Throughout the 1860s to early 1900s, forms of entertainment were created and enjoyed by many of the world. These forms of entertainment could be musicals, variety shows, musical comedies, and so on, and these shows could reflect the society during that period of time. Observations about a society’s culture can be drawn from many sources such as Burlesque and Vaudeville. These two forms of variety shows emerged in American within twenty years of each other, but it had vastly different performances because of how they needed to adapt to the current culture of their times.
These two forms of entertainment were different from each other, and they garnered and sought attention from different audiences. Burlesque was originally filled with parodies …show more content…
Originally burlesque was known for its acts “making fun of the operas, plays and social habits of the upper class” (Kenrick) but soon switched towards using women as a main part of their shows. With the introduction of Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes, the acts of indecent women start to become the standard of burlesque. The short popularity of burlesque could be attributed towards its movement towards a more simple style of performance where they often repeatedly relied on the same elements. The acts of burlesque would quickly find itself plateauing and not changing to adapt to the new mindset of the masses going into the Gilded Age. On the other hand Vaudeville was the place to go to see unique acts and popular dances that people would not see anywhere else which brought in many to watch. Vaudeville was a huge structured show often with nine different acts that could be interchangeable to freshen up the theater. On top of its already enormous variety, Vaudeville contained a “circuit of playhouses spread over a wide range of cities” (Stempel) thanks to the help of Keith and Albee and this circuit allowed for a rotation of acts between cities. Vaudeville had its vaudeville circuit to allow for constant progression to fit in with the masses as America goes into the twentieth century while burlesque doesn’t experience the same amount progression with their acts during this
These two forms of entertainment were different from each other, and they garnered and sought attention from different audiences. Burlesque was originally filled with parodies …show more content…
Originally burlesque was known for its acts “making fun of the operas, plays and social habits of the upper class” (Kenrick) but soon switched towards using women as a main part of their shows. With the introduction of Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes, the acts of indecent women start to become the standard of burlesque. The short popularity of burlesque could be attributed towards its movement towards a more simple style of performance where they often repeatedly relied on the same elements. The acts of burlesque would quickly find itself plateauing and not changing to adapt to the new mindset of the masses going into the Gilded Age. On the other hand Vaudeville was the place to go to see unique acts and popular dances that people would not see anywhere else which brought in many to watch. Vaudeville was a huge structured show often with nine different acts that could be interchangeable to freshen up the theater. On top of its already enormous variety, Vaudeville contained a “circuit of playhouses spread over a wide range of cities” (Stempel) thanks to the help of Keith and Albee and this circuit allowed for a rotation of acts between cities. Vaudeville had its vaudeville circuit to allow for constant progression to fit in with the masses as America goes into the twentieth century while burlesque doesn’t experience the same amount progression with their acts during this