tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38691148934678111892024-03-13T18:38:27.273-04:00Not the Usual HistoryA blog about Performing Arts History and LGBTQ+ History, all written in an essay format. This blog was started so as to share two parts of history that isn't always covered in many history classes. Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-39280976048272740992021-09-04T19:22:00.000-04:002021-09-04T19:22:49.536-04:00Romans, to the Stage Please!
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vD4IRjIchyw/YTPvma3VG_I/AAAAAAAAASY/83m1jyGsGng5qwZsJqneZP8IPiiyoG8bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Extent_of_the_Roman_Republic_and_the_Roman_Empire_between_218_BC_and_117_AD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vD4IRjIchyw/YTPvma3VG_I/AAAAAAAAASY/83m1jyGsGng5qwZsJqneZP8IPiiyoG8bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Extent_of_the_Roman_Republic_and_the_Roman_Empire_between_218_BC_and_117_AD.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="photo_usage-attribution is-block" data-v-e1c1f65a="" id="attribution"><a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1399683" rel="noopener" target="_blank">"File:Extent of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between 218 BC and 117 AD.png"</a> <span data-v-e1c1f65a="">
by
<a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:User_talk:Varana" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Varana</a></span>
is licensed under
<a class="photo_license" data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=rich" rel="noopener" target="_blank">
CC BY-SA 3.0
</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>While the Greeks were, quite possibly the first group of
people, to take the first steps towards theatre as we know it today. They
cannot take all of the credit for the start of all of the elements of modern
theatre and the forms of drama. All of the ancient civilizations had a hand or
two in the shaping of modern theatre, and that includes the Romans. While
Ancient Rome is predominantly known for the expansion of the empire,
gladiators, and their senate; they too added to theatre, arts, and dramatic
forms.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Forms of Drama & Their Evolution</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While
the Romans at first borrowed theatre and other performing arts forms from their
neighbors, particularly the Greeks. In the first centuries of the Republic the
people of Rome were content with very primitive plays. Unlike the people in
Greek controlled Southern Italy, who enjoyed tragedy and comedy in the form of
farce. These primitive plays, that the Romans enjoyed, were called versus Fescennine;
named after Fescennium in the territory of the Falisci, located between Latium
and Etruria. Throughout the territories in this region many different types of
drama and performances were enjoyed. To honor Silvanus and Tellus, two Ancient
Roman gods, at the harvest festival coarse improvised jokes and personal satire
were often performed. Eventually they became overdone and immoral to the point
that they would need to be kept in line by law. Around this time in Etruria
music and dance flourished and were presented at funerals and festivals dedicated
to the gods. Based on evidence found in Etruscan tomb paintings and on funeral
urns, these dances were alternated with athletic contests. Though we have their
art the Etruscan literature is completely lost to us as a result of them being
conquered and absorbed by the Romans.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
their literature is lost to us it is believed that their early works were most
likely not scripted, thus the works are only known through hearsay. Their works
eventually developed into two forms of entertainment. The first is Fescennine
verses, and it was taken from their border town of Fescennium. This form was a
ritual of sorts that was an enactment with gestures of raucous poems. They were
performed by the actors that were usually masked clowns. These verses were performed
at birth celebrations or marriages, and were considered appropriately erotic in
their content. If they were performed at the harvest season, they were possibly
obscene and abusive exchanges, as “humor of insult”. It is believed and alluded
to by Horace (65-8 BC) that the Fescennine verses is likely the predecessor of
Roman farce. As time passed the Fescennine verses were formalized, thus gaining
a traditional shape with professional speakers and skilled performers that were
hired for the occasions. The other form of genre from the Etruscan folks’ farce
that was less defined than satura. They were skits with early plots but more
music and dancing; often they were prose with assortments of obscene jests and
indecent illustrative gestures. Although some scholars state that they were in
verse instead of prose. When satura was introduced in Rome the audiences
quickly welcomed this form of entertainment. Its first introduction was during
the sixth century BC by the elder Farquin to honor the god Jupiter. That holy
day slowly became secularized to be a holiday with all sorts of entertainment
like juggling, acrobatics, and even boxing matches for the restless, loud
crowds. The Fabulae Satura came into existence with the blending of Fescennine
verses and the Etruscan mimetic dancers (histriones). The Saturnian verse had a
definite meter and were written to present little scenes from daily life. The
satura consists of a mixture of various elements without continuity of context
that would compose of little dramatic sketches. This form of drama was replaced
by translations of Greek tragedies and comedies during the second half of the
third century BC. At first the Romans did not turn to theatrical amusements to
fill up time during their festivals or even to distract themselves from the
concerns of life; but in response to a desolating pestilence. They tried all
manner of “remedies” all seeming insufficient so, to appease the angry gods
they turned to theatre. The histriones from Etruria, that had been sent for,
most likely did not attempt any pantomimic movement but instead attempted to
delight the audience with a display of bodily activity.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Romans appropriated the Fabulae Atellana, the oldest spoken plays, from the
Osci the indigenous inhabitants of Italy. At first these satura were merely
improvisatory farces without dramatic connection. The Atellan farce is believed
to be partly impromptu and possibly a development from both Fescennine verse
and satura. Although because the beginnings of Roman comedy is unclear some
scholars believe that the Atellan works came before the satura instead of
growing out of it. The Atellan farce was similar to the Greek forerunners by
incorporating both parody and political comment using the domestic intrigue and
mythology; in addition to that the players of Atellan farce wore masks. It
would be like this until Livius Andronicus began translating Greek plays. Through
the Etrurians the Romans gained the idea for plays; then through the Oscians
they infused the idea of sportive humor. From the Greeks and the people who
translated the plays into Latin they moved onto less crude and more thought
provoking forms of drama. Although they obtained both tragedy and comedy from
the Greeks, the Romans showed more originality in comedy than in tragedy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mime
(ribald comic productions with sensational plots and sexual innuendo) and
pantomime (performances by solo dancers with choral accompaniment) were the
most popular forms of theatrical entertainment from 27 BC to AD 284 (the
imperial period). Mime was one of the few forms that would allow women to
participate, thus showing their skills as dancers and acrobats. Pantomime, the
last type of ancient drama, also called Fabula Saltica was produced during the
Augustan period (27 BC – AD 14). It continued to be performed until the
Byzantine period (330 AD – 1453). Unlike the older mime that belonged to more
in the sphere of comedy, this new genre belonged in the sphere of tragedy. From
this distinction some see the pantomime as the substitute for tragedy as it
declined in popularity. The public called the Roman mimes Sanniones, “face
makers”, this name would survive into the Commedia dell’ Arte clown Zanni.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first translator in literary history was Livius Andronicus from Tarentum. When
he was a child Rome conquered Tarentum, leading to his enslavement in 272 BC.
He would later become the tutor and freedman of a certain Livius in Rome. With
his command of both Greek and Latin he spent from 240-207 BC translating the
tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, and some Greek comedies into Latin. It
was in 240 BC that Livius Andronicus introduced Rome to full-length, scripted
plays. Not only did he translate and adapt works but he was also an actor and
singer in these festivals. His works were staged in Athenian fashion instead of
Roman. Through encouragement he translated many more Greek scripts, keeping to
the orthodox metrical patterns. The tragedies that were preserved were: <i>Achilles</i>,
<i>Ajax</i>, <i>The Trojan Horse</i>, <i>Aegisthus</i>, <i>Hermiona</i>, <i>Andromeda</i>,
<i>Danae</i>, <i>Ino</i>, and <i>Tereus</i>. In 240 BC at the Ludi Romani
Livius Andronicus gave the first presentation of tragedy and comedy in Rome. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Livius Andronicus’ younger
contemporary was Gnaeus Naevius, a Roman citizen born in Campania, who
flourished between 235 BC and 204 BC (possibly until his death in 201 BC).
Before he began writing he had been a solider, that had served in the First
Punic War, through his service he came to fight in many places and observed the
many different mistakes and failures of military leaders. He was deeply
dedicated to the principles of the Republic, and was thus highly angered by the
corruption that he saw on all sides in those in power. Naevius’ first presentation
in Rome was in the year 235 BC, this piece was an epic poem dealing with the
First Punic War. Of the nine tragedies that he rewrote it is possible that they
were taken from Euripides. These nine include <i>Danae</i>, <i>The Trojan Horse</i>,
<i>Hector</i>, <i>Hesione</i>, and <i>Iphigenia</i>. Greek dramas such as these
were named Fabulae Palliatae, after the Greek mantle pallium. Naevius’ works
were still played in Rome during the time of Cicero. Naevius created the
Fabulae Praetexta, the Roman national drama, named after the participants’
togas that were adorned with purple stripes. These tragedies used native Roman
subjects such as Romulus. It is possible that these were originally composed
for special occasions like triumphs or funeral games, as these events had
scenic plays taking place. This is believed to have been the case until the demand
for them continuously increased.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The comedies written by Naevius
were considered contaminations because they were often the result of two Greek
New Comedies blended together to make one play; one example is <i>Acontizomenos</i>.
Naevius is considered the third greatest comedy writer after Titus Maccius
Plautus and Caecilius Statius. He used both Attic comedies of citizen life and
motives from native farce. An example can be found in the heroine from his
comedy <i>Tarentilla</i> who was a courtesan from Tarentum. <i>Agitatoria</i>
(the Politician), <i>Ariolus</i> (the Sun), <i>Carbonaria</i> (the Charcoal
Burner), <i>Corollaria</i> (the Dealer in Flowers or Wreaths), and <i>Figulus</i>
(the Potter) all had portrayed the lower classes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Along side these Graeco-Roman
tragedies and comedies the mime appeared, and from 173 BC on it was presented
at Rome on the Floralia as the chief play. The mime came from the simple plays
that were presented with improvised jests, parodies, and dances in the market
place. During the first century BC the Fabulae Tabernariae arose alongside the
Fabulae Togatae. The Fabulae Tabernariae were scenes from business life or the
life of artisans, especially in a small town. The Oscans, Volscians, and other
provincials would appear on stage in the dress of their regions. This variety
of play was originated by T. Quinctius Atta and L. Afranius. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The last type of dramatic
performance is the pantomime. Pantomime developed from the love of the art of
acting and the boredom from the repeated subjects in the tragedies. Pantomime
is an outgrowth of mimetic art that Livius Andronicus paved the way for which
was separating from the declamations, recitations, or songs in the drama. There
are two small pictures, dating from the early period of Augustus in a Roman
villa, that renders such declamations. A literary example of these declamations
can be found in the battle with the Telobans in the <i>Amphitryon</i> by
Plautus. Such monologues, single arts, and even dialogues were then being taken
out of context and presented on stage or at other occasions by a single actor in
full costume, mask, expressive gestures, and differentiated movements.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">At the end of the Republic of Rome
both tragedy and comedy were at the top among the scenic plays. Then during the
days of the Roman Empire, they were eventually pushed into the background by
the later forms of drama. After interest in comedy and tragedy almost
completely died out the interest and popularity of the games in the
amphitheater and the circus continued to rise. A similar situation exists today
with the interest in serious drama and refined comedy declining and the
interest in athletic events and different types of races is inclining.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Like majority of Roman theatre,
their poetry too was an imitation from other cultures. Its imitation of the
Greeks originally carried the marks of great violence and constraint. With that
it had a clumsy intermingling of the two languages. As time passed the poetical
style softened down from its original harshness, although that harshness can
still be seen in Catullus’ works. Being composed of both Latin and Greek there
were some constructions and compound words that had such a variance with the
internal structure of the Latin that in time those sections were removed. It
would not be until the age of Augustus that poets had more success at finding
an agreeable combination of the peculiarities of both languages. It was not
until this balance had been obtained that it gained the sanction of public
approbation. Latin poetry flourished for only a short time between its
formation and its death.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Most commonly Roman comedy appeared
in Grecian dress and used Grecian manners. The comedies of Plautus and Terence
are prime examples of this. Other Roman comedies were done in Roman dress and
thus called comedia togata. One of the principle writers of comedia togata was
Afranius. As there are no remains of him at all and there are so few accounts
of his works that it cannot be accurately be determined if the togatae were
original comedies of an entirely new invention or Greek comedies that were
adapted to Roman men.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Grecian theatre, particularly
tragedy, faced many challenges when first introduced into Rome. Many compare
some of the difficulties faced by Grecian tragedy to that of a plant being
replanted in a different soil type. While the Roman religion was similar in
some manner to the Greek religion, they are not so similar that they shared the
same lore. The Greeks simply introduced their heroic mythology to Rome through
the poets. The Greek tragedies and other tragic attempts al but died out after
the age of Augustus. It cannot accurately be estimated the total loss of works
from these times, but based off of appearances it does not seem that it was an
overly large loss. It is shown that Greek tragedy represented “the struggle of
man in a state of freedom with destiny.” Following this line of thought it
could be said that a “true” Roman tragedy should have shown “the subjection of
human impulse to the holy and binding force of religion, and the visible
presence of that religion in all earthly things.” Some believe that we might
see what the Latin heroic tales could have become if they had some earlier
development, in some of the works of Virgil, Propertius, and Ovid. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The comedies of Plautus (active
from 205 – 184 BC), primarily adaptations of Greek New Comedy, are the earliest
surviving Latin plays. While it seemed that Latin comedy flourished instantly,
Latin tragedy flourished during the second century BC. While some of the works
in this genre are from Greek myth there were some that came from well-known
parts of Roman history. The composition of both tragedy and comedy declined
very rapidly in Rome after the second century BC.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Playwrights & Their Work</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Roman
republican literature had its greatest period during the second century with
the tragic poets Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius; and the comic poets Caecilius
and Terence Ennius (239-169 BC) was a Messapian that spoke both Greek and
Oscan. He wrote twenty Latin tragedies, many of which borrowed their subjects
from Euripides or <i>The Iliad</i>. <i>Achilles</i>, <i>Ajax</i>, <i>Alexandros</i>,
<i>Andromache Aichmalotis</i>, <i>Hectoris Lytra</i>, <i>Cresphontes</i>, <i>Alcmeon</i>,
and <i>Phoenix</i> are the tragedies with borrowed subjects. In addition to
those he wrote Roman historical plays titled: <i>Sabines</i> (The Sabine Women)
and <i>Ambracia</i>. Pacuvius (ca. 220 BC – ca. 130 BC) wrote roughly twelve
tragedies and one Fabula Praetexta. His tragedies were mostly modeled after
Euripides; but his Fabula Praetexta (<i>Paullus</i>) is believed to have been
written in honor of L. Aemilius Paullus following his victory at Pydna in 168
BC.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
most important of the Roman tragedy writers was Accius (170 BC – ca. 130 BC).
Along side of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles he was used as an
authoritative model. It is believed that his first drama <i>Atreus</i> was
inspired by Aeschylus. His Fabula Praetextae <i>Brutus</i> featured Tarquinius
Superbus. In the year 140 BC it is recorded that there was a contest between
Pacuvius and Accius.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Statius
Caecilius wrote forty comedies, but only about three hundred versus have
survived the passage of time. His works had both Greek and Latin titles, and
their subject matter was related to Attic New Comedy. Of the Attic New Comedy poets,
it was Menander that Caecilius imitated. Some of the titles of his works are <i>Andria</i>,
<i>Synephebi</i>, <i>The Substituted Child</i>, and <i>The Money-Lender</i>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Titus
Maccius Plautus (254-184 BC) is considered the most successful Roman adaptor of
Greek New Comedies. Prior to his writing career he had been a solider and an
actor, it is believed that he acted with a troupe of Atellan players. After he
had little to no success on the stage, he tried his hands at being a merchant,
which ending with him losing what little he possessed. He then began grinding
and peddling flour as an occupation, during which he wrote two plays <i>Addictus
</i>and <i>Saturio</i>. Neither piece was received well, his third attempt in
204 BC was a success. This success was brought to him from borrowing material
from Greek authors like Menander, Diphilus, and many others. It is believed
that he wrote approximately 130 plays, but of these only 21 of the scripts
survived the passage of time. The simple meters used by the Greek poets he
changed this into a more expanded and complex meter. He would have lines to
indicated changes of mood, new and bawdier jokes, combine multiple scenes to
create new works, even at times completely remove the chorus. After he gained popularity,
he was granted honorary citizenship and even the honor of bearing three names. “Plautus”
from his nickname meaning “Flat-footed”, “Maccius” indicating him as a “Clown”.
In AD 1429 in Mainz, Germany 12 of his scripts was found by Nicholas of Cusa (a
graduate law student), thus bringing interest back to Plautus.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>P.
Terentius Afer (Terence) also imitated Menander, but he also imitated other
Attic New Comedy poets. He is often placed and discussed in the history of
Hellenistic literature, although he should be placed and discussed with
Caecilius as a Roman comedic poet. Terence was born around 190 BC in Africa. He
came to Rome as a slave of Terentius Lucanus, who would later set him free. He
composed imitations and contaminations of Greek Comedies for Scipio Africanus
and his highly cultured circle. Naevius, Plautus, and Ennius were playwrights
like Terence that combined the subjects of multiple Greek works. His six
preserved comedies all belong to the time period between 166 – 160 BC. <i>Andria</i>
(The Maiden of Andros) belongs to 166 BC. <i>Heauton Timorumenos</i> (The
Self-Tormentor) belongs to 163 BC. <i>Eunuchs</i> and <i>Phormio</i> belong to
161 BC. And the final two works; <i>Adelphi</i> (The Brothers) and <i>Hecyra</i>
(The Mother-in-Law) belong to 160 BC. The first three were presented at the
Ludi Megalenses, <i>Adelphi</i> was presented at the funeral games (Ludi Funebres)
of Aemilius Paullus, and <i>Phormio </i>and <i>Hecyra</i> were presented at the
Ludi Romani. Terence passed away in Greece in 159 BC.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the history of Roman tragic literature there are two notable points. The first
point in history is marked by the works of Livius Andronicus, Naevius, Ennius,
Pacuvius, and Lucius Accius. The second point is the Augustan age. The first
period only produced translations and imitations of Grecian works. With many of
their works as well as some of the works of Plautus and Terence, there are not
many if any fragments of the Greek originals left to give us the ability to
accurately judge the accuracy of the copies. The contemporaries of the Augustan
age had the ambition to measure their works against the Greeks in more original
manners. Although their labors were not always met with equal success. There
were many amateur playwrights that wished to shine in tragedy. One of the most
celebrated tragic poets of this age was Asinius Pollio, who was a man of an
impassioned disposition. He brought the well-known group of Farnese Bull from
Rhodes to Rome. Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) is another well-known poet of the
Augustan age and he is the author of <i>Medea</i>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Stage & Technical Elements</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
oldest purely Roman theatre preserved is located to the south-east of Pompeii.
The large theatre there had been built during the Hellenistic period. The small
building could hold 1,500 spectators was built after the refoundation of
Pompeii by Sulla in 80 BC. The orchestra was turned into a semi-circle and made
smaller by the addition of several rows of flat steps for the seats of honor to
be placed. These added rows were correspondingly shorter on the side as the
semi-circle of the cavea is trimmed to fit into a rectangle. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Until
the late Republic there were no stone theatres in Rome. Prior to the stone
theatres being built the many performances were done on mobile stages that were
designed after the South Italian phlyakes’ wooden stages. In Etruscan tomb
there are paintings that show the platforms for the plays at the festivals were
surrounded by grandstands for the audience similar to the sports stadiums; but
these were not permanent structures. A pulpitum, temporary stage, would be set
up for plays on public grounds in front of temples or in buildings that were
used for athletic events, races, and gladiatorial fights. The selection process
for the sites of these temporary structures depended upon things like what was
being celebrated, for example they would be set up at different temples to
celebrate different gods. It has been suggested that these wooden stages were
rectangular in shape and had a plain curtain that was used to close off the
back. Another scholar suggests that the platforms were supported on either
square posts or narrow columns. There are some ancient sources that state that
the delay in building a permanent theatre was caused by active senatorial
opposition, but any of the possible reasons for this opposition is uncertain. In
155 BC a censor, Cassius Longinus, had a stage built with visibly decorated
columns to make the scaenae frons more appealing; unfortunately, after the ludi
had ended the Senate had the columns taken down. Then in 145 BC Lucius Mummius
erected a costly wooden theatre to celebrate his victory over Corinth; this
theatre housed some plays for the triumph and it set precedents for later
theatres because it had seating for all of the spectators, unfortunately it was
also ordered taken down by the Senate. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>In 55 BC the first permanent stone
theatre in Rome was dedicated by Pompey the Great. What remains of the Theatre
of Pompey is the foundations, though based off of that it is estimated to have
been an enormous structure. It stood at an estimated forty-five meters (147
feet) and could hold up to roughly 20,000 spectators. This theatre was
constructed in honor of Pompey’s spectacular military campaigns during the 60s
BC; and its larger function was as a victory monument. In this theatre the
cavea (seating area) had been crowned with a temple dedicated to Pompey’s
patron deity, Venus Victrix (goddess of victory). The theatre had been
decorated with statues of the goddess and personifications of the nations that
had been conquered by Pompey. At the back of the stage building was a large
portico that was columned which housed artworks and gardens.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HKvgknnvcSY/YTPzBmEZ_cI/AAAAAAAAASg/vzmsscj9QJk-z449vmvtc_sGI83n1Fo-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1350/Theatre_of_Pompey_Sketch_up_model.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="1350" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HKvgknnvcSY/YTPzBmEZ_cI/AAAAAAAAASg/vzmsscj9QJk-z449vmvtc_sGI83n1Fo-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h218/Theatre_of_Pompey_Sketch_up_model.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="photo_usage-attribution is-block" data-v-e1c1f65a="" id="attribution"><a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18279604" rel="noopener" target="_blank">"File:Theatre of Pompey Sketch up model.png"</a> <span data-v-e1c1f65a="">
by
<a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mark_Miller" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lasha Tskhondia - L.VII.C. (model creator) from a screen capture by Mark Miller</a></span>
is licensed under
<a class="photo_license" data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0?ref=ccsearch&atype=rich" rel="noopener" target="_blank">
CC BY-SA 3.0
</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Both
the Theatre of Pompey and the Theatre of Marcellus served as models for other
similar buildings across the Roman Empire for centuries. The influence that the
Theatre of Marcellus had on the exterior of the amphitheater is best seen by
looking at the Colosseum. These new building types have striking differences
from the traditional Greek theatres. Greek theatres were two separate
structures; those being a horseshoe shaped area for seating and the
free-standing stage building. Whereas Roman theatres were fully enclosed,
unroofed spaces; and they often used awnings during performance days. With the
Greek theatres being outdoors their seating areas were supported by the natural
hillside. The Roman theatres were partially built on concrete vaults, that gave
access from the outside of the building to the cavea. For the Greeks the stage
building was a low structure that was decorated with painted panels and rarely
with large scale sculptures. Whereas the Roman stage buildings were known for a
tall, wide stage front (scaenae frons) that had many stories that were
connected by freestanding columns. These buildings were lavishly decorated with
statues of gods and heroes, as well as portraits of the imperial family and
local luminaries. Where the Greek seating was largely open, the Roman audiences
were stringently segregated upon the basis of class, gender, nationality,
profession, and marital status. This segregation was seen in the restricted access
to the building and the system of the vaulted substructures that expedited the
movement of the spectators to their appointed section of seating.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Unlike
the Roman theatre that evolved from Greek models; there were no architectural
models in the Greek world for the amphitheater. Also, the events that took
place in the amphitheaters such as gladiatorial combat and venationes (“animal
hunts”) were Italic in their origin. One of the earliest stone amphitheaters is
in Pompeii and it was constructed around 80 BC. Like other early amphitheaters
this one has a strictly, functional look and part of the seating area is
supported on earthen embankments. Whereas the earliest one built in Rome was
not constructed until 29 BC by T. Statilius Taurus (one of Emperor Augustus’
most trusted generals). This amphitheater would stand until the great fire of
64 AD, when the building burnt down. This amphitheater was later replaced by
the Colosseum, and it was dedicated by Emperor Titus in 80 AD. Upon its
completion the Colosseum had several differences from earlier amphitheaters. It
had elaborate basement equipment, such as animal cages and mechanical
elevators, and it featured a complex system of vaulted, concrete substructures.
