Janik, Emmanuel S. Nelson. 552 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

Jesters and fools have existed as important and consistent figures in nearly all cultures. Sometimes referred to as clowns, they are typological characters who have conventional roles in the arts, often using nonsense to subvert existing order. But fools are also a part of social and religious...
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Jesters and fools have existed as important and consistent figures in nearly all cultures. Sometimes referred to as clowns, they are typological characters who have conventional roles in the arts, often using nonsense to subvert existing order. But fools are also a part of social and religious history, and they frequently play key roles in the rituals that support and shape a society's system of beliefs. This reference book includes alphabetically arranged entries for approximately 60 fools and jesters from a wide range of cultures. Included are entries for performers from American popular culture, such as Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers; literary characters, such as Shakespeare's Falstaff, Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Singer's Gimpel; and cultural and mythological figures, such as Birbal, the American circus clown, the Native American Coyote, Taishu Engeki of Japan, Hephaestus, Loki the Norse fool, schlemiels and schlimazels, and the drag queen.
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9.

The American Movie Industry: The Business of Motion Pictures (includes Chap. 1 "Vitascope/Cinematographe: Initial Patterns of American Film Industrial Practice") » Read Now
by Gorham Anders Kindem. 448 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...in Kinetoscope arcades to film "acts" in vaudeville, nickelodeons, small-time vaudeville, and movie palaces; from states rights marketing...industry initially depended...
10.

Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor (includes "Vaudeville and Burlesque" on pg. 304) » Read Now
by Alleen Pace Nilsen, Don L. F. Nilsen. 366 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

Who says you can't have a serious reference work on humor? This new resource offers a broad look at humor with more than 100 well-written and entertaining entries. Scholarly in nature, yet enjoyable to read, the Encyclopedia examines several aspects of humor, such as: styles of humor, subjects of...
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Who says you can't have a serious reference work on humor? This new resource offers a broad look at humor with more than 100 well-written and entertaining entries. Scholarly in nature, yet enjoyable to read, the Encyclopedia examines several aspects of humor, such as: styles of humor, subjects of comedy, media methods, academic endeavors, humor in society, historical aspects. This volume celebrates a century of twists and turns in American humor.
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