Vaudeville

Vaudeville is a theatrical performance by group of performers showcasing a variety of entertainment. This theatrical style of performance was introduced in France in 18th Century. Vaudeville was a farce with music and it comprises of different acts and unrelated group performances which includes magicians, acrobatics, comedians and other performers. During the 17th century entertainment was mostly provided by theatres and Vaudeville had become extremely popular among the audiences at the time. Vaudeville was regarded as a popular source for entertainment in the United States. The performances were always prepared so that the patrons can enjoy both music and light-hearted entertainment and the entertainment took place onstage which was live. Any acts which were thought to be potential entertainment material for the audience were put on stage.

Development and End of Vaudeville

Vaudeville when introduced in theatres caught the attention of the audiences and most of the owners started to put onstage such performances more often. Prior to Vaudeville, the form of entertainment was piano performances or freak shows. The performers often started off in a circuit which was a part of chain of circuits owned by the same person. The performer had to perform in any circuit as and when required. This is the reason that the Vaudevillians had to travel a lot to different circuits and this also ensured that a large number of people see their performances. The owners of the Circuit often invited talented skills from different regions for showcasing their talents which led to the entertainment of the public. The Vaudevillians performances targeted the middle-class people while there was another group for the rich class people which was kept separate. All these reasons contributed to the Vaudeville becoming a major source for entertainment for different class of people in the United States. It was also during this time that the Vaudevillians were looking to expand their scale and perform more the rick classes and have big shows.

The end of the Vaudeville was mainly due to the introduction of ratio which was a new innovation and allowed people to listen to music on an electronic device. Radio had become immensely popular among the people due to its versality and convenience. The Vaudeville acts which were mostly live now had to compete with music which was mostly recorded and also have to share the same theatre stage with a film. One other contributing factor in the end of Vaudeville was the rise in the costs for live entertainment and this is the main reason that the size of the audience started to grew smaller and smaller in numbers. It was in 1930s when the acts complete disappeared from the theatres with the introduction of television and radios. In many instances, the television would itself portray a Vaudeville performance and therefore, there was no requirement for a live theatre performance any more. The disappearance of the Vaudeville performances can also be due to the changes which took place in the taste and preference patterns of the audiences.