The Colosseum’s exterior incorporated three stories of superimposed arcades
bordered by engaged columns of Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian styles. The auleum
(front curtain) became part of the stage machinery during this time, although
it was different from the front curtains of today, this difference comes from
how it opens and closes. Instead of the curtain come from above or even opening
sided to side, it would sink into a recess by the end for the forestage. After
the second century AD the way the curtain operated changed from sinking into
the recess it was changed to what we are more familiar with in modern theatre,
that being that it was hung above the stage and was brought in and out with a
system of pulleys backstage. On ancient coins the buildings depiction shows
that massive statues of gods and heroes were placed in the upper arcades. It is
believed that the use of Greek columns and copies of Greek statues was done
from a desire to promote the uniquely Roman amphitheater to a similar standing
in architectural hierarchy as the theater. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio wrote about
the vast and splendid structures of the theatres as well as what he envisioned
as the ideal one in his ten-volume book titles <i><u>De Architecture</u></i>.
In the way of how the sets could have looked there is not much information
given. In many cases only content is given or only merely indicated with
regards to the stage scenery. Despite that rotating periaktoi as well as
painted curtains were used to depict the scenery, these periaktoi were three dimensional
representations of places that could be moved about as needed for the play. Mostly
the single scenes in full costume were given as interest in the actors
outweighed the interest in literature or other technical elements.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Roman costumes varied depending on the diversity of the play being presented.
For tragedies the costumes took on a Greek style of dress with long robes with
sleeves and cothurnus shoes. Then around 100 BC onwards they also used the
masks and developed from slight exaggerations to stronger exaggerations. The
sleeved robes of these characters had broad girdles (a belt or cord round the
waist) and they would fall in deep folds. Their closed shoes had high soles.
Children wore short garments that had sleeves, and high little boots that did
not have high soles. Not only did Roman comedy adopt the themes from Attic New
Comedy but also the costumes. Attic New Comedy costumes were designed after the
dressing style of the common people. These everyday clothes were then worn over
the required tights taken from the costumes of Old Comedy. The shoes worn in
Roman comedy was the soccus, a low closed toe shoe that did not have raised
soles. These types of footwear became the symbol of their respective genre of
plays with in Roman theatre. The Atellan farce costume did not change, thus
keeping its masks and farcical, burlesque styled look. The costumes in mime
would vary throughout the years, there are some early documentation that had
early mimes wondering the streets of Sicily and Southern Italy in rags. The
later they would be dressed in ordinary clothing of the city that they were
performing in. Berthold gave the description “The fool wore a motley dress of
patchwork (centumculus), such as harlequin still wears today, and a pointed hat
(apex; hence the later expression apiciosus). The mime work only a light sole
footwear, and his sandal, which differed from the cothurnus of the tragic actor
and the soccus of the comedian, earned him the nickname plainpedes in Rome. The
grammarian Donatus, however, has a less charitable explanation; the mimus,
according to him, were called planipedia because its subjects were so flat and
its players so low that it pleased only libertines and adulterers<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Freund, 2003)</span>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another symbol within Roman theatre was that
the speaker of the prologue would carry a branch in his hands. Similarly, to
their Greek counterparts both the garments and the shoes were colorful;
particularly those designed for young people. Among the young men and soldiers
the color purple was well liked, with the young men in purple tunics and the
soldiers in purple chlamys. An ordinary shade of red was worn by the poor.
Young girls were often dressed in foreign fashions; while courtesans would be
in yellow, which was considered the mark of greed. Then for the Fabula Togatae
and Praetexta, purely Roman national dramas, would be costumed in Roman tunics
and togas. Both the comedy and tragedy togas were white, but the tragedy one
had a purple border. The tragedy togas were like those worn by high officials
in their public lives; the deeds of these officials were often the subject
matter for the dramas. Then for shoes they would wear sandals. It is believed
that one of the reasons that mime was preferred during the first century BC was
that it was performed without a mask; whereas tragedy, comedy, and Oscan
Fabulae Atellana were all performed with masks. The dress for mime was that of
daily life, like the comedies. As it never adopted masks the art of mime was well
developed and from the first century BC onwards enjoyed a higher level of
popularity than the genres with masks. In the third century, between 235 BC and
206 BC, Naevius had attempted to introduce the Greek masks; then in the second
century the masks were seen in the comedies of Terence. Before the masks caught
on, they would use makeup and wigs; examples of the wigs would be red wigs for
the slave, black ones for youths, and white ones for old men. These wigs also
helped particularly the men cast into female roles. Then around 100 BC Cincius
Faliscus introduced masks to tragedy and Minucius Prothymos introduced them in
comedy. Despite these introductions they were not permanently introduced until
the time of Cicero by Roscius. In the way of how the sets could have looked
there is not much information given. In many cases only content is given or
only merely indicated with regards to the stage scenery. Mostly the single
scenes in full costume were given as interest in the actors outweighed the
interest in literature or other technical elements.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Roman Actors, Techniques, & Performances</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the
early days of the Republic actors were forced to give up their citizenship and
lived as outcasts. Being a thespian was looked down upon, to the point where is
a soldier wanted to perform on stage, they faced execution. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Some of the early celebrations of
the native inhabitants of the Italian peninsula had to do with things like the
spring sowing rites, invocations to fertility, and the harvest festivals. Livy,
the ancient historian, has stated that the earliest theatrical presentations in
Rome were introduced by the Etruscans in 364 BC; these presentations took the
form of dances accompanied by music. Literary records also state that Atellana,
a form of native Italian farce, were presented in Rome at a relatively early
date. Ludi, yearly religious festivals, were the primary occasions for dramatic
presentations in the Roman world. These were organized by elected officials and
were funded by the state treasury. Although in the beginning two high ranking
officials, aediles, would be selected from the patrician class, it would later
be open to plebeians. These officials would be responsible for keeping order at
the festivals, monitoring the games, licensing, and supervising the
construction of the temporary buildings. With these aediles the cost for
costumes, actors’ and directors’ wages would come from their own money, this
would later be subsidized by the state as part of the Roman policy “breed and
circuses”. While that policy was in place it did make the events restrictive to
the lower classes. Temple dedications, military triumphs, and upper-class
funerals were other occasions for performances. Scholars have stated that among
the Romans the art of acting was highly developed. It has been noted that the
Italian natives have a gift for mimicry, born improvisors, lively and
expressive gestures, and great skills using languages. Livius Andronicus was
the first tragic poet and actor of Rome in the monodies (a lyrical piece sung
by one person), separated the singing from the mimetic dancing. By doing this
the actor only had to focus on the dancing; and a boy would stand next to the
flute player and would vocally accompany him. In the Greek times the tragic
singing and the rhythmic gestures were simple enough that one person could do
it ate the same time do justice to both. Although the Romans preferred to
separate the skills to achieve a harmonious unity. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">While one actor would sing or speak
another would perform the appropriate gestures. It was necessary for the
attitudes and gestures to precisely match the words being spoken or sung; this
skill would have a greater value placed upon it as time passed. Clarity of
voice and expression were demanded and developed due to the Romans not using
masks until roughly 100 BC. The gestures were clearly differentiated depending
upon the type of play, the age and profession of each character within the
play. The age and profession of the character also determined the attitude
used. For example, a slave’s movements had to be quick and lively. The attitudes
described in the plays would usually correspond with the Hellenistic and Roman
marble and terracotta statuettes of the comic actors. Many of the gestures of
the slave characters are believed to have been adopted with the comedies and
further developed by the Roman actors. It is later that Quintilian gives rules
on the gestures for a public speaker, which he partially borrowed from the art
of acting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During
the first century BC in Rome the art of acting obtained its height. It came
after Roman dramatic poetry reached its highest development during the third
and second centuries BC. Just as in Athens acting reached its peak in the
fourth century after the pinnacle of classic tragedy and old comedy had been
reached in the fifth century. Some actors would specialize in a particular role
type so as to have specialists, and example would be the roles of women, gods,
youths, and parasites (a selfish liar of any station in society). The gestures
did not have to match each word but it did have to match the meaning of the
entire sentence. While depicting a character they needed to use their entire
body, not just their heads to express the meaning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Close
to the beginning of Roman theatre the actors would be chosen from among the
slaves, and they would be beaten if they performed poorly. One of the most
famous actors was Quintus Roscius (126-62 BC), had been born a slave. It is
estimated that his annual income was approximately 50,000 Sestertius (about $2
million), and with this earning he bought his freedom from slavery. After
buying his freedom it is said that because of his wealth he performed for several
seasons without receiving payment. His great art would be defended in an
oration by Cicero. While the Greeks emphasized the ensemble; the Romans
emphasized the principal and prominent actors and had a high value on brilliant
individual accomplishments. The rules from Quintilian are believed to go back
to either Roscius or even Cicero. As time passed the actors were no longer only
chosen from slaves but also from the citizens as well. A few examples of
non-slave actors are Roscius, who would eventually play without a fee, and
Decimus Laberius, the knight and writer of mimes. Chief actors would be
surrounded by many supernumeraries, who would represent the followers of the
heroine and they would only wear the garb of every day life. The
supernumeraries took the place of the chorus and they would sympathetically
accompany the fate and action of the main character with their gestures. Guilds
would develop from groups of Greek craftsmen and Roman acting troupes that
would travel to festivals in different countries.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As time
passed the number of official holidays (ludi) steadily grew. Some of the known
ludi were the Ludi Plebeii (the plebeian games), the Ludi Romani (the Roman
games), the Ludi Apollionares (in honor of Apollo), and the Ludi Megalenses
(the Megalensian festival). At the Ludi Romani from 214 BC onwards theatrical
representations that took four days were performed at this ludi. There were
some instances during the Ludi Romani in the early days that the siparium,
white curtain at the back of the stage, would be open and pantomimists would
come forward and project humor between acts. Around 200 BC there were 48 days
for official scenic presentations in Rome. To these 48 days and previously
mentioned ludi, the Ludi Funelres (funeral games) and the Ludi Votivi (plays
shown at dedications and triumphs) were added. It was after the Punic Wars (240
BC) that the number of days increased to 55 holidays that incorporated
theatrical offerings as well as the other offerings at the various festivities.
Around 175 BC at the Ludi Florales was extended by several days and was in its
entirety given to mime. Romans had so much passion, that continuously grew, for
plays of all sorts that in the year AD 354, there were 175 festival days
recorded; quite the increase from the 77 days for plays at the end of the
Republic. Of those 77 days only 55 of them were for scenic plays; whereas of
the 175 days there were 101 dedicated to the theatre plays. At the time only
detached scenes or songs were presented, particularly at private festive
occasions and funeral games. It was free to get into the plays, all could
attend but slaves had to stand and women were to remain to the rear. The
playwrights were obligated to present plays of a wide diversity in order to
satisfy the novelty-loving patrons of the Empire. These plays were handled by a
theatre director and the players performed without masks, using wigs instead.
Then unlike the Greek masked plays the number of actors was not restricted.
These games originated in Etruria as well as from Campania; they came around
the same time as the scenic plays but they held more popularity. Because
tragedies were presented at funerals would explain why tragic scenes can be
found on the tomb monument of Numitorius Hilarus. They have also been found in
a columbarium discovered in the Villa Doria Pamphili at Rome; it was
transferred in 1932 to Museo delle Tereme. Often times it is rather difficult
to determine if the original Greek plays or the Roman adaptations are the
inspiration behind the monuments of Hellenistic times found in South Italy<a name="_Hlk22216618">. </a></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk22216618;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While
majority of the ancient, sacred, often religious plays were borrowed from the
Hellenistic Greeks, the Romans still found different methods to perform and
present them. They further developed the performing arts in ways that suited
their audiences. Just because they borrowed material and rearranged it does not
mean that the Romans copied everything from others and deserve their own
recognition for their contributions and changes. From the Italian-Hellenistic
players things such as pantomime, mime, and Atellan farce flourished until the
end of antiquity instead of fading from performing arts history.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Works Cited<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></h2>
<p class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Bieber, M. (1939). <i>The History of the Greek and
Roman Theatre.</i> Princeton: Princeton University Press.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Freund, P. (2003). Chapter 7 Rome: Sock and Buskin.
In P. Freund, <i>Stage by Stage: The Birth of Theatre</i> (pp. 715-780).
London: Peter Owen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Klar, L. S. (2006, October). <i>Theater and
Amphitheater in the Roman World.</i> Retrieved from The Metropolitan Museum of
Art: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tham/hd_tham.htm</span></p>
<p class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Schlegel, A. W. (1815). Lecture VIII. In A. W.
Schlegel, <i>A Course of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature</i> (pp.
271-317). London: Baldwin, Cradock and Joy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Simon, E. (1982). <i>The Ancient Theatre.</i> New
York: Methune & Co. Ltd.</span></p>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<![endif]-->Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-32094996224659765722021-02-06T21:05:00.001-05:002021-02-06T21:05:11.594-05:006 Duos of Vaudeville<p> <span> </span>Like there have been influential men and women in show business there
have also been duos and group acts that have helped shape the business.
It has been said many times, many ways where would we be without what
came before? Would we be enjoying the work of duo acts like Penn &
Teller or Siegfried & Roy, or even musical acts like Big & Rich
or Sonny & Cher.<br />
</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">
The Dolly Sisters</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>The Dolly Sisters were more famous for their looks than talent;
though these identical twins were cabaret queens. They were born Yanci
and Roszika Deutsch on October 25, 1892 in Budapest, Hungary. Their
parents, Julius (a photographer) and Margarethem, emigrated from
Hungary to Brooklyn, New York when the sisters were five. Their mother
urged them to start ballet training when they were young. When the rest
of their family came to America, when they were thirteen their mother
had them performing on the American stage. To their American audiences
they were not known as Yanci and Roszika, but as Jenny and Rosie Dolly,
their uncle managed them.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cKhHLKIy4Zc/WLD_RpbnPSI/AAAAAAAAAME/8AeqyOkgpC8YPpF0q9kFUlQAknXu81wZwCLcB/s1600/Dolly_Sisters.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Sisters#/media/File:Dolly_Sisters.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cKhHLKIy4Zc/WLD_RpbnPSI/AAAAAAAAAME/8AeqyOkgpC8YPpF0q9kFUlQAknXu81wZwCLcB/s320/Dolly_Sisters.jpg" title="Jenny and Rosie Dolly" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Sisters#/media/File:Dolly_Sisters.jpg">Jenny & Rosie Dolly Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>They danced on Broadway, in plays and
eventually in movies, they were regarded as one of the best sister acts.
Their act had them wearing identical clothing and imitating each others
movements to perfection; to accomplish the desired affect they would
use mirrors, light and shadow techniques. Many said that the act didn't
matter because they were purring mirror images of each other that
audiences went wild for. The sisters combined innocence with a seductive
racy side with their looks and vibrant personalities, they captivated
men all over the world as they climbed from vaudeville to Broadway as a
cabaret dancing act.</p><p>
<span> </span>Their professional dancing career started early in the local beer halls, they debuted in the operetta <i>The Maid and the Millionaire</i>
in 1907. Due to their age they had to wait a few more years before they
could perform in New York. While they waited to be old enough to
perform in New York, they joined the Orpheum vaudeville circuit, where
they toured the Midwest until 1909. They took the Dolly name after a
friend had told them that "they were cute as dolls."</p><p>
<span> </span>Once they
returned to New York they worked with the Keith vaudeville circuit. They
were billed as "The Dolly Twins" when they joined the Ziegfeld Follies
in 1911. During the Follies the sisters performed their dance routine as
Siamese twins. Their personal lives became strained when they passed on
an important audition for Oscar Hammerstein when they became
international headliners. Harry Fox married Jenny Dolly in 1914, and he
performed with them in the 1918 Broadway musical <i>Oh, Look</i>; where they sang "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows."</p><p>
<span> </span>On August 19, 1916 at the Republic Theatre the sisters starred in <i>His Bridal Night</i>;
a farce by Lawrence Rising and Margaret Mayo who revisited and
elaborated it. There was one feature length film that the sisters
starred in together, <i>The Million Dollar Dollies</i> it was released by Metro in 1917. They were in other films, just separately; Roszika was in <i>The Lily and the Rose</i> in 1915 and Yancsi was in <i>The Call of the Dance</i>
also in 1915. They became regulars at the Palace from 1916 on wards,
despite the critics complaints of their non existent singing abilities
and their lack of change to their dance routines.</p><p>
<span> </span>They were billed
as rivals from time to time to bring in a larger income at the door.
The sisters occasionally would team up, separately, with other people.
One of the people that Rosie teamed up with was Martin Brown, and
together they performed erotic Spanish ballroom dances that audiences
adored them for. Though they did team up with people aside from each
other those partnerships didn't last for very long, and it would bring
Rosie and Jenny back together and they would be better than before. Most
commonly during the 1920s the sisters were performing in music halls
throughout Paris and London, instead of performing on New York stages.
Sime Silverman had said, "As two dandy looking twins who cannot be told
apart, with class and who can dance if they want to, the Dolly Sisters
are always worth the price of admission just to look at"; when he wrote a
review of one of their Palace appearances for Variety on February 24,
1922.</p><p>
<span> </span>They married and divorced while they were still very young,
and soon they became swamped with many devoted admires who would often
become obsessed with the sisters. After their retirement in the late
1920s, the sisters put all of their attention on the social scenes. They
became the downfall of many rich men, including Harry Selfridge. Harry
Selfridge had proposed to Jenny Dolly at least once every month. When
the free money started to dry up during the Depression, it started the
sisters downfall. Neither of them had ever truly accepted that being
celebrities and having fame could be fleeting.</p><p>
<span> </span>In 1933 while
driving along the French Riviera with her fiance, Max Constant, Jenny
Dolly got into a serious automobile accident when they drove over a
cliff. She survived the accident but she sustained heavy injuries,
including one punctured lung, skull fracture, she displaced her stomach
and the right side of her face was torn apart. During the next six weeks
she went through many unsuccessful plastic surgeries, she almost died a
few times during this. She survived the surgeries and she cursed the
doctors for saving her. While she recovered physically, she never truly
recovered mentally. She described herself as a broken shell, after
everything sadly she was very broken and unhappy in the end. She was
found dead in her Hollywood apartment where she had used the drapes to
make a noose and h herself on June 1, 1941.</p><p>
<span> </span>A feature film,loosely based on Rosie and Jenny's lives, titled <i>The Dolly Sisters</i>
starring Betty Grable and June Haver was produced at 20th Century-Fox
by George Jessel in 1945. Rosie would attempt and fail at suicide in
1962, she would die of a heart attack in New York on February 1, 1970.
Variety would report that she told them her one philosophy in life had
been "If you drink Scotch, make it Black and White. It will never hang
you over."</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
George Burns & Gracie Allen</h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4x9GntROf4k/YB9GOmERAdI/AAAAAAAAAPk/yARmz7locygzkxU_WzvcCFCW5Da6pCGFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/512px-Burns_allen_1952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4x9GntROf4k/YB9GOmERAdI/AAAAAAAAAPk/yARmz7locygzkxU_WzvcCFCW5Da6pCGFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/512px-Burns_allen_1952.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Burns_allen_1952.JPG/512px-Burns_allen_1952.JPG">George Burns & Gracie Allen Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table></h2><p style="text-align: left;"> <span> </span>George Burns had been born as Nathan Birnbaum on January 20, 1896 in
New York. His first try at show business was when he was seven years old
when he was part of the Pee Wee Quartet after his father's death. He
took the first name George from his elder brother, Isidore, that he
admired and who had been called George by his friends. He would later
work with Abie Kaplan, and they became known as the Burns Brothers due
to their habit of following the Burns Brothers Coal yard truck, hoping to pick up any coal that fell onto the streets from the truck.</p><p>
<span> </span>He
and Mac Fry would form the group Mac Fry and Company, when Burns was
only thirteen years old. His next partnership came when he teamed up
with Sam Brown in the act named Brown and Williams (named for a previous
member of the act). Following that he appeared as Glide in Goldie
Fields and Glide, afterwards he participated in the act titled <i>The Fourth of July Kids</i>.
He explains why he changed his name so frequently in his autobiography I
Love Her, That's Why!, he had stated that because of a booker for a
theatre had threatened to not give him any more jobs if he knew who he
was. To further the confusion of his many names, while he was part of an
act called <i>Burns and Links</i> he was the one called Links.</p><p>
<span> </span>Gracie
Allen was born on July 26, 1906 in San Francisco, California to the
song and dance man Edward Allen. She described her father as "the first
and best clog and minstrel man in San Francisco." She had been on the
stage since her childhood appearing with her father first, and then
later in an act called <i>Larry Reilly and company</i> with her sisters Bessie, Pearl and Hazel. In that act she performed an Irish jig as well as sang during it.</p><p><span> </span>
When
Burns was twenty-four his fortune with vaudeville started to improve.
