Theatre from the 20th
st
century to the 21
century
By Danielle Issa
th
20
Century
Theatre is an art form and was preformed in various
places during the early 20th century.
Burlesque
Vaudeville
Musical Theatre was also advancing; a subdivision of
theatre still used today.
George Cohan
George Michael Cohan was one of the best talents in
American musical comedy in the early 20th century.
His productions, were usually
patriotic-themed shows that
exemplified New York City
and Broadway
Brought vaudeville to the legitimate stage and transformed
American musical theater
Vaudeville Show
Variety Acts
“Clean advertized for women and children…not just
men.
Advertized to the Middle Class
Orpheum Circuit
Chain of Vaudeville Houses
Vaudeville Cont…
Big Artists & Popular Songs:
Lillian Russell
Four Cohan’s
Houdini
Abbot and Costello
In the Good Old Summertime
When You Were Sixteen
Sweet Adeline
Vaudeville Cont…
Decline:
Started fading in the 1920’s – 1930’s  sound was put
in movies in the 1930’s
Stars left the stage for Hollywood
Died from irreparable damaged cause by
The Depression
Talking Motion Pictures
Radio
Night Clubs
Vaudeville Legacy
Was the first cheap and popular musical theatre in
American for an entire family.
No class discrimination, in artists and audience.
Taught that variety was the main ingredient to keep an
audience’s attention
People learned from experience how to:
Capture audience
Pace a performance
Respond to a crisis
Burlesque Show
“A theatrical entertainment of broad and earthly
humor; consists of comic skits and short turns (and
sometimes striptease)” –Webb Dictionary
American Burlesque evolved from the one-act parody
English burlesque
English burlesque focused on the dialogue, American
burlesque moved away from that.
American burlesque was not in rhymed couplets, but it
did have satire.
Burlesque Cont…
Burlesque; spectacle, extravaganza  different names
Michael Bennett Leavitt “father of burlesque”
Women
The female stars were hefty by today’s standards
Salome dancers
The hula-hula dancers
Venus dancers
And audience participation exhibition
Burlesque Decline
From the 1870’s to the 1920’s. bold raucous, and gaudy
burlesques toured the country playing to manly crowds
eager for naughty grown-up amusement
The decline of burlesques started when the western
wheel started to have dirty shows and then died out.
The same thing for the eastern wheel
After the two wheels died out the striptease became the
replacement
Striptease could be very artful
Gypsy Rose Lee
When she was doing striptease, it really did tease
Her was so good that it moved
from burlesques right to
revue, film and television
She was one of the lucky
striptease performers
Interview
Who: Ms. Hood
Theatre Arts teacher at Moreau Catholic High School
President of the CETA organization
Directs Moreau’s fall play and spring musical
What impacts did theatre in the early 20th century have
on the U.S. ? How does it reflect the time?
“Theatre during the first part of the 20th century
because of the large amount of European immigrants.
Yiddish Theatre, well established in many parts of
Europe, came to America in the late 1800s.”
“By the early part of the 20th century, it was one of the
most important theatrical entities in New York (on and
off Broadway).”
Answer Cont…
“The Moscow Art Theatre developed an ensemble-based approach
to a production and also developed what we call "realism" in
acting. This important shift of the way theatre was approached
made it's way to the U.S. when the Moscow Art Theatre toured
there. Their style became popular in the U.S. and contributed to
the development of "The Method" process of acting.”
“Russian theatre artists developed what is known as "Psychological
Realism." This style of acting became a very popular process and is
taught in many schools and conservatories, most famously in The
Actors Studio in NYC. Because it is more realistic, it has also had
a great effect on the film world when motion pictures were
invented, because this more "low-key" style of acting is perfect for
the camera.“
What was theatre like in the 1920’s? How prevalent was
it?
“Theatre came to America with the settlers in the 1600s and with
the constant immigration over the next 3 centuries. By the 1920s
it's a very popular form of entertainment especially in cities that
built theatres.”
