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LIVE THEATER VARIATIONS

Vaudeville

Variety entertainment was at the height of its popularity in the United States during the first decade of the century. Vaudeville shows were attended by members of all classes and appeared—via the theatrical chains known as circuits—in nearly every town in the country. American vaudeville had little to do with the French vaudeville, a light musical-comedy form. The name vaudeville was developed as a means of distinguishing theatrical variety shows from vulgar saloon entertainments, which featured "leg shows" and striptease. Vaudeville shows consisted of eight to ten acts: jugglers, animal acts, acrobats, song-and-dance teams, magicians, ventriloquists, male and female impersonators, skits, recitations, and appearances by celebrities of the day—including criminals, who reflected on their sordid pasts. Many performers who later became film, radio, and television stars (George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Milton Berle among them) got their start in vaudeville.

On the Vaudeville Bill

The stars of the vaudeville stage in the early 1900s included Leo Carrillo (1881-1961), a member of one of California's oldest and most respected families, who later became "Pancho" in the 1950s television series The Cisco Kid) Julian Eltinge (1883-1941), a female impersonator whose 1907 success as "The Simpson Girl" was a spoof of the famous "Gibson Girl" look; and Eddie Foy (1854-1928) an Irish mimic, pantomimist, and dancer whose courage during the Iroquois Theater fire in 1903 earned him the admiration of his fellow actors. Irene Franklin (1876-1941) was known for her "kid" songs ("I'm Nobody's Baby Now") and adept characterizations of ordinary workingwomen. Ernest Hogan (1859-1909), an African American artist, was confident that vaudeville drew "no color line," until attacked by a New York City mob in 1900; undaunted, he stayed in vaudeville and the next year was commanding the then-impressive weekly salary of $300. Bonnie Thornton (1871-1920), one of vaudeville's first headliners, posed for an Adams Chewing Gum ad in 1900 and became "The Original Tutti Frutti Girl." Al Jolson (1886-1950), Sophie Tucker (1887-1966), and Ed Wynn (1886-1966) all made their vaudeville debuts during the decade.

Eccentrics

Some vaudeville acts were popular for their eccentricity: Blatz the Human Fish ate, read, and played the trombone underwater; Alfred Latell, Animal Impersonator, specialized in bears, goats, and monkeys. Adgie and Her Lions ("once seen, her marvelous work is not forgotten," read the ad) did Spanish dances and performed Delsartian movements, while prohibitionist Carry Nation took a hatchet to the set at every performance of "Ten Nights in a Barroom." Chung Ling Soo (born W. E. Robinson) caught bullets in his teeth and died in the act.

Powerful Producers

Antonio "Tony" Pastor (1837-1908), a former childhood violin prodigy and circus clown, became "The Father of Vaudeville" when he succeeded in promoting "clean" variety in New York City theaters in the 1880s, attracting a family audience with special matinees and door prizes. But he paid his performers low salaries and was soon overtaken by entrepreneurs Benjamin Keith (1846-1914) and Edward Albee (1857-1930). Keith and Albee introduced the "continuous show," in which a spectator could enter a theater at any time between 9:30 A.M. and 10:30 P.M. to see performances or films. The partners also transformed the tawdry playhouses they acquired into elegant theatrical palaces designed to attract a middle-class clientele. In 1906 the Keith-Albee circuit became the United Booking Office and dominated vaudeville in the eastern United States, while Martin Beck's Orpheum circuit played the West. Other circuits were operated by William Morris, Marcus Loew, Alexander Pantages, and F. F. Proctor. The Theatre Owners Booking Association controlled the African American circuit, and its oppressive tactics soon caused the initials TOBA to be interpreted by performers as "Tough on Black Asses." By 1905 vaudeville was a highly organized, nationwide big business, with "big time" or "two-a-day" theaters that presented two variety performances a day, and "small-time" houses that offered three to twelve shows a day. The powerful booking agencies demanded kickbacks, imposed fines, and blacklisted performers in the same manner as the Broadway theater syndicate.

Organized Response

Conditions were indeed tough on most vaudeville performers, who responded by forming actors' unions such as the White Rats (1900), to offset the oppressive operations of the Vaudeville Managers Protective Association. The Colored Vaudeville Benefit Association (1909) was an extension of an earlier African American performers' union formed in 1906. The White Rats failed to sustain their strike against the Eastern Association of Vaudeville Managers in 1901, as racial tension between the essentially segregated groups of actors prevented a united response to the unfair practices of managers and producers.

Minstrelsy on the Wane

Minstrelsy, a variety entertainment that had been popular since the Civil War, was beginning to wane by 1900 but nonetheless remained an important presence on the American stage. Minstrelsy, a combination of sentimental ballads, comic dialogue, and lively dances, is one of only a few authentic American entertainment forms. At the turn of the century, as black minstrels attempted to reclaim aspects of pre-Civil War performances, minstel shows were being staged by whites and blacks, both of whom "blacked up" their faces. The comic stereotyping of African Americans that was the essence of minstrelsy was also part of vaudeville as a whole. Dutch, Irish, Jewish, Swedish, and Italian "comics" were all familiar to audiences of the decade, but the mockery inherent in minstrelsy devolved more significantly on the lives of Americans of African heritage than did the comic presentations of white Americans. Minstrelsy did provide African American performers with an avenue into mainstream American theater, and the minstrel show performed by African Americans was also the first venue in which ragtime, jazz, and blues were performed for white audiences. Lew Dockstadter (a.k.a. George Alfred Clapp, 1856-1925) and his partner George Primrose were the most popular of the white minstrels of the decade; Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson got their initial stage training in minstrelsy and appeared in blackface as late as the 1920s. Many African Americans who performed in minstrel shows, however, soon sought to move away from minstrelsy's degrading stereotypes; Bert Williams and George Walker, Bob Cole, and the Johnson Brothers were among those who moved into vaudeville and from there to Broadway musicals. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey remained with minstrelsy until the 1910s.

Yiddish Theater

Yiddish-language theater, one of the many cultural institutions brought to the United States by European Jewish immigrants, became an important intellectual and social mainstay in the Jewish communities that expanded rapidly in urban America. Nearly a dozen Yiddish theaters flourished in New York City around the turn of the century. Forms and styles ranged from the highest poetic drama to the broadest slapstick and drew audiences from every socio-economic group. "Shund" theater (sound meaning rubbish) was the lowest form of popular entertainment and was looked down upon by more-Americanized Jews as "greenhorn" fare. Yet many talented performers began their careers in this variety style. Molly Picon (1898-1992), for example, was one of numerous comedy stars who later became successful on Broadway and in films. Serious-minded theatergoers who demanded more-sophisticated playbills formed groups such as the Progressive Dramatic Club (1902), which sponsored lectures and play readings. Yiddish theater was responsible for the first American performances of the works of Henrik Ibsen and Gerhart Hauptmann in America, and Yiddish translations of Shakespeare and Shaw were frequent attractions. Playwrights such as Sholem Asch (1880-1957), Jacob Gordin (1853-1909), and David Pinsky (1872-1959) all wrote original work during the decade, each realistically depicting the problems and pleasures of Jewish life. Yiddish theater in America tapped into mainstream sensibilities when it addressed assimilation, generational differences, and economic struggles; it touched universal sentiments with its selfdeprecating humor. This immigrant theatrical tradition—from dramatic themes to comic "bits"—exerted a far-reaching influence on American entertainment well into the twentieth century.