By this time he was teamed up with Sid Gary, who would later become
popular on radio and be known for his high sopranos voice. This
partnership lasted for two years before they split up, and Burns
partnered up with Billy Lorraine. Their act was called <i>Burns and Lorraine- Two Broadway Thieves</i>,
where they imitated Broadway stars like Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor.
While they were working together, Burns was developing an act of his
own. The last place they worked together was Union Hill Theatre in New
Jersey. While they were there Burns approached the headliner, Rena
Arnold, with his plan and a risqué story. The story offended her but she
told her friend, Gracie Allen, that Lorraine was looking for a new
partner and that she should approach him about it. Allen then watched
the act but confused the two men, and asked Burns for a job. It wasn't
until three days later that Allen realized her mistake.</p><p>
<span> </span>Burns and
Allen appeared together for the first time at the Hill Street Theatre in
Newark, New Jersey in 1922. They would get married in Cleveland four
years later on January 7, 1926. Originally they were billed as George N.
Burns and Gracie Allen, with their original roles being Burns as the
comedian and her as the straight role. It took very little time for them
to change this to Burns being the established cigar-chomping straight
man and Allen being the dizzy partner. As a team they were unrivaled in
show business; and it wasn't simply based on their talent, though they
had talent in spades, it was their ability to understand and utilize
each medium of entertainment that they came across.</p><p>
<span> </span>They started
in vaudeville, and then moved on to radio, followed by movies and ending
in television. The public, just like now, could make or break a
performer; but they are also capable of adoring and cherishing an act.
The latter was the case for Burns and Allen. Burns would ask the
straight man questions and Allen would give a dizzy response; and no
matter what he said she always had a response.</p><p>
<span> </span>The first success
that was big for them was a sketch written for them by Al Boasberg
called "Lamb Chops". "Lamb Chops" was filmed in the summer of 1929,
featuring a song titled "Do You Believe Me?" for Warner Brothers, it is
now preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Aside from filing
"Lamb Chops" in the summer of 1929 the duo went to England for
twenty-one weeks. Several of these twenty-one weeks were spent in London
doing performances at both the Holborn Empire and the London Palladium.
The English took to the couple, especially Gracie, into their hearts.
At their performances they were billed as "The Famous American Comedy
Couple". The couple made a series of radio broadcasts for the BBC while
they were in England.</p><p>
<span> </span>Burns and Allen returned to the Palace in
August and December of 1930 and April of 1931. Their BBC radio
broadcasts was a happy prerequisite of things that were to come for the
couple. CBS made them radio regulars in 1932, when they got signed to
appear on the <i>Guy Lombardo</i> program sponsored by Robert Burns cigars at the time. It didn't take long for the couple to obtain their own show titled <i>The Burns and Allen Show</i>.
The original set up of their show was a vaudeville-style entertainment
show that would turn into a situation comedy in the early 1940s. The
running joke of the show in the early 1930s was about Gracie looking for
her lost brother, who was actually an employee of Standard Oil in San
Francisco. The studio had them wonder in and out of other shows asking
about her brother, who had hurt his leg by falling off an ironing board
while he was pressing his pants.</p><p>
<span> </span>When they filmed "Lamb Chops",
their film career started. After "Lamb Chops" they started to appear in a
series of Paramount features; including <i>The Big Broadcast </i>(1932), <i>International House </i>(1933), <i>Six of a Kind </i>(1934), <i>We're Not Dressing</i> (1934), <i>The Big Broadcast</i> of 1936, <i>The Big Broadcast</i> of 1937, <i>Damsel in Distress</i> (1937) and <i>Honolulu</i>
(1939). While more commonly they were seen in films together, Gracie
appeared in a few films by herself. The most notable film that she
appeared in by herself was <i>The Gracie Allen Murder Case</i> in 1939.</p><p>
<span> </span>Their
radio show was successfully transitioned to television on CBS on
October 12, 1950 after eighteen years on the radio. Their television
show was thirty minutes long, and it was set up as a situation comedy.
George and Gracie played themselves, the announcer Harry VonZell as
himself, Ronnie Burns (their adopted son) as himself, Bea Benaderet as
Blanche Morton (Gracie's friend and neighbor) and Larry Keating as
Blanche's husband Harry made up the cast of the show. They would end
every episode with one of their vaudeville routines and George's famous
"Say Goodnight, Gracie". That last line would become one of the best
known lines in TV history. The show ended when Gracie announced her
retirement in September of 1958. George would continue with his own show
featuring all of the same characters as the original show, after
Gracie's retirement.</p><p>
<span> </span>Gracie Allen died in Hollywood, California on
August 8, 1964. After her death George continued his solo career,
having success as a leading man in films and on the nightclub circuit.
He would win the 1975 Academy Award for the best supporting actor for <i>The Sunshine Boys</i>.
He recorded a few albums during his career, the first was "I Wish I Was
18 Again" in 1980 and the second was "As Time Goes By" in 1982. With
the first album the title, "I Wish I Was 18 Again" became a hit single.
With "As Time Goes By" he had recorded it and worked with Bobby Vinten.</p><p>
<span> </span>It
was July of 1992 when Burns announced his long-term commitment he had
scheduled for his hundredth birthday was an appearance at the London
Palladium. George Burns passed away in Beverly Hills, California on
March 9, 1996 at the age of one hundred.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Pat Rooney Jr. & Marion Bent</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ypaLrTMeZw/XLAXQHrJQ9I/AAAAAAAAAFs/ykInPGPymnE8YqKHaL_ZDJ0UnIiuR86ugCEwYBhgL/s1600/Pat%2BRooney%2BJr.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="957" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ypaLrTMeZw/XLAXQHrJQ9I/AAAAAAAAAFs/ykInPGPymnE8YqKHaL_ZDJ0UnIiuR86ugCEwYBhgL/s320/Pat%2BRooney%2BJr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pat Rooney & Pat Rooney Jr. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1107086/mediaviewer/rm1621762048">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Pat Rooney, Jr. was born in New York on July 4, 1880 into
vaudeville's great Irish family of entertainers. There was an old
vaudeville joke that said "Just because I'm a fool, don't think I'm
Irish"; this joke never seemed to apply to the Rooney family though.
Jr's father, Pat Rooney Sr., was the most famous member of the family in
the nineteenth century, though the entire family was talented. They all
took the Irish stereotype of low brow comedy up to an entirely new
level of artistry.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Though he had an Irish name Pat Rooney, Sr. was
born in Birmingham, England in 1844. He made songs like "The Old Dinner
Pail", "Katy is a Rogue", "Pretty Peggy" and "His Old High Hat" famous
during his lifetime. In 1892 Patrick James Rooney Sr. died of pneumonia.
His son and daughter, Pat and Mattie, were appearing together on the
vaudeville stage in a singing and dancing act called <i>Two Chips Off The Old Block</i> by this time.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Pat
Rooney, Jr. started professionally dancing at the age of ten, appearing
with his father (Pat Rooney Sr.) and mother (Josie Granger). Jr took
after his father by becoming a classic clog dancer who was best known
for his routine called "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" (written by Monty
C. Brice and Walter Donaldson). which he performed with his hands in
his pockets and hitching up his trousers with a grin on his face. He and
his sister, Mattie, advertised themselves as "The Premier Eccentric
Dancing Act of the Business- Bar None" in 1900. With his height at five
foot and three inches, and his pixie like looks he was often compared
with a leprechaun. He had a devilish smile and divine dancing; W.C.
Fields had said, "If you didn't hear the taps, you would think he was
floating".</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Marion Bent was born the daughter of cornet soloist
Arthur Bent on December 23, 1879 in New York. Bent and Jr had met when
they were both children; when they first appeared on stage together
professionally in <i>Mother Goose</i>, "a musical extravaganza"
written by J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. It stared Joseph Cawthorn
when it opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 2, 1903. It
wasn't long after this production that Pat and Marion married and became
vaudeville's best-loved couple.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>While Pat Rooney Sr held the
family fame during the nineteenth century; it was Pat Rooney Jr and
Marion Bent who delighted audiences in the twentieth century for fifty
plus years. When they appeared on stage they would throw in some comedy
while they danced and sang. In their sketch "Dances of the Hour", at the
Palace Theatre in May 1925, they were accompanied by a chorus of seven
dancing groups; this would occasionally be an occurrence of their acts.
Though it was received by Variety almost always the same way as they had
noted about "Dances of the Hour" on May 13, 1925 when they said that it
was "crammed with superlative action." Bent and Rooney Jr had
their son Pat Rooney III in 1909. When they performed together as a
couple they would carry their son out on stage with them and he would
carry on the Rooney family tradition.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Rooney Jr spent the time
between 1915 and 1948 appearing in films and writing songs. He is the
song writer responsible for the songs "I Got A Gal For Every Day In The
Week" and "You Be My Ootsie, I'll Be Your Tootsie". Bent officially
retired in 1932 due to advancing arthritis, but did come out for a
special program at the Capitol Theatre on her wedding anniversary, April
10, 1935, to appear with Rooney. After she retired the couple's son,
Pat Rooney III, replaced his mother and performed with his father in a
double act. They would perform a precision dance while dancing with two
men back to back. It had been very extraordinary and it has yet to be
successfully copied. Rooney III performed as a single act after World
War II.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>His father filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition in
February 1941. He didn't retire until 1950, and he was seen in many TV
shows early on, and he was part of the original production of <i>Guys and Dolls</i>.
Bend and Jr didn't have a happy marriage towards the end and the year
before she died they officially separated. She passed away in New York
on July 28, 1940. The father and son duo did reunite in 1956 in an
appearance at the Palace. After which Jr returned to retirement until
his death. He died in New York on September 9, 1962 at the age of
eighty-two. His son continued his solo act until he too retired; after
which he owned and ran a rather popular hot dog stand in Lake Blaisdell,
New Hampshire until his death on November 5, 1979.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Bud Abbott & Lou Costello</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Bud Abbott was born William Alexander Abbot on October 2, 1895 into a
circus family in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Before Abbot and Costello
met, Abbot managed burlesque houses. He also worked as the treasurer,
the box-office manager,for other burlesque houses. During his time back
stage he would study some of the top American comics, like W.C. Fields,
Bert Lahr and the comic duo Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough. He met and
married Betty Smith, a chorus girl, in 1918. She helped him produce his
show <i>Broadway Flashes</i> and Bud started to work as a comic straight man.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Lou
Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo on March 6, 1906 in Paterson,
New Jersey. When he was a young man he had admired Charlie Chaplin. He
tried to start his show business career by joining the film industry in
1927 as an extra on set and stuntman. While he was doubling for leading
lady Dolores Del Rio in 1928 there was an accident that left Costello
injured. After this accident he quit his stuntman work and became a
"Dutch" comedian in New York on the burlesque scene. Before this he had
never worked on stage before, but he quickly rose to the top of the list
of burlesque comics.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>The two of them knew each other before they
worked together; they possibly met as early as 1929. Occasionally
through the 1930s they would work together. Through this time Abbott was
working with Harry Evanson as a straight man and Costello was a
straight man to Joe Lyons. In January of 1936 Abbott and Costello
officially became a duo when the Minsky Brothers hired them to work in
New York and Brooklyn burlesque theatres.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c0XA7DLDjyM/WLEAgCZxbyI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/_pbzJqUmU8Alh0t3ydBWIxBcerYNJIIWgCLcB/s1600/479px-Abbott_and_Costello_1950s.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abbott_and_Costello_1950s.JPG" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c0XA7DLDjyM/WLEAgCZxbyI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/_pbzJqUmU8Alh0t3ydBWIxBcerYNJIIWgCLcB/s320/479px-Abbott_and_Costello_1950s.JPG" title="Abbott and Costello" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abbot & Costello <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abbott_and_Costello_1950s.JPG">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>As a duo they
specialized in rapid fire patter and knock about slapstick comedy; and
through this they became regarded as the archetypal team of burlesque
comedy. Through their twenty years as a team; regardless of if they were
on stage, in films, on the radio, or on television; their dynamics were
the same. Abbott would portray the bully and schemer, while Costello
would portray the hapless childlike patsy with catchphrases like "I'm a
ba-a-a-a-d boy!" While their act was antiquated they were still able to
entertain a generation of movie goers, and they became such a big part
of American pop culture that they continue to amuse people into the
present. Abbott and Costello are one of the few comedy groups credited
with preserving, on film, many of American vaudeville's classic routines
along with burlesque traditions.</p><p>
<span> </span>During the summer seasons of
1936 and 1937 they worked at Atlantic City's Steel Pier. Late in 1937
the duo became part of a touring vaudeville show called <i>Hollywood Bandwagon</i>.
Then in February of 1938 they appeared at Loew's State, New York; while
at this appearance they met Ted Collins, Kate Smith's manager. After
their radio debut on <i>The Kate Smith Hour </i>on February 3, 1938
Abbott and Costello obtained a national following. On March 24, 1938
they performed "Who's on First" on radio for the first time, though the
skit had been part of their routine since roughly 1936. They continued
to work with Kate on her radio show through the summer of 1940. Due to
their work on the radio, they were chosen to star in the Broadway revue,
<i>Streets of Paris</i>; which opened on June 19, 1939 at the
Broadhurst Theatre. Between 1942 and 1949 they had their own radio show
that originally aired on NBC and later transferred to ABC.</p><p>
<span> </span>Their film debut came in the form of their supporting roles in the Universal Studios <i>One Night in the Tropics</i>,
which was released in November of 1940. This was the first of
thirty-six films that the duo made together, and only three of them were
not produced by Universal Studios. The following year they stared in a
film that better fit their talents, it was an army comedy titled <i>Buck Privates</i>. With the large success of <i>Buck Privates</i> they starred in an off branch series that lasted until 1956. Some of their better known comedies were: <i>Hold That Ghost</i> (1941), <i>In the Navy</i> (1941), <i>Pardon My Sarong </i>(1942), <i>Lost in a Harem</i> (1944) and <i>The Naughty</i> Nineties (1945). The film that is generally seen as their best film is <i>Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein</i> (1948); in this film they battle with famous Universal characters like Frankenstein's monster, Dracula and the Wolfman. The final film that they were in together, before they separated was <i>Dance With Me, Henry</i> in 1956. Costello appeared in <i>The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock</i> (1959) alone. Universal later, in 1965, produced a film titled <i>The World of Abbott and Costello</i>.</p><p>
<span> </span>Their initial TV debut was on July 19, 1939 in the program called <i>So This is New York</i>
which ran for fifteen minutes per episode. When their box office
numbers started to slide their television popularity became renewed in
the early 1950s. <i>Between</i> 1950 and 1955 they frequently appeared on <i>The Colgate Comedy Hour</i>. They were also the stars of their own show <i>The Abbott and Costello Show </i>(1952-54). After
an appearance in December 1956 at the Sahara in Las Vega the team
officially split up. Part of their break up came from the temporary lack
of interest in their particular style of comedy. Later there was a
renewed interest in burlesque-style entertainment that has resulted in
the revival of interest in Abbott and Costello in the younger
generations.</p><p>
<span> </span>After the split Costello reprises some of their old routines for <i>The Steve Allen Show</i>.
He continued his career as a comedian until his death. He passed away
in East Los Angeles, California on March 3, 1959; three days before his
fifty-third birthday. After the split Abbott refused to continue
performing due to problems with the Internal Revenue Service. He made
two appearances in the 1960s. One of these appearances was a dramatic
role for television's <i>GE Theatre</i> in 1961. The other appearance
came from a 1967 Hanna-Barber cartoon about Abbott and Costello; he
provided his own character's voice. He did have a few personal
appearances in the early 1960s while he worked with Candy Candido. He
passed away in Woodland Hills, California on April 24, 1974 at the age
of seventy-eight years old.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
George & Bert Bernard</h2><h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuCf0J4e578/YB9JIFuCOmI/AAAAAAAAAPw/54QEj7xYUcw6pfXRbroaxxvHpn6RaPUfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Florence-Marly-George-Bert-Bernard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuCf0J4e578/YB9JIFuCOmI/AAAAAAAAAPw/54QEj7xYUcw6pfXRbroaxxvHpn6RaPUfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Florence-Marly-George-Bert-Bernard.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gcaptain.com/maritime-monday-sept-nine-twentythirteen-movies-sailors-two/">George & Bert Bernard Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></h3><p>
<span> </span>Bert Bernard was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 29, 1918; and
his birth name was actually Herbert James Maxwell. He found fame on his
own as a young dancer, who also played in the American vaudeville
circuits and musical comedies before he became one of the Bernard
brothers.</p><p>
<span> </span>George Bernard was the dominant partner between the two,
and before they paired up in 1932 his name had actually been Bernard
George. They were billed as the Bernard Brothers, even though they were
not brothers nor was their last name actually Bernard. It was 1935 when
George had reversed his name in their singing and dancing act.</p><p>
<span> </span>Their
original act was just a dancing act with a ballet motif. At that time
they were billed as the Bernard Dancers, performing more burlesque
ballet routines. They performed all over North and South America and had
several seasons overseas in Europe. Then in 1938 they topped the bill
in Paris at the Folies Bergeres; they also made their London cabaret
debut at Dorchester Hotel the same year. <span></span>During World War II the
duo temporarily split up while Bert served in the U.S. Air Forces. He
served in combat duty in many of the theaters of war, and for his
service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. While Bert was in
the service, George continued as a solo act and for several years he
entertained both American and Allied troops.</p><p>
<span> </span>After the war they
revived their act, and for a while they performed in England and France.
While they were at a party in Chicago they started miming to gramophone
records as a joke. Though later it would become a staple part of their
act. It was a comedy mime act and with them parodying the Andrew Sisters
and other female vocal groups of the era, they became an instant
success.</p><p>
<span> </span>With this new act they added a third, completely unseen,
member to the act. The third member was George Pierce, and he controlled
and operated the records backstage. In 1946 for ten months they
appeared at the Lido in Paris, then in 1947 at the London Casino
(currently the Prince Edward Theatre) they topped the bill. In Val
Parnell's first Palladium pantomime <i>Cinderella</i>, in 1948; they
topped this bill as well. Due to their popularity they returned
sporadically throughout the early fifties to the theatre. They had
similar popularity in Paris in cabaret; they had come to regard the Lido
as their second home. They were one of the most popular comedy acts
during the late forties and early fifties in British variety theatres.</p><p>
<span> </span>Just
as quickly as their miming act started it came to a sudden stop, when
the record companies refused the duo permission to use their records.
Despite this they continued to work as comedic dancers. While they were
in the U.S. they were often seen performing at nightclubs in mainly
three cities: those being Las Vegas, New York and Miami. They worked
together until George's death on October 22, 1967, either at the age of
fifty-five or fifty-six, in Vancouver, Canada after their final show of
the night was finished titled <i>Vive Les Girls</i> at the Cave
Theatre Restaurant. After George Bernard died, Bert continued the act
with a new partner Les Bernard who was of no relation to George. Bert
continued to work for majority of his time until his death on February
23, 2003 at the age of eighty-five.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
The Duncan Sisters</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nQYr_lS2jSs/WLEBcby3-OI/AAAAAAAAAMg/Qy6IIZ0Cd8QAtHJls3F8i2WkbllTRg9KwCLcB/s1600/406px-Duncan_sisters_02.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duncan_sisters_02.JPG" border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nQYr_lS2jSs/WLEBcby3-OI/AAAAAAAAAMg/Qy6IIZ0Cd8QAtHJls3F8i2WkbllTRg9KwCLcB/s320/406px-Duncan_sisters_02.JPG" title="Rossetta & Vivian Duncan" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosetta & Vivian <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duncan_sisters_02.JPG">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Rosetta Duncan, born November 23, 1894, and her sister Vivian Duncan,
born June 17,1897, became one of the greatest sister acts to be seen on
the vaudeville stage. The sisters were known and well loved for their
wholesomeness, despite the rumors of Rosetta being an alcoholic lesbian
and Vivian being married to a closeted gay man who had wanted to have
her involved in three-ways.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Before they reached the height of
their popularity they were more or less a conventional sister act. They
started in 1916 with a yodeling act when Gus Edwards discovered them;
one of their hit songs was a classic titled "Side by Side". The dynamics
of the sister's act had Rosetta as the comedian and Vivian as the
soubrette. They played in an act titled "'S that alright" at the Palace
in 1922.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Even with the popularity of all of their acts, the Duncan Sisters were best known for their <i>Topsy and Eva </i>act;
adapted from Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle
Tom's Cabin. They continued to use this act even after it was considered
impolite to appear in black face makeup. The first full production of <i>Topsy and Eva</i> was mounted in 1923 at the Alcatraz Theatre in San Francisco. They performed <i>Topsy and Eva </i>in
England, France, Germany and South America; they even performed the
roles in the language of the country that they were in at the time. In
1927 the sisters filmed <i>Topsy and Eva</i> as a silent film; but it was not successful due to the need to hear them to fully take in their talents.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>It
has been said that the film was an ill-conceived mess from the start.
The director that started the film, Del Lord, often clashed with Rosetta
which led to him leaving the project. It was over budget and behind
schedule from the beginning as well. Lois Weber was offered an
opportunity to direct the film but due to the racial content he refused
the position. Eventually D.W. Griffith was brought in to finish the
project; he finished and edited the material. The intake for the film
was $353,000; it just barely covered the costs to make it, which was
$340,000.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Aside from <i>Topsy and Eva</i> they appeared in two other films. They had a cameo in <i>Two Flaming Youths</i> in 1927.Then in the 1929 film <i>It's a Great Life</i>,
they introduced the song "I'm Following You" and a risqué version of
"Tell Me Pretty Maiden". They even worked for the legendary producer
Florenz Ziegfeld in his 1928 rendition of <i>Midnight Frolies</i>. Also in the late 1920s they returned to the vaudeville stage singing songs from <i>Topsy and Eva</i> as well as singing songs like "Sitting on the Curbstone Blues" while wearing children's clothing.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>During the summer of 1932, the sisters announced that they were planning to do series that they wanted to call <i>Adventures of Topsy and Eva;</i>
although it never went beyond the proposal stage. Even without the
series they continued to perform as Topsy and Eva long into the 1950s.
They had stated that they were going into retirement in 1942, it didn't
last for long. After their return they performed mostly at nightclubs.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Then
while driving home after an engagement at Mangam's Chateau on the
outskirts of Chicago on December 11, 1959 Rosetta's car struck a bridge;
she would die a few days later at the age of sixty-five. After her
sister's death Vivian started a solo career. Her Los Angeles debut was
in December of 1960 at Billy Gray's Bandbox. She joined comedienne Alice
Tyrrell to sing Topsy's lament "I Never Had a Mammy" from <i>Topsy and Eva</i>.