“It was a cheap form of entertainment that the masses could enjoy.
It reflected 20th century idealism and patriotism because
immigrants were eager to fit in and because of WWI. And also,
there was no film yet, nor TV and radio was just being developed.
Vaudeville and burlesque were very popular and they reached even
bigger masses because they toured the country.”
“Many cities built vaudeville and burlesque houses as well as
legitimate theatres. Because radio was not yet developed enough
for commercial use, popular songs of the times came from opera,
operetta, vaudeville, burlesque, music halls, and legit theatre.”
What factors influenced theatre existence in the
1920’s and it’s development
“3+ million Jews had emigrated to the U.S. many of who
settled in New York. Yiddish Theatre was not only
entertainment for them, but it was also a cultural center
point for the Jewish community and helped the immigrants
keep their Jewish identity as they assimilated into American
life.”
“Also theatre and music artists from many different
European countries who emigrated to America continued
their trade in the New York theatre world and in traveling
companies. Many composers, librettists, and lyricists of the
early and mid-century musical theatre were European
immigrants”.
People, needed a source of entertainment and as the needs and views of the
people of the people began to change, so did theatre otherwise it would fall
and crumble, that how we had transitions from burlesque, to vaudeville etc.
For most of 20th-century theatre, realism has been the mainstream. Realism
became the dominant form of theatre in the 20th-century.
U.S. theatre accelerated, There were 200 to 275 new productions a year
average. “One of the important groups that enhanced the theatrical presence
in the U.S. was the Theatre Guild, founded in 1919 with the intention of
bringing important foreign works to improve theatre in the U.S. By the mid
1920s, playwrights the United States were also competing to have their works
produced by the Theatre Guild.”
During the 1920s, American musical theatre began to develop more fully,
with the Ziegfeld Follies offering variety acts and introducing songwriters and
performers to theatre audiences.”
Cont…
The massive social change that went on during the Great
Depression also had an effect on theatre in the United States.
Plays took on social roles, identifying with immigrants and the
unemployed.
“The Federal Theatre Project, a New Deal program set up by
Franklin D. Roosevelt, helped to promote theatre and provide jobs
for actors. The program staged many elaborate and controversial
plays such as It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis and The
Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein. By contrast, the legendary
producer Brock Pemberton (founder of the Tony Awards) was
among those who felt that it was more than ever a time for comic
entertainment, in order to provide an escape from the prevailing
harsh social conditions.”
In your opinion what has changed from theatre in the
early 20th century to the 21st century?
The advance of motion pictures led to changes in theatre.
The Jazz Singer of 1927, combined both talking and music
in a moving picture. By 1915, actors were being lured away
from theatre and to the silver screen, and vaudeville was
beginning to face stiff competition.
“Definitely the out-of-control development of media computers, video games, texting, facebook, blogs, twitters,
etc. Rap, hip-hop, etc. As our culture has changed it has had
a huge impact on theatre - some good things some bad.
Definitely theatre has taken a back seat to all these other
quick stimuli as our fast-paced lifestyle gains more and more
momentum. A lot of people think of theatre as "oldfashioned." Sad but true. And very wrong.”
st
21
Century
st
21
Century
Broadway = LOTS OF MUSICAL THEATRE
Converting movies to musicals
Little Mermaid
Lion King
Theatre at a decline
“Old Fashion”
Not as entertaining.
st
21
Century
Controversial Topics
Racism
Homosexuality
More abstract
Miming
Pantomime
Things aren’t crystal clear
Technological advances
Added production elements
Lighting and different sounds
st
21
Century
Diversity
Shows casted more color blind (Most of the time)
Say no no…
Black face!
Controversial Shows
i.e. Reasons to be Pretty
Citation
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Mar. 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Theater_of_the_United_States#Theatre>.
"20th Century Theatre." Theatre Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar.
2011. <http://www.theatredatabase.com/>.
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