Vivian would spend the last twenty years of her life in retirement. On
September 19, 1986 "Eva followed Topsy up to heaven" at the age of
eighty-nine. "In an era when stage stars were among the biggest names in
show business, the Duncan Sisters ranked right up there with Eddie
Cantor, Burns and Allen, Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Jack Benny, W.C.
Fields, Marie Dressler, Fanny Brice, Marilyn Miller, Ed Wynn, Frances
Williams and the Seven Little Foys."</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p><br /></p></div><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>So on vaudeville it didn't matter your race, ethnicity, gender, solo or
group, siblings or couples everyone had a chance to perform. Not
everyone made it famous or stayed famous, but some of these fore runners
made a lasting impact on the business known as show business making the
entertainment industry that we know and love today. Thanks to these and
other past performers we have the wide variety of performances that
make up some of modern entertainment.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Sources</h2>
<div class="txtd" id="txtd_39344738">
Slide, A. (2012). The encyclopedia of vaudeville. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.<br />
<br />
Trav, S. D. (2010, July 04). Stars of vaudeville<br />
<br />
Trav, S. D. (2009, December 17). Stars of vaudeville<br />
<br />
Newley, P. (2004, May 10). Bert bernard. <i>The Stage</i>. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2004/bert-bernard/">https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2004/bert-bernard/</a><br />
<br />
<i>The duncan sisters</i>. (2015). Retrieved from <a href="http://www.midnightpalace.com/articles/the-duncan-sisters">http://www.midnightpalace.com/articles/the-duncan-sisters</a><br />
<br />
Abbott and costello: American comedic duo. In (2013). <i>The Encyclopedia Britanica</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Abbott-and-Costello">http://www.britannica.com/biography/Abbott-and-Costello</a><br />
<br />
Watson, S. The dolly sisters [Web log message]. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2dolly1.htm">http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2dolly1.htm</a><br />
<br />
De Lacey, M. (2012, October 31). Way before x factor: The identical
twin sisters with little talent who danced their way to fame in the
1920s and ruined the besotted harry selfridge. <i>Daily Mail</i>.
Retrieved from
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2225685/Dolly-Sisters-Jenny-Rosie-1920s-cabaret-darlings-Broadway-ruined-Harry-Selfridge.html">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2225685/Dolly-Sisters-Jenny-Rosie-1920s-cabaret-darlings-Broadway-ruined-Harry-Selfridge.html</a></div>Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0Harlan, IN, USA41.195998300000007 -84.91968179999999212.885764463821161 -120.07593179999999 69.506232136178852 -49.763431799999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-65439566214507298592021-02-06T20:27:00.001-05:002021-02-06T20:27:52.752-05:006 Women of Vaudevile<p><span> </span>Madonna, Angelina Joelie and Jennifer Tilly are all female entertainers
that many people are familiar with but what about some of the female
entertainers that came before them in the long past and often forgotten
decades before them or even before actresses like Bette Davis or Audrey
Hepburn. In vaudeville there were so many entertainers and some of the
film stars that are known got their starts in vaudeville due to
vaudeville including many different kinds of acts. To do justice to all
of the stars of vaudeville would take many days, so here are a few of
the female performers from vaudeville both well-known and not so
well-known.<br />
</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">
Eva Tanguay</h2><h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7P5sc9AOUc/WLDzv4EQTyI/AAAAAAAAALI/ahY88exAqKI7PvQoM1hN97hacOyvwku7QCLcB/s1600/eva-tanguaychair.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/eva-tanguaychair.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7P5sc9AOUc/WLDzv4EQTyI/AAAAAAAAALI/ahY88exAqKI7PvQoM1hN97hacOyvwku7QCLcB/s320/eva-tanguaychair.jpg" title="Eva Tanguay" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/eva-tanguaychair.jpg">Eva Tanguay Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h3><p>
<span> </span>"She wasn't the prettiest or the skinniest and quite intentionally
her costumes were outrageous, but for over twenty years she was the
favorite of both critics and audiences" (Slide, 2012). For her
generation she was American vaudeville; she was the greatest female star
for majority of vaudeville's existence (Slide, 2012).</p><p>
<span> </span>Eva Tanguay
was born August 1, 1878 in Marbleton, Canada (Slide, 2012). Her father
was a Parisian doctor who was out for adventure on the Canadian
frontier; but when he died in her early childhood it left the family
destitute (Trav, 2009). Her parents had immigrated to Holyoke,
Massachusetts when she was young; there at the age of ten she sang in
the church choir and appeared in amateur nights at Parson's Hall (Slide,
2012). With the Rose Stahl Repertoire Company she played child parts
for five years; she toured with the company as Cedric Errol in <i>Little Lord Fauntleroy</i> (Slide, 2012).</p><p>
<span> </span>She
performed very suggestive songs in a very inimitable way and delivered
it in so blatant a manner that proved the point of her most famous song
"I Don't Care"; and she actually didn't care what people thought of her
no matter who they were (Slide, 2012). She was as much a tempest
offstage as she was on stage (Slide, 2012). During an interview with <i>Variety</i>
in 1908 Tanguay admitted that she knew that her crazy behavior is what
her success in part relied on, and because she acted in an insane manner
that audiences kept flocking back to see what she would do next (Slide,
2012). She seemed to be eternally young during her performances and
those who had grown up watching her were able to forget the passing
years; just by watching her changeless, ageless frantic gyrations
(Slide, 2012). Though she acted crazy and seemed ageless, Tanguay
understood the value of self-promotion (Miller, 2006). From many of her
antics she often was billed as "The Genius of Mirth and Song" and "The
Evangelist of Joy" (Miller, 2006).</p><p>
<span> </span>By 1910 Tanguay was the highest
salaried star in vaudeville beating out Ethel Barrymore by five hundred
dollars; she was asking for and getting three thousand five hundred
dollars a week (Slide, 2012). She was demanding a weekly salary of ten
thousand dollars and a guarantee of three years work before she would
star in any films in 1916, no production company took her up on it so
she opened her own production company and starred in two films; <i>Energetic Eva </i>in 1916 and <i>The Wild Girl </i>in
1917 (Slide, 2012). Most of her songs like "I Want Somebody to Go Wild
with Me" in 1913 or "Go as Far as You Like" also in 1913 never achieved
any lasting fame like "I Don't Care" did (Slide, 2012). She began to
bill herself as "The Girl Who Made Vaudeville Famous" (Trav, 2009).</p>
<p>
<span> </span>She
left vaudeville for three years but she came back May 1930 opening with
"Back Doing Business at the Same Old Stand" followed by "Mae West,
Texas, and Me"; a comedy number about how the mob had declared that she,
West and Texas were "The Unholy Three" (Slide, 2012). Prior to this
come back Tanguay had lost her fortune in the 1929 stock market crash
and suffered from medical problems (Miller, 2006). In the early 1930s
her vision had been dramatically affected by cataracts; with an
operation paid for by her admirer Sophie Tucker, Tanguay's sight was
restored (Miller, 2006). She was destitute and dependent on charity from
the National Vaudeville Association and former colleagues by 1933
(Slide, 2012). She dropped out of public view and became reclusive in
her Hollywood home when vaudeville died (Slide, 2012). She became
further reclusive in 1937 when arthritis slowed her down (Miller, 2006).
On her sixty-eighth birthday she gave an interview with the Los Angeles
Times telling the reporter of her hopes of a film based on her life;
this didn't come to pass during her lifetime, the film <i>The I Don't Care Girl</i>
wasn't released until 1952 after her death (Slide, 2012). Her once vast
fortune had dwindled down to five hundred dollars by the time of her
death in Hollywood on January 11, 1947 (Miller, 2006).</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Kitty Doner</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>"Her vigorous, virile dancing was augmented by Character patter, thus
cementing her credentials in the small historic pantheon of important
drag kings" (Trav, 2011). Kitty Doner was one of the best known American
male impersonators and was considered the only one on par with Vesta
Tilley and Ella Shields, who were the best known performers of the art
(Slide, 2012).</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XPFzVmjrXGU/WLD0RO9TV_I/AAAAAAAAALM/bOD7ojA_QpANb0hBUGc0bKAdUjPDT2j0QCLcB/s1600/16kittydoner1923.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://travsd.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/stars-of-vaudeville-352-kitty-doner/" border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XPFzVmjrXGU/WLD0RO9TV_I/AAAAAAAAALM/bOD7ojA_QpANb0hBUGc0bKAdUjPDT2j0QCLcB/s320/16kittydoner1923.jpg" title="Kitty Doner" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://travsd.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/stars-of-vaudeville-352-kitty-doner/">Kitty Doner Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>She was born in Chicago in 1895 to Joe Doner of
Manchester, England and Nellie of London, England both were performers
in their own right; before they married Nellie was a popular principle
boy in British pantomime (Slide, 2012). After Nellie and Joe married
they joined their pantomime acts together to create the act "The Escaped
Lunatics" (Slide, 2012). From this background Kitty was a second
generation vaudevillian that appeared to perfectly splice her parents'
talents (Trav, 2011). When it was time for her to join her parents on
the stage her dad dressed her as a boy and said "She might as well get
started dressed as a boy because she's not pretty enough to compete with
the beautiful girls in show business"; when she reflected on this while
explaining some of the reasons on why she became a male impersonator
(Slide, 2012). During that reflection she had said that because she was
the first born she felt that her father was disappointed that she wasn't
a boy and that she became sort of gawky as she grew up and with all of
this compounding to help push her in the direction of impersonation
(Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>She never did impersonations of well-known men, so
her impersonations were unique unto themselves just as much as her
female impressions were (Slide, 2012). She gained the title of "The Best
Dressed Man on the American Stage" from her vaudeville act "A League of
Song Steps"; and in 1922 she had an engagement in England, the home of
male impersonation, where she topped the bill at London's Victoria
Palace (Slide, 2012). Her brother and sister, Ted and Rose, were also in
show business and they would often perform with her in vaudeville
(Slide, 2012). In her first show, "The Candy Shop", she appeared in both
male and female attire; it opened in 1912 at the Gaiety Theatre in San
Francisco and as far as the West Coast was concerned she made her
reputation with that show (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>1914 is when her biggest break came, when she signed to play opposite of Al Jolson in <i>Dancing Around </i>, which at the Winter Garden Theater on October 10, 1914 (Slide, 2012). She and Jolson worked together at least twice more in <i>Robinson Crusoe Jr. </i>on February 17, 1916 and in <i>Sinbad</i>
on February 14, 1918; and while they were working together on these
productions they were also romantically involved with each other (Slide,
2012). Her weekly vaudeville salary through the 20s averaged about one
thousand dollars and when she toured with the William Fox circuit in
1927 she was paid one thousand five hundred dollars a week (Slide,
2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Aside from her half dozen Broadway appearances, she had
made it to the big time on vaudeville putting in many appearances at The
Palace (Trav, 2011). Besides her stage appearances she had one
on-screen appearance in 1928 in a Warner Brothers short <i>A Bit of Scotch</i> which she was paid one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars for (Slide, 2012). On November 26, 1924 a <i>Variety</i>
article had this to say about Kitty Doner: "If our cousins across the
pond think they have a patent on the raising of male impersonators, they
ought to get a load of this baby. In male clothes, she is as masculine
as a Notre Dame guard, and in female togs as feminine as bare legs. As a
dancer, she is in a class by herself" (Slide, 2012). She was a
performer that adapted to the times as they changed; on November 25,
1934 she admitted to the San Francisco Chronicle "There ain't any
vaudeville, but some people won't believe it" (Slide, 2012). Her act was
the first complete stage act to be televised over a radius of over 100
miles, when on August 1, 1931 she performed her act on top of New York's
Vanderbilt Hotel in front of a CBS television camera (Slide, 2012). She
retired from performing in the 1930s but she worked in other jobs, even
in her last decades she worked as a choreographer (Trav, 2011). During
the 1940s she was a show director for Holiday on Ice, then in 1950 and
1951 she was responsible for auditioning the talents for Ted Mack's
Amateur Hour (Slide, 2012). She died in Los Angeles on August 26, 1988;
she lived for roughly 93 years and she spent majority of that time
bringing entertainment to many audiences (Slide, 2012).</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Marie Dressler<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--lH6SwVdZaw/YB88i7t5sPI/AAAAAAAAAOc/RBxMHbyuWlQclOU6bAX9Z4XZukhEeIclACLcBGAsYHQ/s767/Marie_Dressler_-_WWOTS1906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--lH6SwVdZaw/YB88i7t5sPI/AAAAAAAAAOc/RBxMHbyuWlQclOU6bAX9Z4XZukhEeIclACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Marie_Dressler_-_WWOTS1906.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Marie_Dressler_-_WWOTS1906.jpg/512px-Marie_Dressler_-_WWOTS1906.jpg">Marie Dressler Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>There are very few comediennes that are as fondly remembered or well
known as Marie Dressler from vaudeville and the golden age of the motion
pictures (Slide, 2012). There was a time that she was the highest paid
star in the movie industry; earning more than Greta Garbo or even Mickey
Mouse (Garrick, 1997).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Marie Dressler was born as Leila Koerber
in Cobourg, Ontario on November 9, 1869 to Alexander Rudolph Koerber and
Annie Henderson of Port Hope (Garrick, 1997). Her father was Austrian
born, and he was an excellent musician who had taught music by his own
method at Princeton University (Garrick, 1997). He had one problem
though, his temper often got in the way of the family having a permanent
home so they were always on the move (Garrick, 1997). Her mother would
often put on short dramas for the community; during one of these dramas
she dressed five year old Leila up as a cherub, placed her on a pedestal
and told her not to move (Garrick, 1997). The young girl did as she was
told but a curtain came loose and swept her off of the pedestal into
the lap Lindsay's greatest "ladies man" causing the audience to laugh;
this instant influenced the young girl to play the clown in her early
years (Garrick, 1997).</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>At the age of 14 she wrote to the Nevada
Traveling Stock Company requesting a job; she told them that she was 18
and an accomplished actress, without an audition she was hired (Garrick,
1997). In her later years she would look back on the company and call
it "A cheap dramatic company of eleven but a wonderful school" (Garrick,
1997). To save her family from embarrassment she changed her name to
Marie Dressler, after an aunt (Garrick, 1997). Unfortunately this job
didn't last very long, the company got stranded in Michigan without any
funds causing her to walk along the railroad ties going from Edmore to
Saginaw to rejoin her family (Garrick, 1997). After that she joined the
Robert Grau Opera Company as a chorus member where she earned eight
dollars a week (Garrick, 1997). When the leading lady, Agnes Halleck,
broke her ankle the company asked Dressler to take on the role of
Katisha in <i>The Mikado</i>; through her career she would play this role a total of sixty-seven times (Garrick, 1997).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Due
to her insistence of being paid regularly it led Grau to become annoyed
with her and she sent her to Philadelphia claiming that a job would be
waiting for her there; there was no job waiting for her (Garrick, 1997).
Even though she had been tricked out of her job she didn't let that get
her down and she simply checked the paper and found that the Starr
Opera Company was in town (Garrick, 1997). She begged them for a job,
but with the help of two actresses that had known her on the road and
the manager, Mr. Deshon, who was outraged at the way she had been
treated she got an audition and a job with the company (Garrick, 1997).
After this she started moving from stock company to stock company until
she arrived in New York, where she started out singing at the Atlantic
Garden on the Bowery and Koster and Bial's Twenty-third Street Theatre
(Slide, 2012). Broadway at this time consisted of musical comedy,
serious drama, vaudeville, and burlesque; giving performers the choice
of the form of entertainment that they wished to perform in (Garrick,
1997). On May 28, 1892 Dressler appeared in her first Broadway role,
unfortunately the show was very unsuccessful and closed early (Garrick,
1997).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Then on November 24, 1893 at the Casino Theatre Dressler opened with Lillian Russell in <i>Princess Nicotine</i>;
with its long successful run on Broadway the show went on tour of the
country thus making Dressler well known across America (Garrick, 1997).
Four years after Dressler first reached Broadway she had a real triumph
with her performance as Flo Honeydew in <i>The Lady Slavey</i>
(Garrick, 1997). It played for two years and then went on tour, but
Dressler got sick and she returned to New York; her manager, A.E.
Erlanger then accused her of shamming and got her blacklisted on the New
York stages (Garrick, 1997). This blacklisting caused her to take to
the road again, this time with the Rich and Harris Touring Company where
she played Dottie Dimple in <i>Courted Into Court</i>, sang African-American songs, danced the "cakewalk" and continued to work with facial expressions (Garrick, 1997).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>When
she did return to New York she continued to work in musical comedy and
vaudeville (Garrick, 1997). At the turn of the century she had become a
favorite in vaudeville and burlesque with her impersonations and "coon"
songs (Slide, 2012). Later parts of her costumes would become her
trademark; she designed and made all of her costumes herself so that she
could use the latest fashion fads to make outrageous dresses (Garrick,
1997). Being daring and adventurous Dressler decided to play the Palace
Theatre in London, she did this particular show for thirty weeks and had
an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience (Garrick, 1997).
From the previous positive responses she then planned and tried two more
shows in London but they failed and she fell into debt (Garrick, 1997).
To work off this debt she had to work the vaudeville circuits for two
years to become financially solvent (Garrick, 1997). In January of 1907
she offered impersonations of Mrs. Leslie Carter and Blanche Bates from
the legitimate stage and she sang her almost theme song "A Great Big
Girl Like Me" (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>On May 5, 1910 Dressler introduced her character Tillie Blobbs in <i>Tillie's Nightmare, </i>"A
melange of mirth and melody", at New York's Herald Square Theatre;
during this performance she sang the song "Heaven Will Protect the
Working Girl" (Slide, 2012). Due to the success of this production she
was invited by Mack Sennett to star in the 1914 feature-length film <i>Tillie's Punctured Romance</i>;
the film didn't help Dressler's career but it did help her co-stars
Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand (Slide, 2012). She later stared in the
following sequels <i>Tillie's Tomato Surprise </i>in 1915 and <i>Tillie Wakes Up</i>
in 1917 (Slide, 2012). Throughout the first World War Dressler worked
incessantly selling Liberty Bonds, but once the war was over so was her
Broadway career (Garrick, 1997). During all of this she was still fairly
active in musical comedies and in vaudeville, she also took part in the
Actor's Equity Strike of 1919 as the head of the chorus girls division
(Slide, 2012). In April of 1919 she received a rather small salary, one
thousand five hundred dollars, when she headlined at the Palace (Slide,
2012). This appearance was almost the swan song of her career as it
started to fall apart in the 1920s with her stage engagements far and
few in between, but she did return to the Palace October 1925 and
appeared on the "old-timers" bill (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>She was
considering leaving the United States permanently in 1927 to move to
Paris and open a small hotel, this was something that she had been
thinking about since 1901 (Slide, 2012). Then she landed a supporting
role in <i>The Joy Girl</i> in 1927 and it lead to other silent film
roles, and it was thanks to MGM screenwriter Frances Marion in large
part (Slide, 2012). Dressler proved her worth as an actress when she
played opposite of Greta Garbo in the 1930 film <i>Anna Christie</i>,
also in the 1930s she played opposite of Polly Moran in a series of
comedy shorts and featured films (Slide, 2012). She stared in <i>Dinner at Eight </i> in 1933, and it is still considered a classic like her films <i>Christopher Bean </i>and <i>Tugboat Annie</i> (Slide, 2012). When she took on the role of Min in <i>Min and Bill</i>,
she finally reached stardom where she portrayed a housekeeper who
sacrifices all of her savings to send the girl she is raising to a
private school in hopes of giving the girl a better life (Slide, 2012).
This role represented all of the parents of The Great Depression who
were sacrificing so that their sons and daughters could have a better
tomorrow (Garrick, 1997). For her work opposite Wallace Beery in <i>Min and Bill</i>,
Dressler received the Academy Award for Best Actress (Slide, 2012).
During her final years she had once more become one of America's
favorite entertainers and one of the biggest box office attractions in
the early 1930s (Slide, 2012). Even though she died on July 28, 1934 her
image lives on in her many films (Garrick, 1997). In a radio tribute to
her shortly after her death Will Rogers described her very accurately
as "a marvelous personality and a great heart" (Slide, 2012).</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Louise Dresser</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Louise Dresser was "A statuesque blond beauty who was once nominated
as the natural successor to Lilian Russell"; she was a renowned singer
and actress, and a star in both vaudeville and in musical comedies
(Slide, 2012). She was born Louise Josephine Kerlin in Evansville,
Indiana on October 5, 1878; after the death of her railroad engineer
father she joined a burlesque show at the age of fifteen (Slide, 2012).
The composer Paul Dresser had known her father and at the age of
eighteen they met one another (Slide, 2012). Dresser took Louise under
his wing and made her his protégé; he had even suggested that she adopt
his last name and pretend to be his sister, this led people to believe
that she was also the sister of Dresser's brother Theodore Dreiser
(Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>For the first time in Chicago Louise Kerlin became
Louise Dresser after her first performance from singing two of Dresser's
better known songs "On the Banks of the Wabash" and "My Gal Sal"
(Slide, 2012). At the turn of the century she appeared on the vaudeville
stage as a singer backed by a group of African-American children; they
were billed as Louise Dresser and Her Picks, which was short for
pickaninnies (Slide, 2012). Even though her vaudeville engagements with
this group was a small part of her career it was a significant part of
the relations between Jewish performers and the stage (Kilber, 2009).
Usually with acts like this the performers would use some form of a
racial masquerade, like racial dialects or makeup; and these masquerades
were particularly popular amongst the Jewish community so that they
could establish their own American identity (Kilber, 2009).</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OWBH0aGWlno/YB8_fMQAoSI/AAAAAAAAAPM/jSxyGi_5fGw_uT7y3vmV_of5K5iwSA8cACLcBGAsYHQ/s644/Louise_Dresser%252C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%2528SAYRE_23908%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OWBH0aGWlno/YB8_fMQAoSI/AAAAAAAAAPM/jSxyGi_5fGw_uT7y3vmV_of5K5iwSA8cACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Louise_Dresser%252C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%2528SAYRE_23908%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Louise_Dresser%2C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%28SAYRE_23908%29.jpg/512px-Louise_Dresser%2C_stage_and_vaudeville_actress_%28SAYRE_23908%29.jpg">Louise Dresser Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>Dresser's
first vaudeville appearance was in the spring of 1906 and the first
time that she played the Palace was in 1914; during that same year she
expanded her talents as a vaudeville performer by appearing in the
playlet <i>A Turn of the Knob</i> (Slide, 2012). At the height of her
vaudeville career she was averaging one thousand seven hundred and fifty
dollars a week (Slide, 2012). During her career she had been married
twice; the first was to composer and vaudevillian Jack Norworth this
marriage ended in divorce in 1908, the second was to actor Jack Gardner
whom had been the original star of the operetta <i>The Chocolate Soldier</i> and it ended in 1950 with his death (Slide, 2012).</p><p>
<span> </span>Aside
from her vaudeville career, she also had a career on the legitimate
stage and on-screen (Slide, 2012). Some of her well known roles on the
legitimate stage was: Mrs. Burton in <i>A Matinee Idol</i> in 1912, Ruth Snyder in <i>Potash and Perlmutter in </i>1913 and Patsy Pygmalion in <i>Hello Broadway!</i>
in 1914 (Slide, 2012). 1922 is when she started her screen career, she
gave many memorable performances a few of her roles on screen were as
Catherine the Great in <i>The Eagle</i> in 1925 and as Empress Elizabeth in <i>The Scarlet Empress</i>
in 1934 (Slide, 2012). Though she had many roles that were memorable
she is probably best remembered for the films where she was playing
opposite of Will Rodgers as his wife; like in <i>State Fair </i> in 1933 and <i>David Harum</i>
in 1934 (Kilber, 2009). These roles were so well liked by their fans
that to the fans they were actually husband and wife in their minds
(Kilber, 2009).</p><p>
<span> </span>In 1937 Dresser retired from her screen career,
but she had planed a comeback for after her husband's death (Slide,
2012). Unfortunately she failed to reappear after his death in 1950
(Slide, 2012). She died in Woodland Hills, California on April 24, 1965
from a complication with a surgery for an intestinal obstruction
(Kilber, 2009).</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
May Irwin</h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAmh4Vb-AIc/YB9AtuBXheI/AAAAAAAAAPY/h58ogIADqJwyg5GDC1PpdIzi6UuyNes_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s296/Irwin_postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="190" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAmh4Vb-AIc/YB9AtuBXheI/AAAAAAAAAPY/h58ogIADqJwyg5GDC1PpdIzi6UuyNes_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Irwin_postcard.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Irwin_postcard.jpg">May Irwin Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table></h2><p style="text-align: left;"> <span> </span>May Irwin was known as "The Dean of Comediennes" and was a legend on
both the legitimate stage and in vaudeville (Slide, 2012). She was born
Ada May Campbell in 1862 in Whitby, Ontario, Canada to Robert Campbell
and May Draper ("May Irwin, actor, " 1998). Her father's death made it
so that 13 year old Irwin had to support herself financially ("May
Irwin, actor," 1998). She had started singing in the church choir, her
sister Flo and she left home and started on the vaudeville stage
together at Daniel Shelby's Adelphi Variety Theatre in Buffalo (Slide,
2012). Throughout the Midwest the sisters performed as "coon shouters",
singing African American songs like "Don't You Hear dem Bells?" (Slide,
2012). During the sisters' travels and performances they were seen by
Tony Pastor in Detroit, after which he brought them to New York to
perform in the Metropolitan Theatre in 1877 (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>In 1883
Flo and May split up when May had been offered a job by Augustin Daly
to join his company (Slide, 2012). After joining Daly's stock company
she spent several seasons in Toole's Theatre in London ("May Irwin,
actor,", 1998). For the 1891-92 season Irwin returned to New York City
and she appeared in the farce-comedy <i>Boys and Girls</i> ("May Irwin, actor,", 1998). She performed in a burlesque version of Oscar Wilde's <i>Lady Windemere's Fan, </i>which had imported characters from <i>Hamlet</i> in 1893; during the same year she performed a dance number with wine dummies called <i>A Country Sport</i> ("May Irwin, actor,", 1998). She got her first staring role in <i>The Widow Jones </i>as
Beatrice Byke, where she stared opposite John Rice in 1895; the kissing
scene from this show was recorded by the Edison Company and became
known simply as The Kiss (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>November of 1907 Irwin
returned to vaudeville playing at New York's Orpheum Theatre (Slide,
2012). She topped the bill at the Palace in February of 1915, during
this performance she sang "Kentucky Home" and "Those were the Happy
Days" and she recited "Father's Old Red Beard" which had been written
for her by Irving Berlin (Slide, 2012). <i>Variety's </i>Sime
Sliverman gave this review: "As often as May Irwin may wish to return to
vaudeville just so often will vaudeville always welcome her with open
arms, for vaudeville audiences, regardless of what else may be said of
them, never fail to recognize an artist"; of her 1917 Palace appearance
(Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Irwin had managed her money very well and in her
later years she had become a millionaire ("May Irwin, actor,", 1998). In
1920 with her second husband and manager, Kurt Eisfeldt, she retired to
her farm in the Thousand Island area of New York (Slide, 2012). She and
Eisfeldt had two sons during their marriage ("May Irwin, actor,",
1998). She died in New York on October 10, 1938 at the age of 76 years
old (Slide, 2012).</p>
<br />
<h3>
Kathleen Clifford</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ILwScQyKMOQ/Wt7GPbMLewI/AAAAAAAAACw/YgSX3FZgogsOJvtINsq2KJPrGvuK7zYugCLcBGAs/s1600/Kathleen_Clifford_in_Who_is_Number_One_2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathleen_Clifford_in_Who_is_Number_One_2.jpg" border="0" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="723" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ILwScQyKMOQ/Wt7GPbMLewI/AAAAAAAAACw/YgSX3FZgogsOJvtINsq2KJPrGvuK7zYugCLcBGAs/s320/Kathleen_Clifford_in_Who_is_Number_One_2.jpg" title="Kathleen" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathleen_Clifford_in_Who_is_Number_One_2.jpg">Kathleen Clifford Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Kathleen Clifford was another one of vaudeville's male impersonators,
she was most often described as the American answer to Vesta Tilley
(Slide, 2012). Clifford would dress as a very dapper man sporting a
monocle to go with her hat and tails, causing her to be billed as "The
Smartest Chap in Town" (Slide, 2012).<span> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Kathleen Clifford was born
in Charlottesville, Virginia on February 16, 1887; British male
impersonators were held in very high regards in vaudeville so more often
than not she pretended to have been born in England (Slide, 2012). She
started her career in straight musical comedy when she was a teenager,
she performed and was featured in the 1907 musical extravaganza <i>The Top o' the' World</i> (Slide, 2012).</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>As early as 1910 Clifford was active in vaudeville, <i>Variety</i>'s
Sime Silverman had hailed her as "a dandy looking boy" but it was
complained that she didn't carry herself well or how she wore her
clothes including the hat (Slide, 2012). She appeared in in films from
1917 through 1928, she didn't always appear in male parts or in parts
that required her to be in male disguise (Slide, 2012). Throughout the
early 1930s she worked on vaudeville; but in the late 1920s she had been
pursing a new occupation as a Hollywood florist (Slide, 2012). She
wrote a novel about her years in Hollywood titled <span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">It's April...Remember</span>
(Slide, 2012). She died in Los Angeles on January 11, 1963; her body
was sent to Belgrade, Yugoslavia the former home of her husband and was
buried there (Slide, 2012).</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br />
<span> </span>The stories of these women echo things that have been shown throughout
all of history and what we learn almost every day of our lives. One day
you can be on top of everything and then when things change around you
and you don't adapt you are going to slide down the hill, causing you to
have to climb back up the hill. Some times you will be able to make the
come back you desire but other times you won't make it back to the top,
it all varies on the things going on around you and your own
determination. Through the ups and downs of life these women and others
never gave up and kept getting back up to try again.Their stories can
inspire the courage that one could need to decide to try to keep trying
to accomplish their goals and dreams. </p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Sources </h2>
<div class="txtd" id="txtd_38342040">
Slide, A. (2012). <i>The encyclopedia of vaudeville</i>. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.<br />
<br />
<i>May irwin, actor, comedienne and singer (1862-1938)</i>. (1998, July 07). Retrieved from <a href="http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/028011-1013-e.html">http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/028011-1013-e.html</a><br />
<br />
Miller, J. (2006, June). <i>Eva tanguay, vaudeville’s star</i>. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2006/06_june.asp">https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2006/06_june.asp</a><br />
<br />
Trav, S. D. (2009, August 01). Stars of vaudeville<br />
<br />
Trav, S. D. (2011, September 07). Stars of vaudeville<br />
<br />
Garrick, B. (1997). <i>The dressler story</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.mariedressler.ca/marie-bio">http://www.mariedressler.ca/marie-bio</a><br />
<br />
Kilber, M. A. (2009). Louise dresser. In <i>Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia</i>. Brookline : Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved from <a href="http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dresser-louise">http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dresser-louise</a></div><p> </p><br /><br /><br /><br />Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0Harlan, IN, USA41.195998300000007 -84.91968179999999212.885764463821161 -120.07593179999999 69.506232136178852 -49.763431799999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-92227958399515053002021-02-06T19:25:00.004-05:002021-02-06T19:25:54.265-05:006 Men of Vaudeville<p><span> </span>Without some of these men as the forerunners for different entertainment
styles would we even be enjoying the entertainment of today. Without
the ventriloquists that performed on vaudeville would we be laughing at
Jeff Dunham's antics with Peanut and the gang, probably not. These men
have helped shape not only American entertainment and culture but also
parts of the culture and entertainment around the world.<br />
</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">
Dave Apollon</h2><h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cYz0ZKX1mRI/WLDrtLo3WdI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/dre0ya1EeFoFdYtmJ0EEl803pcilYydFQCLcB/s1600/Dave%2BApollon.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://travsd.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/579961.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cYz0ZKX1mRI/WLDrtLo3WdI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/dre0ya1EeFoFdYtmJ0EEl803pcilYydFQCLcB/s320/Dave%2BApollon.jpg" title="Dave Apollon" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://travsd.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/579961.jpg">Dave Apollon Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h3><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Born February 23, 1897 in what was then Kiev, Russia, he would take
mandolin playing and turn it into an art form. He started his musical
life playing the violin, but when he came across an old bowl-backed
mandolin that his father had around the house he switched instruments.
Throughout Kiev he was playing the mandolin in different theaters by the
age of fourteen; his musical career was put on hold during the Russian
Revolution when he became a solider. He continued to play his mandolin
and dancing when he moved to the Philippines after the war.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>In
1921 he immigrated to the United States and became an immediate success
on the vaudeville circuit. The first recording of his material, a
combination of American ragtime rhythms and Russian folk music
accompanied by a troupe of Philippine string musicians, was released in
1932. He started playing his mandolin in a series of "soundies" based on
his vaudeville routines around this time as well. He and his orchestra
appeared on the last two-a-day program at the Palace on May 7, 1932;
they were also the last vaudeville performance at New York's State
Theatre on December 23, 1947.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He opened Club Casanova, a
nightclub, on Manhattan's Upper East Side and he married Danzi Goodell
in 1937. He appeared in the Universal film <i>Merry Go Round</i> and
started a routine with comedian Ed Wynn on Broadway. A series of his
performances accompanied by piano and guitar was recorded for the Decca
label, but he would self release his album <i>Lots of Love</i> in 1956. Prior to this albums release he moved to California, earlier that decade. <i>Lots of Love</i>
led him to a performance contract with the Desert Inn in Las Vegas;
this contract would last roughly eight years ending in 1963. His
exposure from this contract landed him a deal with the Coral label, with
whom he would release three more albums through the late 1950s and the
early 1960s. The last performances from his career were his Vegas
engagements; he passed away in his home on May 30, 1972.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Bill Robinson</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Bill Robinson is considered the greatest tap dancer in vaudeville, he
stepped with a relaxed demeanor that film audiences came to appreciate
and admire. His dancing style had a happiness that infected everyone
that was able to witness his dancing no matter their ethnicity.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZYpL2YCuMc/WLDsN5LbpUI/AAAAAAAAAKU/lBD1xacqA80gfR1Nf8Hj_k0rAmvb2LFfACLcB/s1600/robinson_b_pic2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/files/2012/09/robinson_b_pic2.jpg" border="0" height="247" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZYpL2YCuMc/WLDsN5LbpUI/AAAAAAAAAKU/lBD1xacqA80gfR1Nf8Hj_k0rAmvb2LFfACLcB/s320/robinson_b_pic2.jpg" title="Bill Robinson" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/files/2012/09/robinson_b_pic2.jpg">Bill Robinson Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>He
was born Luther Robinson on May 25, 1878 to Maria and Maxwell Robinson
in Richmond, Virginia. Unfortunately his parents died during his
childhood in 1885, leaving his grandmother to raise him. He did many odd
jobs to make a living, he reflected "I had to shell peas to make a
living". In Richmond he had received the nickname "Bojangles" from
"jangler" meaning contentious; though it is unclear how he obtained this
nickname. He also invented the phrase "Everything's Copacetic" meaning
tip-top. He held many more odd jobs after he ran away from home; he went
to Washington, D.C. taking menial tasks like selling newspapers and
shining shoes all the while dancing at night in clubs and beer halls for
pennies.</p><p>
<span> </span>Bill Robinson obtained his first professional job
performing as a member of the pickaninny chorus for Mayme Remington with
The South Before the War in 1892. He challenged Harry Swinton, the In
Old Kentucky star tap dancer, in 1900 when he got to New York and won
the challenge. He and George W. Cooper, an older African-American
vaudeville dancer, formed a partnership when Robinson was only
seventeen. They worked together from 1092 to 1914, they were bound to
vaudeville's "two-colored" rule that had restricted African Americans to
performing in pairs. Together they performed on the Keith and Orpheum
circuits, but unlike many other performers they did not use black-face
makeup. Marty Forkin, an agent, saw the two perform and from that
performance he signed them.</p><p>
<span> </span>Robinson was very professional; but
like many others, he had his own vices, he was a gambler with a short
temper and carried a gold plated revolver. After an assault charge in
1915, Cooper and Robinson broke up, Forkin convinced Robinson to go solo
and he remained Robinson's agent for the remainder of his life. Slowly
Robinson made the switch from black vaudeville to mainstream vaudeville,
and in July 1915 he appeared at Henderson's on Coney Island where he
danced, sang and imitated many musical instruments. Robinson became one
of the few African-American performers to headline at the Palace Theatre
in New York.</p><p>
<span> </span>1918 is when he introduced his stair dance; it was
distinguished by its showmanship and sound, each step produced a
different pitch and rhythm. Robinson became a regular at the Palace and
he had started to bill himself as "The Dark Cloud of Joy"; and in 1924
he was billed as "The Chocolate Nijinsky". He would appear in the second
spot on the bill, but Douglas Gilbert would later recall that
Robinson's position on the bill would often change because nobody wanted
to go on after him; so he would mostly close the show. He appeared at
the Palace in June 1926, April and September 1927, June 1929, February
and August 1930, and January and February 1931.</p><p>
<span> </span>Racial prejudices
was still an issue that Robinson had to face due to the color of his
skin. One instance that he was confronted with took place on August 21,
1922 at the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore. On this occasion he was
appearing in his usual number two spot; when a group of women hissed at
him, after they were asked to leave his performance was applauded
enthusiastically by the audience. He married Gannie Clay in 1922, and
she would become his business manager, secretary, and partner in the
efforts to fight the racial prejudices. He was one of the founding
members of the Negro Actors Guild of America.</p><p>
<span> </span>Also during the
1920s Robinson expanded his career; he was a success at London's Holborn
Empire in July of 1926. He also starred in <i>Blackbirds </i>of 1928 (where he introduced "Doin' the New Low-Down") and in the 1930 production of <i>Brown Buddies</i>. He turned to Hollywood films in the 1930s; which had been restricted to African Americans until then. His first film was <i>Dixiana </i>(1930) and it had a mostly white cast; whereas his later film <i>Harlem is Heaven</i> (1933) was the first all black film ever made.</p><p>
<span> </span>Some of the other films that he worked on were: <i>The Little Colonel</i>, <i>The Littlest Rebel</i> both in 1935, <i>Dimples </i>in 1936, and <i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i>
in 1938. In many of his better known films he had teamed up with
Shirley Temple. Robinson and Temple danced his famous stair dance in <i>The Little Colonel</i>. According to Eleanor Powell, Robinson had only taught Temple and herself his stair dance; Powell danced it in her film <i>Honolulu</i> (1939). He left films for a time to star in <i>The Hot Mikado</i>, which opened on March 23, 1939 at the Broadhurst Theatre.</p><p>
<span> </span>Even
as he advanced in age he remained active and never lost his vitality,
on his sixty-second birthday he danced up Broadway for fifty-two blocks.
Robinson was an extremely generous man, when it came to his own race,
he gave away millions of dollars to worthy causes and individuals. His
efforts in benefits are legendary with estimates of well over one
million dollars that he gave in loans and to charities. Marshall
Stearns, a critic, once wrote "To his own people, Robinson became a
modern John Henry, who instead of driving steel, laid down iron taps".
He gave so much to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia that they honored
him with a life-sized statue that the base describes him as "Dancer,
Actor, Humanitarian".</p><p>
<span> </span>He was a member of many clubs and civic
organizations, and an honorary member of police departments across the
US throughout his life. Mayor William O'Dwyer of New York City honored
him by proclaiming Bill Robinson Day on April 29,1946. Young tap dancers
at the Hoofers Club in Harlem were very influenced by Robinson. He died
in New York on November 25, 1949; forty-five thousand people stood in
line to file past his casket, and more than one-and-a-half million
people lined the funeral route from Times Square to Harlem. With the
Copacetics Club founding it ensured that Bill Robinson's excellence
would not be forgotten.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Sir Harry Lauder</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Roughly some seventy years ago Sir Harry Lauder's songs were well
known and part of Scottish popular culture and quite possibly they are
still well-known and just as much a part of today's Scottish popular
culture. Some of his most recognized songs were: "I Love a Lassie", "She
Is Ma Daisy", "Roamin' in the Gloamin'", "She Is My Rose" and "The End
of the Road". Observing videos of him you will see a grouchy-looking
Scotsman putting out lots of energy but not much personality into his
songs and jokes, making it hard to understand his appeal even with the
popularity of his songs.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCzwv_t6quA/WLDsz_D_MDI/AAAAAAAAAKc/HGEVfsDhybsKpkd8p9fbSY0cb9z5pgZpACLcB/s1600/lauder2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://www.quotationof.com/bio/harry-lauder.html" border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCzwv_t6quA/WLDsz_D_MDI/AAAAAAAAAKc/HGEVfsDhybsKpkd8p9fbSY0cb9z5pgZpACLcB/s320/lauder2.jpg" title="Sir Harry Lauder" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.quotationof.com/bio/harry-lauder.html">Sir Harry Lauder Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Near Edinburgh on August 4, 1870 Harry
Lauder was born; he was the oldest out of eight children. His father
passed away when he was twelve years old; causing his mother to move the
family to Arbroath, where she had relatives living. He worked in a mill
and a coal mine here, and on August 24, 1882 he made his first public
appearance of his singing career. At fourteen his family moved to
Lanarkshire, here he went to work in the pit. He kept singing and
entered several competitions; through all of this he started to obtain
paid engagements and joined a concert party, at the time this was a
popular form of entertainment, and with them he toured Scotland. In 1894
Lauder had his first professional engagement. After this engagement, he
formed a touring company of his own with Makenzie-Murdock, the
violinist.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>His first appearance at the Argyle Theatre Birkenhead
in 1898 gave his career a big step forward, with his first "hit song"
"Calligan- Call Again". He had toured in both professional and amateur
settings for a few more years before making his London debut at Gatti's
Music Hall in Westminister on March 19, 1900, where he was filling in
for a sick artist. This venture was a big success, with him singing
"Tobermory", "Calligan- Call Again" and "The Lass of Killiecrankie". He
became one of the most popular and highest paid music hall artist
touring the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. Lauder sailed to
America in 1907 making his fist appearance at the New York Theatre; he
would meet William Morris, who would become his American manager, on
this trip. The Americans loved him, audiences just would not let him
leave the stage; at this first engagement the audience held him for more
than an hour. Throughout the years he would return to America
twenty-two times and William Morris handled all of his engagements in
America until the last tour 1934.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Lauder was very loyal to Morris
and others who worked with him; like Marlin Wagner, who was the company
manager, and Jack Lait, the publicist. Audiences were just as loyal to
him, as he was to the people who helped him. An example of the
audience's loyalty is when he was booked in the Manhattan Opera House in
1911; (it was the first vaudeville performance there) because of fog
and quarantine issues he was delayed on opening night until 12:47 a.m.
The audience had waited for him since 8:15 p.m., his opening comment was
"Ha' ye no hame to go to?".</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>During the winter season pantomime
was the biggest part of it and it could make a career if a performer was
successful at it. Lauder also participated in pantomime, his first was <i>Aladdin</i>
at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow where he portrayed Roderick McSwankey
and he first sang "I Love a Lassie". He premiered the song "Roamin' in
the Gloamin'" in <i>Red Riding Hood </i>in 1910. <i>To Jericho</i> was his first phonograph recording in February 1902 and his last <i>Always Take Care of Your Pennies </i>and <i>It's a' Roon th' Toon' </i>in
May 1933; there were later recordings, but they were not released.
Typically his appearance on vaudeville would last for roughly one hour
and fifteen minutes.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>In 1904 he made an experimental talkie, his first film, called <i>Inverary</i>
for the British Gaumont Company. Then, in 1914, before the war broke
out, Lauder made fourteen experimental sound-on-disc films for the
Cort-Kitsee Talking Pictures and Selig Polyscope Company. Though when
the war did break out he was in Australia with his son John. Lauder
continued with his tour while his son was recalled to his regiment, the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He wanted to be involved with the war
work, but he was deemed too old to be sent to the trenches, so he had
suggested that he could sing to the men in the trenches. Initially this
idea was rejected, but he would later be given permission to entertain
the Scottish troops wherever they were located. Aside from entertaining
the troops he sold Liberty Bonds in the US and worked on recruiting
troops. He had his own recruiting band, and he would give encouraging
speeches to the young to join up. Through his work over 12,000 men were
recruited.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Lauder was back in London in 1916 when he opened the
review "Three Cheers" at the Shaftesbury Theatre. The final song he
performed was "The Laddies Who Fought", and at the end of the song a
company of Scots Guards marched on to the stage. On January 1, 1917,
during this tour, he received a telegram informing him that his son John
had been killed. He rushed back to Scotland to be at his wife's side,
and three days later he returned to the show. In December of 1918, a
year after his son's death, he was opening at the Lexington Theatre in
New York. During his performance there were tears in his eyes as he sang
"Wee Hoose 'mang the Heather", his son's favorite song, but the
highlight of this performance was a plea called "Victory with Mercy"
during which he asked "Don't let us sing any more about war; just let us
sing of Love". He would make a similar tour in 1928 after his wife
Nancy died in 1927.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He established the Harry Lauder Million Pound
Fund for maimed Scottish soldiers and sailors in September of 1917. He
was made a Knight of the British Empire in 1919 as a result of all of
his war work. Aside from his musical tours and his war work, he was also
in films and on radio broadcasts. Some of his feature films are <i>Hunting Tower</i> (1928), <i>I Love a Lassie</i> (1932), and <i>End of the Road</i> (1936). His last radio broadcast was for the BBC on December 25, 1942.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>While
Sir Harry Lauder had never played at the Palace, some of his early
films were shown, each film showed him singing one of his well-known
songs, but none of these films are known to survive to today. Somewhere
along the way he had gained a reputation for stinginess, but in
actuality he was very generous; he even returned $3,000 of his $5,000
weekly salary to William Morris for some performances that he had
missed. His philosophy was to be honest, pay one's debts, work hard, and
save; and he never strayed from these simple beliefs. The only downside
of his personality was that he would never perform on a Sunday,
maintaining that his audiences were deeply religious like himself.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>His
last on stage appearance was a concert in the Gorbals to celebrate the
25th anniversary of the local Rover Scout Group in 1947. Lauder
officially retired in 1949 stating:"Retirement is a word I've simply
been far too busy to use, a word that I've avoided. I've worked hard all
my life and enjoyed every minute of it. Still, I suppose a man can't go
on forever, although I'd be perfectly willing to. I daresay it's time I
took a breather". Sir Harry Lauder passed away February 26, 1950 in
Lanarkshire, Scotland at the age of eighty.</p>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
W.C. Fields</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>W.C. Fields holds a unique status in American entertainment, marked
by him being the only vaudevillian, besides Will Rogers, to be honored
with a commemorative stamp from the U.S. Postal Service on the 100th
anniversary of his birth. He was a master juggler with a sharp wit and a
mastery of euphemism with phrases like "drat", "Godfrey Daniels" and
"Mother of Pearl". He was born on April 9, 1879 in Philadelphia as
William Claude Dunkenfield.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UjJ_mv7sX10/WLDtm4JTMPI/AAAAAAAAAKk/STZo86wqg_A1_HSvMNMflD2sTxaonrEUQCLcB/s1600/W%2BC%2BFields.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-7A3" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UjJ_mv7sX10/WLDtm4JTMPI/AAAAAAAAAKk/STZo86wqg_A1_HSvMNMflD2sTxaonrEUQCLcB/s320/W%2BC%2BFields.jpg" title="W.C. Fields" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-7A3">W.C. Fields Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>He became entranced with a juggling
act at the age of fourteen and it helped inspire him and lay his future
in entertainment. His first professional vaudeville appearance was at an
Atlantic City beer hall in the spring of 1896. When he joined a tour
with the Keith Vaudeville Circuit at the age of nineteen is when his
career got a jump start. Aside from his juggling act he did many jobs
within the tour, like shifting scenery and playing in musical comedies
to name a few. After eighteen months on the circuit he landed in New
York City, where he got fabulous reviews and a new job with the Orpheum
Circuit at $125 per week (which lasted for four years). Around this time
he met a chorus girl from the Irwin Burlesquers by the name of Hattie
Hughes. He would marry her, and she would join his act as his assistant
and straight woman.</p><p>
<span> </span>He would appear on stage dressed as a tramp
with a stubble beard. To save on wardrobe costs he would wear old, torn,
loose clothing that he already owned, to appear unshaven he would use
make up techniques. It wasn't until his marriage to Hattie in 1900 that
he added comedy to his act. Their act was about twenty minutes of comedy
juggling. He would use a few props for his juggling; tennis balls, a
balancing stick, a top hat and cigar boxes, with the tennis balls he
could juggle up to six of them. In his early career he appeared as a
young, trim and handsome juggler, but during the act he would remain
silent hiding behind a tramp face. The signature W.C. Fields drawl and
sharp wit were only present when he was off stage, until roughly 1915
when he added talking to his act. The silence worked in his favor while
he was touring around Europe as it eliminated the language barrier.</p><p>
<span> </span>He
was billed as "The Eccentric Tramp Juggler" in 1900, and by then he had
become a familiar and well-liked performer on American vaudeville
stages. He developed a talent for the conscious error during his act. A
review of his act in the San Francisco Examiner described it as:"It is
impossible to tell whether Fields makes real or fake mistakes in his
juggling. He will drop a hat apparently by accident in the middle of
some difficult feat and then catch it by another apparently accidental
movement. It is all so smooth and effortless". He made his first of may
world tours in 1901, with this first tour he had been very successful in
Europe and South Africa.</p><p>
<span> </span>In 1902 he starred at London's Palace
Theatre, his act was just juggling, but when he returned to London in
1904 at the Hippodrome he added a pool table to the act. Also, in 1904
his son, W.C. Fields Jr. was born, unfortunately this marked the end of
Hattie's stage career and the beginning of the end of her marriage to
Fields. Though they separated they remained married for the rest of
their lives; Hattie would out live him. He continued to financially
support both Hattie and Jr until his death in 1946. Jr would take up
music in college and form his own band while he studied at Columbia
University; after his graduation he became a lawyer.</p><p>
<span> </span>After the
separation he went to Europe with his brother, who was his new assistant
at this point, for a second tour. During the following ten years he
would have two world tours, many trips around Europe and a couple of
tours of all of the US's best vaudeville houses. By this point in his
career he was known for his comedy as well as his juggling. He was
honored with a command performance for the King and Queen of England,
the only American performer so honored, in 1913. He stepped into the
vaudeville limelight in 1915 when he made his first appearance in one of
the Ziegfeld Follies; by this point in his career he left behind the
tramp makeup and gave more humor. He became part of the Follies crew in
1918, 1920, 1921 and 1925. In the 1921 performance he did no juggling at
all during the act. His most important stage production was <i>Poppy</i>,
a musical comedy, which costarred Madge Kennedy and opened at the New
Apollo Theatre on September 2, 1923. He would later film it twice, once
in 1925 as <i>Sally of the Sawdust</i> and again in 1936 as <i>Poppy</i>.</p><p>
<span> </span>He
is one of the few vaudevillians to transfer all of his routines to
film, thus creating a new financially successful career and ensuring
that his vaudeville acts were preserved for the future. His film career
took off in 1925 with <i>Sally of the Sawdust</i>, and he passed a
milestone in 1926 when he made his first film with no juggling at all.
Some of the films that he appeared in were: <i>That Royle Girl</i> (1925),<i> Tillie's Punctured Romance </i>(1928)<i>, Her Majesty Love</i> (his first talkie in 1931),<i> Tillie and Gus</i> (1933),<i> Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch</i> (1934),<i> David Copperfield</i> (1935)<i>, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man</i> (1939),<i> My Little Chickadee and The Bank Dick</i> (1940),<i> and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break </i>(1941)<i>. </i>Though there was a level of crudity and vulgarity in some of his films, most noticeably in <i>International House</i>
(1933), they were not part of his vaudeville routines. Through the
early to mid 1930s he made a series of films for Paramount that help
understand his essence and creativity as a vaudevillian. When he had
been established as a film star in LA there was no return to vaudeville
and the revue stage for him. He left New York and the stage for good in
1931 when he moved to Hollywood and became the W.C. Fields that is so
widely recognized and remembered today.</p><p>
<span> </span>Aside from juggling and
comedy he was also a talented artist, though few knew it. He would
design and draw cartoons for newspaper interviews and poster
advertisements; and he continued this hobby for many years. Like many
people he was a complex individual, an intelligent and maybe a bit of an
introspective man he was not the drunken child hater that he has been
shown as. He had been estranged from both his wife and his son, but
there had been reconciliation when Jr got married. Fields Sr also showed
his grandson a great deal of affection. He died in Pasadena, California
on December 25, 1946 at the age of sixty-seven.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Senor Wences</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Moreno Wenceslao was born on April 17, 1899 in Penaranda de
Bracamonte, Spain to an artistic Spaniard who played violin for a local
orchestra and restored paintings. As a child he worked on throwing his
voice and he made hand puppets to entertain his friends, he also
occasionally caused some mischief for fun.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Even though he had
practiced throwing his voice throughout his childhood he did not start
out his early working days in show business, but in bullfighting. He was
a bullfighter for four years before he spent three years in the army.
He hadn't been a very successful bullfighter, as results of an injury
after a bull got the better of him; he took up juggling to follow the
doctor's orders to exercise his arms and fingers. This combined with
watching matinees at his father's theatre he decided to start his show
business career.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Senor Wences joined the vaudeville scene in its
later years, but he brought vaudeville to new audiences with his
forty-eight appearances on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i> and multiple
live performances throughout the years. He is quite possibly the
greatest of all of the comedic ventriloquists. His act usually consisted
of two characters, a doll and a disembodied head in a box. The doll was
made by using lipstick to paint on the mouth, two onyx rings for eye
and a tiny red wig added to his left hand. The head would always argue
and threaten, and when Wences started to close the box the head's voice
would get muffled slowly. More often then not there would be a three way
argument between Wences, the doll and the head.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He had become
very well known for both his juggling and ventriloquism by the 1920s and
was in high demand in both Europe and Latin America. At an engagement
at the Casino Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1928 when the house
management put out an edict stating that only acts not needing musical
accompaniment would be able to appear; as the result he took up the
ventriloquism act that he had performed in his boyhood at school. In
1935 at the El Chico Club in Greenwich Village, after a successful tour
in Europe, is where he made his first American appearance. He toured
with Chester Morris and the Frazee Sisters in the Ice Carnival during
1938. Then, in November of the same year he made his vaudeville debut at
the Paramount Theater in New York, incorrectly billed as "The Wences"
in an eleven minute act. He became a big hit with the audience and the
highlight of the act was him drinking a glass of water and smoking a
cigarette while the doll sang in a high soprano.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>After that debut
he became part of a lengthy tour with Martha Raye, which kicked off on
October 14, 1939 at the Earle Theater in Philadelphia. Though he was
popular with the audiences there were some issues in the Midwest due to
his accent being hard to understand. Also, in 1939 he was at the San
Francisco World's Fair, there he met his wife Natalie; she helped with
his act by translating his ideas from Spanish to English.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><i><span> </span>Variety</i>
hailed him as "one of the best ventriloquists around" on August 26,
1942, despite any language problems; and around this time is when he
developed the head in the box. Originally it had been an entire dummy,
but when performing at the Chicago Theatre it had been damaged during
transportation. So, he took the idea of cutting off the head and using
it and ran with it. Also, in 1942 when he appeared at the Alvin Theatre
in New York, performing in <i>Laugh, Town, Laugh</i> he was billed as "From Portugal, a Gentleman of Originality" due to the situations in Europe and Spain's pro-Nazi stance.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>His act was filmed as a cameo in the 1947 Betty Grable film <i>Mother Wore Tights</i>.
He created a third character called Cecelia Chicken, when he was
working in Egypt during the 1950s. Cecelia made her American debut on
the TV series <i>Your Show of Shows</i>. In the fall of 1951 Judy
Garland opened at the Palace; and Wences replaced one of the supporting
acts, Max Bygraves a British singer. As time passed by Wences spent
seven years in Paris at the Crazy Horse Saloon.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yAQPiG0P9nE/WLDuHCK9BdI/AAAAAAAAAKs/pUuf7SpjkAkL7-E-7KnUFQ4JQb_Ubto5wCLcB/s1600/wences.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://soymenos.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/wences.jpg" border="0" height="284" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yAQPiG0P9nE/WLDuHCK9BdI/AAAAAAAAAKs/pUuf7SpjkAkL7-E-7KnUFQ4JQb_Ubto5wCLcB/s320/wences.jpg" title="Wences" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://soymenos.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/wences.jpg">Senor Wences & The Doll Source</a><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<span> </span>On February 14, 1970 one of his last major television appearances in <i>One-Man Show</i>
aired on television. The finale of this performance consisted of him
juggling four plates on sticks all while speaking in four different
voices. A few days later, on February 18, 1970, <i>Variety</i> stated
"a reminder that great vaude turns are getting scarce". November 1983 in
Los Angeles he made one of his last stage appearances in the show <i>It's Magic</i>. Though he was aging he continued to work as much as he could, he even went on tour with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller in <i>Sugar Babies</i>
in 1986. His devotion "to entertaining generations of audiences and
bringing countless hours of joy and happiness to millions throughout the
world" is what made him the 1996 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the National Comedy Hall of Game. He died on April 20, 1999
at the age of 103 in the Manhattan home that he and his wife Natalie had
shared for over sixty years.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Edgar Bergen</h2><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He was one of America's most famous ventriloquists, even though he
was not one of the greatest. He wasn't fully able to keep his lips from
moving, even before he was on the radio, but audiences were capable of
overlooking that issue and truly believe that Charlie McCarthy and the
others really did possess lives all their own. In virtually every way
they were Bergen's alter egos; and they were just as special to him as
his family was including his daughter Candice. The audiences felt that
he truly believed in Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd and that their
conversations continued long after the audiences left. His act underwent
drastic change through the years; so much so that the ventriloquist
performing at the Palace in 1926 and the star of later years held little
resemblance to one another. Even though the act changed the humor
remained the same, it had a gentleness to it, it might not have caused
deep belly laughs, but it made a person feel good inside.</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t1Kmnkya6Ac/WLDui3QYtoI/AAAAAAAAAKw/rCMbOsdvEPE4mK6VEyIoDZ3coLf3JHYiQCLcB/s1600/Edgar_Bergen_with_Charlie_McCarthy_and_Mortimer_Snerd_1949.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Edgar_Bergen_with_Charlie_McCarthy_and_Mortimer_Snerd_1949.JPG" border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t1Kmnkya6Ac/WLDui3QYtoI/AAAAAAAAAKw/rCMbOsdvEPE4mK6VEyIoDZ3coLf3JHYiQCLcB/s320/Edgar_Bergen_with_Charlie_McCarthy_and_Mortimer_Snerd_1949.JPG" title="Bergen, Charlie and Mortimer" width="248" /><span> </span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Edgar_Bergen_with_Charlie_McCarthy_and_Mortimer_Snerd_1949.JPG">Edgar Bergen, Charlie, and Mortimer Source</a><br /> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He was
born Edgar John Berrgren to Swedish immigrants on February 16, 1903 in
Chicago. He and his family moved to Michigan, where he grew up. After he
watched the Great Lester, in vaudeville and read a book of magic called
<i>Hermman's Wizard Manual</i>, he decided to go into show business.
The first Charlie McCarthy was made by an Irish woodcarver by the name
of Charlie Mack around 1920; his features were based off of an Irish
newsboy who used to deliver papers to the Berrgren family. Charlie had
been named after the woodcarver, he was originally made of Michigan Pine
and stood four feet tall and weighed twenty-four pounds. His head
attached to his body with a shaft that was about nine inches long. This
Charlie was not dressed in his familiar top hat and suit, but he was
dressed as a street urchin.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>At sixteen Bergen moved to Chicago and
he got a job working in a silent movie theatre, he started out sweeping
and keeping the furnace lit, then he became the projectionist and the
house pianist. They made their debut at the Waveland Avenue
Congregational Church, after a little while they were appearing in the
small Chicago theatres that were part of the Chautauqua vaudeville
circuit. While he was taking classes at Northwestern University, and his
popularity landed him larger venues to perform at. He wouldn't go on to
finish his scholastic career, but he was given an Honorary "Master of
Innuendos and Snappy Comebacks" degree. His career progressed gradually
until he finally appeared at the Palace in a fifteen minute act in June
of 1926.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Their first screen appearance occurred in 1930 in a
series of Vitaphone shorts made by Warner Brothers; the first of which
were called <i>The Operation </i>and the second was called <i>The Office Scandal</i>.
Both of these shorts are preserved at the UCLA Film and Television
Archive; with their preservation on it provides documentation of his
vaudeville routines, which were lacking in warmth and were racier than
his later work. After he obtained a booking at the Helen Morgan Club, a
nightclub and speak easy, he decided that it was time to spruce up his
act. From that decision we were given the second version of Charlie
McCarthy; this version is the one that everyone is familiar with his top
hat, tuxedo and monocle.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>On December 17, 1936 when they were
guest stars on Rudy Vallee's radio show is when their career caught a
major break. They worked with Vallee on a rather regular basis until
April 1937; then on May 9, 1937 they started their own radio show. They
were sponsored by Chase and Sanborn Coffee; it was originally called <i>The Chase & Sanborn Hour,</i> but very quickly the name changed to <i>The Charlie McCarthy Show</i>,
showing who really was the star attraction of the duo. They stayed on
the air for the next twenty years; with the most famous part being the
ongoing feud between W.C. Fields and Charlie McCarthy, the feud lasted
from 1938until 1944. They were paired together in the film <i>You Can't Cheat an Honest Man</i> (19339), as a result of their feud.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>Throughout
his years on radio he introduced his other dummies: Mortimer Snerd,
Effie Klinker (who looked like Sneezy), Ophelia (a querulous old lady),
Maisie and Matilda (a couple of barnyard hens), Podine Puffington (a
tall, glamorous blond), Lars Lindquist (a Swedish fisher man), and
Gloria Graham (a real talker who was always moving and talked herself
right out of show business). By this time Charlie wore size 4 clothes,
2AAA shoes, a 3 3/8 hat and weighed forty pounds; though his body needed
changed every now and again his head remained the same.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>He had a
talent for keeping his humor up-to-date through all of the changes in
the social climate through the years. Bergen left Charlie behind in 1947
to portray Mr. Thorkelson in the film version of <i>I Remember Mama</i>,
he had said that it was one of his favorite parts because he didn't
have to be Edgar Bergen. He would appear in many films, mostly with
Charlie, some of these other films were: <i>The Goldwyn Follies</i> (1938), <i>Song of the Open Road</i> (1944), <i>Fun and Fancy Free</i> (1947), <i>Captain China (</i>1949), <i>Don't Make Waves</i> (1967) and <i>The Muppet Movie </i>(1979). <i>The Muppet Movie</i>
was his last screen appearance, even though it was just a cameo the
film was dedicated to his memory. At the height of Bergen and Charlie's
popularity they were given an honorary Oscar that was made of wood.</p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span> </span>While
he had success in films and live performances he did not have the same
success on television. Even though he was not as successful he made many
guest appearances on different shows, and he also hosted the quiz show <i>Do You Trust Your Wife?</i>
from January 1956 until March 1957. In September 1978 Bergen stated
that he would be retiring from show business and that he would be
leaving Charlie to the Smithsonian Institution. He would die on
September 30, 1978 at the Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where he was
playing a farewell engagement. After his death Charlie McCarthy was
taken in by the Smithsonian, where he can still be seen on display. He
closed his last show with this: "All acts have a beginning and an
end...and I think that time has come for me. So I think I'll just pack
up my jokes and my friends".</p>
<br /><p>
<span> </span>Some of these men have helped lay down the ground work for the
entertainers to come in a very direct way, whereas others weren't quite
so direct with their influence. They have all made a mark on history
that has stood out to someone and managed to stand the test of time to
be remembered in some way in the future that they helped shape for show
business.</p>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Sources</h2>
Slide, A. (2012). The encyclopedia of vaudeville. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.<br />
Severo, R. (1999, April 29). Senor wences, ventriloquist who was a tv regular, 103. <i>The New York Times</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/21/arts/senor-wences-ventriloquist-who-was-a-tv-regular-103.html">http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/21/arts/senor-wences-ventriloquist-who-was-a-tv-regular-103.html</a><br />
<br />
Loftus, J. (2015). <i>Dave apollon biography</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-apollon-mn0000957070/biography">http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-apollon-mn0000957070/biography</a><br />
<br />
<i>Sir harry lauder: 1870-1950</i>. Informally published
manuscript, Library: Special Collections, University of Glasgow,
Glasgow, Scotland. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/scottishtheatrearchive/stacollections/sirharrylauder/">http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/scottishtheatrearchive/stacollections/sirharrylauder/</a><br />
<br />
<i>Edgar bergen and his famous dummy</i>. (2011, February 16). Retrieved from <a href="http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/edgar-bergen-and-his-famous-dummy/533/">http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/edgar-bergen-and-his-famous-dummy/533/</a><br />
<br />
Chamberlin, R. (1983, May). <i>W.c. fields, the crown prince of comedy.. a juggler first!</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.juggling.org/fame/fields/chamberlin.html">http://www.juggling.org/fame/fields/chamberlin.html</a><br />
<br />
Hill, C. V. (2002). <i>Bill "bojangles" robinson (c.1878 -1949)</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://atdf.org/awards/bojangles.html">http://atdf.org/awards/bojangles.htm</a><p> </p></div>Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0Harlan, IN, USA41.195998300000007 -84.91968179999999212.885764463821161 -120.07593179999999 69.506232136178852 -49.763431799999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-13433317312921113752021-02-06T19:01:00.000-05:002021-02-06T19:01:57.781-05:00The Beginning with the Ancient Greeks<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qV3AqzotHvM/YB8qlSG68rI/AAAAAAAAANw/g-WE7pE5CB0vVgdJgMFtKLeGxNKWULFDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s789/map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="789" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qV3AqzotHvM/YB8qlSG68rI/AAAAAAAAANw/g-WE7pE5CB0vVgdJgMFtKLeGxNKWULFDwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h259/map.gif" title="Ancient Greece" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.plato-dialogues.org/tools/greece.htm">Map Source</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span> </span>The ancient
Greeks influenced many other cultures in many ways. They helped to lay the
foreground for areas such as philosophy and literature. In addition to these
areas they also helped in the formation of the theatrical arts. They would
become the example for many others to follow in the world of theater history.</span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">The Festivals</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Dionysus was a god, who was worshiped
particularly by the peasants; these peasants would dance to honor him. From
these peasant dances drama would develop. The gods were honored by human
achievement; these achievements were accomplished through athletic meets,
boxing matches, singing songs and acting out plays. Throughout the late winter
and early spring Athenians would assemble to celebrate their drama festivals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The dates of these festivals were
often associated with different religious celebrations; that had been around
long before the plays were ever thought of. The worshipers of Dionysus,
referred to as the Cult of Dionysus, would gather to celebrate him by
performing dances and ceremonies. A practical reason for holding the festivals
so early in the year was the Greek climate. The way Greek acting was then, very
strenuous physical and vocal work underneath the mask and costume of the actor
making their efforts hot work at the best of times. So to protect the actors
from Greece’s’ Mediterranean warm climate was to hold the festivals during the
cooler months of the year. In these earlier months the weather was more
manageable for the actors because they were past the worst of winter and the
temperatures were not oppressive yet. The back draw of holding them so early
was that many of the festivals were closed events due to not yet navigable seas
and outsiders not able to travel from their own locations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Over time the Cult of Dionysus
obtained a great deal of importance throughout Greece during the Archaic period
(800 BC- 480 BC); which was when the city-states were governed by sole rulers.
These so-called tyrants encouraged the cult for the benefit of the peasants,
whose support the ruler relied on. The cult would perform dithyrambs, choral
songs or chants, and dramas in front of their cult statue as acts of worship
instead of as performances directed for the entertainment of spectators. In
addition to dithyrambs and general dramas being performed at the festivals held
in honor of Dionysus they would perform satyr plays, tragedies and comedies
within the holy places of this god. From midwinter to spring there were three,
possibly four Dionysiac festivals celebrated throughout Greece. These four
festivals were the Rural Dionysia, the Lenaea, the Anthesteria, and the City
Dionysia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Rural Dionysia, also known as
the lesser Dionysia, was held in the month of Poseideon from December through
the beginning of January. During this festival they had a sacrifice, tasting of
new wines, phallic chants were recited and the komoi (the revelries) were
performed all in honor of Dionysus. The evolution of comedy, according to
Aristotle, is believed to have come from the leaders of this revelry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In Gamelion, the marriage month,
which was from January through the beginning of February the Lenaea, was held.
This festival seemed to hold comedy more important than tragedy. The state
would produce artistic comedies during this festival from the first part of the
fifth century onward; tragedies would appear at this festival roughly fifty
years later. Even though comedy was first improvised at this festival in
Athens, it would not obtain a literary form until the end of the sixth century.
This festival at first took place in the shrine of Dionysus Lenaeus; located
near Dörpfeld in a hollow between the Acropolis, Pnyx and Areopagus. Later
these Lenaean plays would be brought to a permanent theatre that was built in
the precinct of Dionysus Eleuthereus on the southeast side of the Acropolis.
The importance of these plays was only important in their local area, due to
the Lenaea being held in winter when the sea routes were closed to many
travelers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the month of flowers,
Anthesterion, the Anthesteria festival was held; Anthesterion took place from
February into the beginning of March. While this also was a Dionysiac festival
it was different because there were most likely no dramatic performances held
during this festival. It was divided into three parts; the Pithoigia, the Choes
and the Chytori. The Pithoigia was the broaching of the wine casks. The Choes
was the feast of the jugs; a children’s festival; where the children received
little jugs as presents. Then the Chytori was the feast of pots, where food was
set out in pots for the deceased. So with it being more of a festival for
children and the dead, it was very unlikely that plays performed at other
Dionysiac festivals would have been performed at this particular festival; as
some people believe did occur.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The City Dionysia was also known as
the Great Dionysia. It took place in the month of stags, Elaphebolion, from
March into the beginning of April. This festival was the principal festival
that was not only celebrated by the city but by the state as well. With it
celebrated by the state the members of the Attic federal state participated in
the festivities as well. The archon eponymous, the highest state official, was
put in charge of directing the festival each year. This official would be sent
all of the plays that were to be produced; and his name would be at the
beginning of each theatre record. After receiving the plays he would then make
his final selection and chose the actors and the choragi. The choragus was the
wealthy citizens who chose, as their state tax, to cover the various costs for
the festival; which could become quite large in cost. According to preserved
programs there were between sixteen and eighteen choragi for each festival.
Over the course of the festival, after 508 BC, then dithyrambs and three
tetralogies, a set of three tragedies, would be performed. They would add three
to five comedies to this line up after 487/6 BC. The plays would start with
five choruses of boys then five choruses of men. There were ten tribes in
Attica, and each tribe would produce one dithyramb for the festival. After the
dithyrambs the festival would commence with the comedies. At first five poets
would each submit one comedy each to compete with each other. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">From
having five works to present it is possible that this part of the festival had
a complete day for this part alone. Later during the Peloponnesian War, 431-404
BC, the number was limited down to three, then one comedy would be presented
after each set of tetralogies; if it wasn’t a comedy that was shown afterwards
they would present a satyr play instead. With this set up for the festival the
plays then took up three consecutive days. They would start the day with the
tragedies then by evening, after the tragedies were finished, they would end
the day with comedies. Then after 534 BC, the tragedies would be followed by a
satyr play. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">This
festival would present at least fifteen new scripts every year. So theorizing
that they were able to hold the festival every year, without problems, for one
hundred years presenting fifteen new scripts each year; it would total to
roughly one thousand five hundred original scripts in one centuries’ time.
Breaking down this number of scripts by genre would come out to about nine
hundred tragedies, three hundred comedies and three hundred satyr plays.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">The
Greeks would end with the comedies because it seemed that they simply wanted to
feel happy when heading home; after all for the most part the Dionysiac
festivals; particularly the Great Dionysia, were joyous holidays and not the
Greek version of more serious holidays like Lent, Yom Kippur or even Ramadan.
The practice of adding a bit of fluff to the ending of serious entertainment
became a common practice within the theatre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">No
one is entirely certain how or why the original cult dances honoring Dionysus
gradually gained more and more spectators, but there are many possibilities on
what could be the reason. Aside from the god, Dionysus-Eleuthereus, the main
spectator was his priest, who was seated in the center of the front row in the
theatron. With him sat other priest and high officials of the state. One reason
the number of spectators grew, came after the festivals were open to the
public, was simply the popularity of the Dionysia. When the work finished and
there was leisure time to be had, the Athenians of the Archaic period were very
ready to become spectators. As it became more open to the public, it became a
concern that involved all of the Athenian people. The people would provide
actors and chorus members, in addition to assisting the priests and the
officials pick a victor from the competing poets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">During
the fifth century BC the major religious festivals would hold these competitions
over the course of three days. They would start the days with tragedies, then
move onto the satyr plays and finish the day with the comedies. As the time passed
the judging of these competitions would be carried out by a panel of ten
judges. These judges would cast their vote by placing pebbles in an urn, and
from the urns; each representing a play, they would pick five urns at random to
make a decision on the final winner. Occasionally the prizes, like tripods,
would be shown on vases. Eventually many of the festival components; like the
choral dances, would become a form of contest; these competitions would later
contribute to the growth of art, music, gymnastics and theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">The Poets</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Even through extrapolation, theories
and preserved documents we probably will never know all of the names of every
single poet from these festivals. Though with the surviving scripts has
provided us with some of their names, their work and contributions to the
theatre. Not all of the surviving scripts are complete, so they can only give
us a glimpse into how some of the poets from this time worked or lived. Even
with time fading some of the details of the poets’ lives and loosing many of
the scripts, we still know of and learn about some of them like Sophocles,
Aeschylus and Aristophanes. Aside from producing scripts for the festivals,
some poets added different elements to how theatre worked.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Of the many known and unknown Greek
poets; Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were known as the greatest of the
tragic poets. Some important playwrights in Old Comedy were Aristophanes,
Cratinus and Eupolis. Other important comedic poets are Philemon, Meander and
Plautus & Terence; all from later branches of comedy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Aeschylus lived from about 525 BC
through about 456 BC. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Persians</i>,
produced in 472 BC, is his earliest surviving work. His work often carried a
theme between a few of them, thus creating sequels. An example of this would be
his collectively titled work known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oresteia</i>;
this trilogy includes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agamemnon</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Libation Bearers</i> (known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Choephori</i>) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Furies</i> (known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eumendies</i>).
This trilogy is the only complete trilogy that has survived the passage of
time. He wrote seventy to eighty scripts which there are only seven remaining.
Aside from his scripts he is known to have added a second actor by adding
dialogue and adding in more drama to familiar tales for entertainment purposes.
He would also decrease the importance of the chorus. At some point in his
career he became in danger of losing his life due to an offence he had
unknowingly committed, all from the power that the audiences had during this
time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sophocles lived from 496 BC to 406
BC, and he was a very popular poet. Roughly he wrote one hundred or more
scripts, of which only seven of them are surviving; the most famous of which
was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antigone</i> (c. 442 BC). A few of
his other works are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oedipus the King</i>,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Women of Trachis</i>. He is
credited with introducing a third actor, incorporating painted scenery and
scene changes in plays.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Euripides lived from 484 BC to 407
BC. He was known for clever dialogues, fine choral lyrics and a degree of
realism within his writings and stage productions. It appears that he enjoyed
posing awkward questions and unsettling his audiences with thought provoking
use of common themes. His tragedy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ixion</i>
got halted by an outraged audience because of it blasphemous content; until he
explained that the transgression would be punished in the end if the audience
would be patient. He wrote roughly ninety plays with only nineteen surviving,
the most famous of which was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medeia</i>.
Which the plot of that script focuses on how Jason, of the Golden Fleece,
abandons her for the King of Corinth’s daughter; and how it leads Medeia into
killing her own children in an act of revenge. The function of the poet and the
actor was separated late in the history of ancient theatre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Of the Greek comic poets the biggest
was Aristophanes. Although he is a giant amongst these playwrights, like many
of the Old Comedy poets there isn’t much information that is certain involving
him. Although from the dates of his surviving works it is believed that he was
from Athens and lived from 460 BC to 380 BC. Of his surviving scripts there are
eleven of them that are complete and are the only examples of Old Comedy that
survived to today. There are two other important playwrights of Old Comedy, but
the full extent of their contributions are unknown; aside from their names, a
few of their works (with dates) and that both were multiple winners at some of
the most prestigious festivals. These poets are Cratinus and Eupolis. Cratinus
wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tempest-Tossed Men</i> (425 BC), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Satyrs</i> (424 BC) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pytine</i> (423 BC). Eupolis wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Numeniae
</i>(425 BC), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maricas </i>(421 BC), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flatterers</i> (421 BC) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Autolycus</i> (420 BC). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While there are only a few handfuls
of information about Old Comedy and its poets; there is more information about
New Comedy and its poets. A few of the important playwrights of New Comedy were
Philemon, Diphilus and Menander. Though Plautus & Terence are more Roman
playwrights they are mentioned in both Greek and Roman comedy. They are famous
for writing Latin comedies and for adding diversity to the comedy genre in the
form of pantomime and togata.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Philemon lived from 368/60 BC until
267/3 BC and he wrote roughly ninety-seven comedies. Diphilus wrote roughly one
hundred plays; although we know of their work we do not know the extent of
their contributions to New Comedy other than their scripts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although we do know that the longest
surviving playwright of the New Comedy was Menander. He lived from 342 BC to
291 BC; he wrote roughly one hundred plays, many of which survived until the
seventh century BCE when they were unfortunately lost to time. Menander wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dyskolos</i> (originally performed in 316
BC) and it is the most complete surviving play of his; there are also
significant portions of six other plays written by him that have survived.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Other playwrights that helped create
elements of theatre that we know in modern times are Phrynichus and Agathon.
Agathon is credited with the addition of musical interludes that don’t
necessarily connect with the plot itself. Phrynichus had the idea to split the
chorus into separate groups to represent men, women and elders; even though the
only gender on the stage was male.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The earliest group of dramatists
would teach the choruses and create appropriate choreography themselves. The
rehearsals would usually be directed by the playwrights instead of a director. Aeschylus
and Phrynichus were both famous for taking on both the playwright and the
director roles. From the lack of evidence to the contrary it is believed that
Sophocles and Euripides also participated in this act of both playwright and
director. There is evidence that Aristophanes was the first playwright to
separate the two roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">The Plays</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The three most important literary
forms that have survived to today that was created by the Greeks were epic,
lyric and drama. The epic poem was the earliest of these three forms; an
example of this is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Odyssey</i>
written by Homer. Following the epic poems, the lyric poetry came into
existence. It was developed during the seventh and sixth centuries; a lot of
its content was borrowed from myths. Drama was the last of these important
forms of literature to develop. Tragedy would come about at the end of the
sixth century. This was followed by the development of the artistic comedy
during the fifth century.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Herodotus, a Greek historian, had
stated that the famous citharoedus (singer) and poet, Arion, was the first
person to compose a dithyramb, to give it a name and to possess these poems.
Arion also introduced the satyrs, who sang their songs in meter. The satyr play
is believed to be the earliest form of drama, since it evolved from the
dithyramb that was sung by the satyrs. Then according to Aristotle’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poetics</i>, tragedy developed from the
satyr plays. The later dithyrambs and tragedies would borrow their themes from
not only the Dionysus saga but from all heroic sagas in general. Examples of
satyr drama would be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hunting Dogs</i> or
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trackers</i> (Ichneutae) by Sophocles
(about 460 BC) or the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cyclops</i> by
Euripides (about 410 BC).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although we have examples of all
three forms of drama, the original versions of these scripts have very few
details about the production. The details about the sets, costumes, blocking,
character entrances and exits, and character descriptions are all missing from
these original scripts. For these details we must turn to the imagination of
the translator. Rationalizing the corruptions and duration of at least two
millennia, also fell under the responsibilities of the translator. Even with
these details missing we can still gather information from the tragedies. With
the arrangement of the roles in the scripts show that Aristotle’s statement
that the number of actors assigned to a tetralogy was three. The absence of
fights and killings show, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that there was
a rule that forbade on stage violence. There most likely was an offstage area
for the three actors for their entrances and exits and/or at the very least for
them to make their costume changes. Then the last piece of information gathered
from these scripts is that there was at least one practical door, that opened
and closed on the set; but the location of this door cannot be determined from
the scripts. The comedy scripts focus on more contemporary issues, in more
present setting during their time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Of all of the playwrights historians
have found that Aristophanes’ scripts are abundant with details. His works had
information pertaining to furnishing, costuming, machinery, other playwrights
and even acting. His works also gave us a glimpse of the Athenians of the time;
how and what they ate and drank, about their clothing, their couplings and even
their attitudes towards gods, women, foreigners and even each other.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During this time writing was a
prized skill. This led to many plays being preserved for a while. As learning
started to decline, papyrus scrolls started to lose their value. Over the
course of one century of the City Dionysia it is believed that there were one
thousand and five hundred scripts written. The forty-four complete scripts and
fragments that have survived to today represent less than three percent of the
possible one thousand and five hundred scripts written.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>More often than not the plays
selected for school work are selected for their literary value than their
theatrical value. They were selected by the Byzantine scholars for their literary
qualities, with a fairly balanced selection from Aeschylus, Sophocles and
Euripides (the “Hallowed Three”). There were seven plays from both Aeschylus
and Sophocles; and nine plays from Euripides to form the selection for “school”
plays. Many of the surviving tragedies were used to teach Greek as the lingua
franca, an adopted common language between speakers with different native
languages, of the Mediterranean. There is a selection of plays that were not
chosen for their literary value, but for the way they made it possible to study
Athenian popular entertainment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ten of the plays that make up part
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Complete Plays of Euripides</i>;
are also part of an Alexandrian papyrus edition of Euripides’ works, with the
titles ranging from epsilon to kappa. Another of his surviving works is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bacchae</i>; the reason it has been
preserved is unclear as it is not one of the school plays nor is it from the
epsilon to kappa selections. A few of his other surviving plays are titled: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cyclops</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ion</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Helen</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elektra</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iphigenia at Aulis</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hecuba</i>.
The only known complete satyr play is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cyclops</i>.
His plays <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ion </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Helen </i>are often classified as comedies
by today’s standards; they possibly were classified as comedies by ancient
standards as well. To a degree both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elektra</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iphigenia at Aulis</i> follow the
Aristotelian preference for unhappy endings. His play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hecuba</i>; the only one from the alphabetical list was chosen to be
part of the Byzantine school selection. The last five plays in the collection
are flawed literarily, with changing characters and plots between the different
acts within a single play. Many of the surviving plays by Euripides are among
the literary discards and they hardly make it on the reading lists for
literature classes. Although as a taste of Euripides’ total works, they are
believed to show typical fifth century Athens theatre fare.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even though only one and a half
satyr plays survived to today they still give us a detail to study in regards
to Greek popular entertainment. That detail is; that no matter how serious or
depressing the tragedies were, everyone left the theatre in a cheerful mood
from slapstick performances that involved gods and other mythic figures in
different entertaining situations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">In
today’s theatre there is plenty of warning signals that a play is about to
start. Even in modern open-air theatres it is possible to notify the audience
that a production or an announcement is starting. Whereas we lack the necessary
information about if they had similar methods of quieting the audience so as to
start a play in ancient times. A strong beginning was needed, along with a
delay of the main theme of the play; so that the audience wouldn’t miss any
important information while they settled down. For comedies there were two
forms that the opening could take. One form was to open with horseplay that was
fast and noisy, so as to catch the attention of the audience. The other form
was to start with a line of topical references and irrelevant jokes. On the
other hand the openings of tragedies tended to be more informative from the
start. It is theorized that for this part of the festivals the audience were
more subdued and receptive of the information that was presented to them. The
purpose of these types of openings was to grab the attention of the audience;
so they would quiet down, focus on the stage and help them to establish a
connection with the actors. It is possible that plays were rehearsed for a
large part of the year. In size many of the audiences for the festivals were
quite large, and they were both very talkative and unruly. Their temperament
and behaviors helped shape the way plays were formed and presented. The plays
that would be re-performed many times and copied for mass publication are what
would become known as the classics, especially if they were written by any of
the three great tragedians. These classics were even kept by the state as
official and unchangeable state documents.</span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">Tragedy</h2><h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh8S4dAeCrI/YB8rG488HmI/AAAAAAAAAN4/XVec6mQdeIMa399YbwmZuDRJ8v_C9e3uwCLcBGAsYHQ/s453/tragedy%2Bmask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="400" height="156" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh8S4dAeCrI/YB8rG488HmI/AAAAAAAAAN4/XVec6mQdeIMa399YbwmZuDRJ8v_C9e3uwCLcBGAsYHQ/w138-h156/tragedy%2Bmask.jpg" title="Tragedy Mask" width="138" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://library.calvin.edu/hda/sites/default/files/imagecache/medium/cas30h.jpg">Tragedy Mask Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></h2><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span> </span>As with many aspects of ancient
times there is little to no information on the origins of Greek tragedy. We
gain more information once Aeschylus, who is believed to have been the most
innovative of all of the Greek playwrights. However it is theorized that the
roots of Greek tragedy is entwined with the Athenian spring festival, Dionysos
Eleuthereios. All of the surviving tragedies, excluding <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Persians</i> by Aeschylus, were based off of heroic myths. According to
Aristotle tragedy was developed from the dithyramb leaders. Not only were the
tragedies spoken, but there is evidence that a large portions were sung. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The plots for these plays were
usually inspired by Greek mythology, which during this time was a part of their
religion. The subject matter for these plays was often of a serious nature
pertaining to moral rights and wrongs. There were also what seemed to be some
standard rules for the poets that wrote these works; there was to be no
violence on the stage, deaths had to be heard but not seen, and there could not
be any comments or political statements within the plays.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The most famous festival for
competitions for tragedies was the City Dionysia in Athens. To compete in the
competitions the plays would go through an audition process, that no one has
yet to figure out what all this process would contain, that was judged by the
archon of the festival. The plays that were deemed worthy of the festival
competition were given financial backing to obtain a chorus and the needed
rehearsal time. </span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jichFLl3MYo/YB8sEEoDpdI/AAAAAAAAAOE/O5GZhw24JRsCthgZ8tAjNL93NJNUHl-SgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/comedy%2Bmask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1363" height="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jichFLl3MYo/YB8sEEoDpdI/AAAAAAAAAOE/O5GZhw24JRsCthgZ8tAjNL93NJNUHl-SgCLcBGAsYHQ/w135-h203/comedy%2Bmask.jpg" title="Comedy Mask" width="135" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/New_comedy_first_slave_theatre_mask_NAMA3373_Athens_Greece.jpg">Comedy Mask Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Comedy</h2><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span> </span>The word comedy is derived from the
word komos, which means the song of the gay revelers. Komos is also the name of
the god of revelry, merrymaking and festivity. Comedy evolved from
improvisations, originating with the leaders of the phallic ceremonies and the
reciters of phallic songs, according to Aristotle. Aristotle also stated that
they would also sing songs that often abused unpopular people in town. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From the sixth century on Greek
comedy was a popular and influential form of entertainment across the land.
There were no real boundaries on who was made fun of within the plays; they
would poke fun at politicians, philosophers and fellow artists. Aside from up
holding their comedic value, the plays provided us with insights into their
society. These insights had both general and deeper details about the workings
of their political institutions, legal system, religious practices, education
and warfare.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Early sources of comedy are found
within the poems of Archilochus (from the seventh century BCE) and Hipponax
(from the sixth century BCE); additionally they contained crude and explicit
sexual humor. Although we have these early sources their exact origins are lost
to us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are four parts that make up
the comedic plays. These parts are called the parados, the agon, the parabasis
and the exodos. The parados was the section that members of the chorus would
perform songs and several dances. They would often be dressed in unusual
costumes that could be just about anything; an example would be them dressed
like giant bees with stingers. A costume like that can sometimes lead to the
play being named after the chorus. The agon is the next phase of the comedic
plays. This phase usually contained a witty verbal contest or debate between
the leading actors while there was fantastical plot elements, fast scenic
changes and possibly some improvisation happened around them. The parabasis had
the chorus speaking directly to the audience and speaking in place of the poet.
The exodos was the show-stopping finale where the chorus gave a last round of
rousing songs and dances. Judgements made about Greek Comedy are based on the
eleven scripts and fragments of Aristophanes works as well as some scraps from
other comic playwrights.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Within Greek Comedy there is the Old
Comedy and the New Comedy; there was possibly an in between stage referred to
as Middle Comedy, but there hasn’t been enough information found to say if it
did or did not exist. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Plays written in the fifth century
BCE, which were comedies, are the plays that make up the Old Comedy. Old Comedy
would poke fun at mythology and prominent members of society. Looking through
these scripts it appears that there was no censorship on language or actions in
the comedic exploration of bodily functions and sex. Aristophanes’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Acharnians</i> is the earliest complete
comedic script, with the first performance being dated in 425 BCE. There are
some fragmented comic scripts that date back to as early as 450 BCE.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>New Comedy arose in the second half
of the fourth century BCE. Menander and his contemporaries make up the basis of
what we know as New Comedy. The time between Old and New Comedy, the genre of
comedy itself changed with the time and audience. One of these changes was the
taming and simplification of comedy, leaving very little obscenity behind. The
costumes changed from the grotesque and phallic to more natural looking that
would often reflect the new style of the playwright. New Comedy would become
more focused on the plot and became more concerned with fictional everyday
people and their relationships with the world around them. In addition to being
more focused on the plot they also started to use more stock characters; like
cooks, soldiers, pimps and cunning slaves. Although there were now more parts
for the increased number of actors, the chorus lost some of their importance to
the plot; simply providing musical interludes between the acts. The plays even
seemed to settle on a five act structure at this time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the beginning comedy was played
voluntarily by non-professional actors. There was not a limit on the number of
actors for comedies, because comedies were not presented as trilogies. After
the year 486 BC the state started to concern itself with comedy. The first
contest between the comic actors didn’t happen until about the year 442 BC at
the Lenaea. It wasn’t part of the great City Dionysia festival until about 325
BC. Afterwards they decreased the number of comic actors as they had done with
the tragedies. The Greek comedies continued to be popular throughout both the
Hellenistic and Roman times; and many of the classics were performed again and
again.</span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">The Actors & Chorus</h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While the chorus was taken from the
public they were still different parts of the Athenian public at large. Through
uncertain methods a large group of citizens were selected to be part of the
chorus for the upcoming festivals every year. From what little we know we are
certain that the chorus were unpaid volunteers that chose this as a part of
their civic duty. After their selection the chorus were trained and costumed by
the choragus at the state’s expense; as this was the choragus’ way of paying
his taxes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the performances would be held in
open-air theatres it is safe to believe that the chorus wouldn’t rehearse in
the eventual performance space. Many scholars agree that rehearsals in the
open-air theatres would attract many curious spectators and with that the
festivals would lose at least half of their attraction with the audience being
able to discuss the plays beforehand. So following this line of thought it is
expected that rehearsals were private and held in an enclosed place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By Greek tradition the chorus was
the source from which drama came; then after the first actor added their
purpose shifted to creating increasingly complex possibilities for dramatic
action. After the chorus entered it was normal for them to stay on stage and
perform a variety of functions for the play. The relationship between the
chorus and the play was just as flexible as their relationship with the actors.
As dictated by the immediate needs of the play the chorus would change as
necessary; as the action would shift so would the role of the chorus.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The chorus had several functions
within the play; but their most important role took place during the parabasis.
That is the point in the play where the actors all leave the stage so that the
chorus could turn and address the audience instead of addressing the actors.
However even with their many roles and constant presence on stage the chorus
was not considered actors because they were selected from the public, costumes
paid for by the choragus, and they were trained by the chorus trainer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is little known about the
processes of selecting and training of the Greek actors, even what we do know
is not known to be fully correct. Scholars are mostly certain that the actors
were not full-time professionals and although they were paid for their
appearances at the festivals; their performance opportunities were fairly
limited.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Due to the actors being costumed
from head to toe any form of expression and subtlety was accomplished through
the human voice. Throughout the course of Greek theatre, of the time, a good
actor and a good voice were one and the same. Over time good voice production
and delivery became the indication of an accomplished actor. They would meticulously
train and nurture their voices. It is said that Aristotle would advocate the
necessity to monitor one’s diet, so as to avoid ruining the voice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are a few characteristics that
vary between ancient and modern acting can be seen in the amount of energy
needed for performances, the physical strain and their training. For the
performances the actors had to put forth large amounts of energy and
exaggerated movements for their parts to be understood as they were completely
covered head to toe in their heavier costumes. With the large amount of energy
and the heavier costumes it is believed that these ancient actors were under
more physical strain than many of today’s actors. From what has been found thus
far shows that actors’ training in ancient times was more akin to the training
regimen of an athlete than that of a performing artist. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Their
training required them to abstain from certain foods and beverages, causing
them to carefully monitor their diets. Plato felt that this method was a bit on
the extreme end of the spectrum; and he believed that it was humiliating for
the actors and that it compromised their dignity. So he purposed a milder
alternative for the training; where adolescents would completely abstain from
wine and moderate wine drinking for men under thirty. There were other
indulgences that were forbidden; for example they were not to have sex before
performances or some were not to have sex at all. Even though they had these
limitations on their indulgences, they were well looked after and given every
non-harmful luxury possible while in training. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fifth century representational
art didn’t express the feelings and passions of the plays with features, but
through posture and movement through the entire body instead. With this they
put greater emphasis on methods pertaining to voice, movement and ability to
perform in multiple roles. Vocally they had to master the art of speaking, be
able to sing and be able to speak in time and rhythm with the music. With the
number of actors on stage limited to three and many parts within varying plays
all of the actors, particularly the second and third actor, needed to develop
different movements, voice inflections and gestures for each character that
they portrayed. In addition to their movements and gestures they needed to be
able to express different feelings, like ecstasy or madness, through dancing
and all movement. All of this also had to be flexible in size so as to fill the
size of the theatre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before the state became involved
with the festivals and the competitions and their workings; the poet and the
actor were highly dependent upon each other. It was around 449 B.C. they became
independent of each other and instead became dependent on the state instead.
After the dependence switch the archon, one of the chief magistrates, would
select and appoint an actor to one of the three poets, until each had one actor.
After which each primary actor would then find the two subordinate actors. It
is then theorized that the primary actor would work with the chorus trainer to
assign roles. With the number of characters continually growing it must have
made role assignment fairly difficult to manage at times.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As they didn’t allow women to
perform on stage at this time all of the female roles were performed by men.
They felt that women’s voices and a few other qualities would not bring the
right kind of energy to the roles of tragic heroines. Despite not using women
they would occasionally use children and animals on stage. More often than not
one role would have to be acted out by several actors, depending on role
assignment and the scenes needs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If an actor became famous they were
held in the highest honor and were given extra privileges throughout the land.
These actors were exempt from military service and taxes. They were also
granted some political privileges and were used as diplomatic envoys. As envoys
they were allowed to move abroad to all parts of the state. While they moved
around they were granted help and protection from the sovereigns and the heads
of state, just like the poets had received before them. As they moved they
brought the classical masterpieces of Athens with them causing the works to be
preserved and circulated throughout the ancient world.</span></p>
<h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;">The Stage & The Technical Aspects</h2><h2 class="MsoSubtitle" style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HB1ESi0r1dw/YB8tPi_AzQI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/9JvLi-senfEx8R_v2aU4jW7f5qGH6G4-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s323/theaterdiagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="323" height="279" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HB1ESi0r1dw/YB8tPi_AzQI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/9JvLi-senfEx8R_v2aU4jW7f5qGH6G4-ACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h279/theaterdiagram.jpg" title="Greek Theatre Stage" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/graphics/theaterdiagram.jpg">Greek Stage Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">As it has been noted throughout this
piece the theatres in ancient Greece were open-air spaces outside. As such they
had to pay mind to the weather throughout performances, for they would rather
be caught in a storm and have to stop the play than to be in an enclosed space.
For being in the enclosed space; they felt entirely would destroy the serenity
of their religious ceremonies. Today we have several different types of stages
for theaters all over the world. The Greek theater design today is called an
arena theatre as the acting space is mostly surrounded by the audience. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today there are about 200 ancient
Greek theatres in various states of preservation. There are old stone records
in existence that confirm that what we call theatres actually was used for the
purpose of producing plays. As part of the design of the theatres the builders
would build it into a hill sided to have the gentle slope in the theatron. It
is believed that during the time of the great tragedians all of the inner parts
of the theatres were built of perishable material, like wood. With only the
outer wall of the theatron was built of stone, just as the walls of the sacred
precincts of the priests of Dionysus was. There was a time that the theatre
actually belonged to the sanctuary of Dionysus-Eleuthereus, and they held
religious ceremonies there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t
until the Attic statesman, Lycurgus, had many of the theatres of Dionysus would
be rebuilt with stone. After their rebuilds many of the theatres had excellent
acoustics, with the stone and the semi-circular design it helped to boost the
acoustics naturally; they still maintain their acoustics to this day. While
their designs may have slight differences there are a few parts of the Greek
stage were the skene, the orchestra, the logeion and the theatron; that were
seen in majority of the remaining theatres. Some of these words are still used
in today’s society they simply carry a different mean today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Translated
from Greek skene means tent, it is also the name given to the building behind
the orchestra and the logeion. Originally this structure was used only for
storage of everything needed for the performances and was a convenient location
for actors to change costumes as needed. A second story was often built on top
of the main building to provide more backdrops for the actors on the logeion,
in addition to adding more potential entrances and exits to be used in the
play. Over time the skene would see redesigns and have some mechanisms added to
it to enhance the performances. They would place the machinery that would be
used to bring the gods in through the air or the taking other actors from the
“earth”, was placed on top of the skene instead of being placed inside of it
like other mechanisms used for the productions. It is believed that Sophocles
is the inventor of scene painting on the skene to add to the backgrounds of the
plays. This belief is said to be supported in the inner most essence of his
poetry. To make the scenery change they had triangles that turned on an axis
fastened underneath each triangle. Not all of the scenery was painted, like if
it was a representation of a desert island with rocks and caves it is believed
that these sets were not painted. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">The
word orchestra is a derivative of the Greek word orcheîsthai, which means to
dance. The orchestra obtained its circular design because the original dances
performed by the Cult of Dionysus were circle dances. Today we refer to the
orchestra as a group of musicians and their location as the orchestra pit. It
was situated between the theatron and the logeion, and it was the primary
location for the choral performances. There was an elevated platform,
resembling an altar, that was placed in the orchestra and it was called the
thymele. The thymele was located at the center of the structure, and all of the
measurements for the theatron and the amphitheater’s semi-circle was based off
of this central location. This is believed to be where the chorus could be
found when they were not performing, but was simply observing the action taking
place. When the leader of the chorus would communicate with the characters it
was from atop this platform. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">The
logeion translates to speaking place, so this was the stage for the Greek
actors during this period of time. It was positioned behind the orchestra but
in front of the skene. It could stand between ten to twelve feet high and it
spanned the entire width of the skene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">The
theatron are the seats for the spectators that form a semicircle around the
orchestra. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word itself translates to
the seeing place, today the theatron has changed into the word that we use to
describe the entire building where performances are held. These seats rise up
the further back you go so as to give an equal viewing for all of the
spectators for the performances. The increase of height is just a slight one as
you go up the rows of seats, just as you see in theatres today. Even the lowest
step of the theatron is raised slightly higher than the orchestra, which is
sunken down a few degrees as there are no spectators in the orchestra. The
theatron itself surrounded the orchestra by about two-thirds. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Between
the theatron and the skene on both sides are two aisles called the parodos,
these aisles were the entrance and exit places for the chorus to the orchestra.
This entrance was also used by the audience to get to their seats and to leave
the performances. The word parodos had another meaning aside from the name of
the aisles, it was also the name of the song the chorus sang as they entered.
It is believed that in most instances the entrance of the chorus was a stately
processional marking the formal beginning of the play. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Then when they exited
with the exodos is believed to have been the formal ending of the play.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In conclusion, many of the elements discussed are the basis for the
guidelines and designs that are used in theatrical productions today.
While this may not be the absolute origin of theatre, it is where things
started to change into what we know as theatre today. These poets are
some of the first to have their stories written down instead of just
oral stories. A lot of this information has formed the basis for
everything we know and believe even if some of it is still a little
clouded by mystery.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sources Cited<br /></h2><div class="full module moduleText" id="mod_40584226"><div class="txtd" id="txtd_40584226"><p>Arnott, P.D. (1989). <em>Public and performance in the Greek theatre.</em> New York, NY: Routledge.</p>
<p>Ashby, C. (1999). <em>Classical Greek theatre: new views of an old subject. </em>Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.</p>
<p>Bieber, M. (1939). <em>History of the Greek and Roman theatre. </em>Princeton: Princeton University Press.</p>
<p>Cartwright, M. (2013, March 16). <em>Greek Tragedy.</em> Retrieved from Ancient History Encyclopedia: http://ancient.eu/Greek_Tragedy/</p>
<p>Cartwright, M. (2013, March 25). <em>Greek Comedy.</em> Retrieved from Ancient History Encyclopedia: http://ancient.eu/Greek_Comedy/</p>
<p>Hemingway, C. (2004, October). <em>Theater in Ancient Greece.</em> Retrieved from Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/thtr/hd_thtr.htm</p>
<p>Schlegel, A.W. (1815). <em>A Course of lectures on dramatic art and literature</em> (Vol. 1)(pp.52-270)(John Black, Trans.). London: Baldwin, Cradock and Joy.</p>
<p>Simon, E. (1982). <em>The ancient theatre </em>(C.E. Vafopoulou-Richardson, Trans.). New York: Methuen.</p></div>
</div>Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0Harlan, IN, USA41.195998300000007 -84.91968179999999212.885764463821161 -120.07593179999999 69.506232136178852 -49.763431799999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869114893467811189.post-4352846302517477232021-02-06T18:26:00.001-05:002021-02-06T18:26:32.055-05:00Vaudeville, What is that?!<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQcjR3wnjJY/YB8Tqcj9e2I/AAAAAAAAANQ/vpM_ibhsGXw4VJQV0Cu-AMPcg97y1DKlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s531/Continuous_Vaudeville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="531" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQcjR3wnjJY/YB8Tqcj9e2I/AAAAAAAAANQ/vpM_ibhsGXw4VJQV0Cu-AMPcg97y1DKlQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h293/Continuous_Vaudeville.jpg" title="Box Office" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mortaljourney.com/2011/03/all-trends/vaudeville-theater-shows">Box Office Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><span> </span>Many people are most likely to know about the Victorian Era of theatre
due to Shakespeare or a little bit about Broadway due to today's
celebrities, but if you were to mention Vaudeville and you will most
likely get questions. Vaudeville for the most part is often a forgotten
section of theatre history, so what is it?</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Origin </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><span> </span>We have the term vaudeville, but
what does it mean or refer to, it is defined as a farce with music
(Vaudeville,2014). The term is believed to have been adopted in the
United States from the Parisian boulevard theatre, upon which the term
vaux-de-vire, satirical songs in couplets sung in the fifteenth century
in Normandy, France, was corrupted into vaudeville (Vaudeville,2014).
Rozieres headed a theatrical company that left the Comedie Italien and
opened a Theatre du Vaudeville in 1792 in Paris, and they were
frequently in trouble for their tropical allusions and often had to fall
back on semi-historical pieces (Sobel,1961). During the eighteenth
century vaudeville bloomed in England into what was called music halls
and tavern annexes that offered a wide variety of programs including
acrobatic acts, comic songs and conjuring (Sobel,1961).</p><div class="txtd" id="txtd_38333103">
<p><span> </span>The term refers to a light entertainment form that was popular during
the mid-1890s through the early 1930s; which is the counterpart to the
English music halls, in the United States (Vaudeville,2014). In the
beginning to put it broadly there were only two types of variety show
one for men only and one for mixed audiences (Sobel,1961). Descending
from variety shows and the lyceum circuit, which prospered in the United
States from the 1830s to the 1870s, came the American version of
vaudeville (Mroczka,2013). It also grew from America's love for variety
of entertainment (Mroczka,2013).</p>
<p><span> </span>When it started it was more associated with variety than lyceum and
it had a bad reputation to attract drunks, prostitutes, and the "common
rabble" to their houses (Mroczka,2013). Variety entertainment became
popular in the urban centers and the frontier settlements during the
1850s and 60s (Vaudeville: About Vaudeville,1999). In the United States
and Canada vaudeville's life span started in the 1880s and ended in the
1930s, some fifty odd years (Mroczka,2013). In the late 1840s in New
York the first "vaudeville house" was built by William Valentine
(Sobel,1961). The shows had usually twelve or fifteen acts, with the
last half of the show lasting until daylight (Soble,1961). Prior to 1881
vaudeville shows were for men only as they were seen as "indecent" for
other audience members; that changed when Tony Pastor, a ballad and
minstrel singer, cleaned up variety acts for families (Vaudeville: About
Vaudeville,1999). Seeing that wider audiences meant more money other
managers started to follow his lead (Vaudeville: About Vaudeville,1999).</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Who & The What of Vaudeville</h2><div class="txtd" id="txtd_38333104"><p><span> </span>In the theatre world where would
we be without our managers there to make sure everything runs as
smoothly as possible, nowhere is where we would be. It would be a little
more than chaotic without the managers to help keep the flow of a show
going. A few all-powerful moguls manipulated the major vaudeville
circuits leaving the smaller affiliated circuits to cooperate with them
by means of the central metropolitan booking offices and their
protective association of vaudeville managers (Sobel,1961). Some of
these important managers were: Tony Pastor, Martin Beck, F.F. Proctor,
B.F. Keith and E.F. Albee; all of whom started out as performers and
became managers and were remembered by their attitudes towards the
performers and the public (Sobel,1961). Vaudeville chains, a group of
houses controlled by one manager, was a firmly established era by the
end of the nineteenth century (Vaudeville,2014). The largest of these
chains were United Booking Office, controlling 400 theaters in the East
and Midwest, and Martin Beck's Orpheum Circuit, which controlled houses
from Chicago to California (Vaudeville,2014). Motion pictures were added
to vaudeville shows as an attraction and as a way to clear the house
between shows in 1896 (Vaudeville,2014). Slowly motion pictures took
more and more time, and after "talkies" were introduced around 1927 and
the bills started to show full-length motion pictures with acts of
vaudeville (Vaudeville,2014). Beck built The Palace Theatre in New York
which became the most outstanding vaudeville house in the United States
from 1913 to 1932 (Vaudeville,2014).</p>
<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmZMdzFn9Ak/YB8jIJodIII/AAAAAAAAANk/cNV_H640xtAsBoWlaUkSIGJIWBtLdY1twCLcBGAsYHQ/s644/tony-pastor0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmZMdzFn9Ak/YB8jIJodIII/AAAAAAAAANk/cNV_H640xtAsBoWlaUkSIGJIWBtLdY1twCLcBGAsYHQ/w224-h320/tony-pastor0001.jpg" title="Tony Pastor" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://travsd.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/stars-of-vaudeville-162-tony-pastor/">Tony Pastor Source</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span>During the height of vaudeville's popularity, it was the dream of any
vaudeville performer to play at The Palace, by playing there it meant
that you had made it (Mroczka,2013). Though the Palace is still around
it is now a Broadway theatre instead of a vaudeville theatre
(Mroczka,2013). Vaudeville was composed of a wide variety of different
show stiles, they had shows like comedians, plate-spinners, animal
trainers and singers just to name a few acts (Vaudeville: About
Vaudeville,1999). With the shows they would start and end with the
weakest, and the performances ranged from truly talented to very quirky
(Vaudeville: About Vaudeville,1999).</p>
<p><span> </span>It wasn't just that vaudeville was a series of entertaining sketches;
it was symbolic of all the cultural diversities in the early twentieth
century America; through it wasn't free of the day's prejudices it still
crossed class and racial boundaries and was the first exposure to the
cultures of the people down the street for many people (Vaudeville:
About Vaudeville,1999). Some of the biggest stars of the mid-twentieth
century like Judy Garland, Bob Hope and James Cagney got their start in
vaudeville; but not all of the vaudeville stars were able to make it big
elsewhere (Mroczka,2013).</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Death of Vaudeville</h2><p> <span> </span>The Great Depression hit
everyone hard including the patrons, performers and the managers of
vaudeville. The effects weren't very obvious until the early 1930s, when
the big vaudeville circuits were tightened to the point of
strangulation because there were fewer coins in the rainy day funds
(Sobel,1961). The radio played its part in vaudeville's fall, it offered
the ex-patrons the chance to listen to vaudeville stars for free and
from the comfort of their own sitting rooms (Sobel,1961). A rumored
cause was that Albee was trying to monopolize it, and in the end killed
it instead (Sobel,1961).</p><div class="txtd" id="txtd_38333106">
<p><span> </span>Not all vaudeville performers were able to gain back their popularity
back but those that did made the jump to other venues like Broadway or
television (Sobel,1961). Oddly enough with movies and the TV industry is
where vaudeville left its biggest mark with performers like Charlie
Chaplin, who incorporated the physical comedy that he learned on
vaudeville into his silent films (Vaudeville: About Vaudeville,1999).
Even with its decline vaudeville still survives in bits and pieces in
different shows throughout the decades; like The Ed Sullivan Show, The
Hollywood Palace and even the late night shows of today, like Letterman
where each has some form of the vaudeville comedic sketches
(Mroczka,2013).</p>
<p><span> </span>So even though in large part vaudeville is gone it is most definitely
still around in new mediums. The comedy sketches on many late night
talk shows are one piece of vaudeville that will continue holding up the
legacy of vaudeville for years to come.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDsF15si6s0/YB8ip5tGdVI/AAAAAAAAANc/TqjjiaNVNA08WFJviLtBpUcg46zXGxNvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Palace%2BTheatre%2BThen%2B%2526%2BNow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1667" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDsF15si6s0/YB8ip5tGdVI/AAAAAAAAANc/TqjjiaNVNA08WFJviLtBpUcg46zXGxNvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Palace%2BTheatre%2BThen%2B%2526%2BNow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_Theatre_%28New_York_City%29">Palace Theatre Images Sourced</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p></div></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"> Sources Cited</h2><div class="txtd" id="txtd_38333116"><p>Vaudeville. In (2014). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624129/vaudeville</p>
<p>Morczka, P. (2013, November 13). Vaudeville: America's vibrant art
form with a short lifetime. Retrieved from
http://broadwayscene.com/vaudeville-americas-vibrant-art-form-with-a-short-lifetime/</p>
<p>Vaudeville: About Vaudeville. (1999, October 08). Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/vaudeville/about-vaudeville/721/</p>
<p>Sobel, B. (1961). A pictorial history of vaudeville. New York: The Citadel Press</p></div></div>Jennifer Beinekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09114543457116623038noreply@blogger.com0Harlan, IN, USA41.195998300000007 -84.91968179999999212.885764463821161 -120.07593179999999 69.506232136178852 -49.763431799999992