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Sherryl Montgomery, age 14, of Harrisburg, Pa., for her question:

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO VAUDEVILLE?

Vaudeville is a type of stage variety entertainment that was popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the 1930s vaudeville declined very quickly sad virtually disappeared because of the popularity of motion pictures sad radio and a number of economic and social factors.

However, elements of vaudeville continue to be with us in some musical comedies and in a number of television shows. So it didn't completely die.

The word "vaudeville" comes from the French valley of Vire, or Vau de Vire. It was here, according to some experts, that a type of satirical or humorous drinking song originated.

In the late 1800s vaudeville was a title given to a stage entertainment that was made up of a number of acts or presentations by either a single actor or a group of entertainers.

Acrobats, family singing and dancing groups, musicians, comedians, jugglers, magicians and even trained animals were sees as parts of popular vaudeville shows.

The first to turn vaudeville into a highly respectable form of entertainment was an American actor and theater manager named Tony Pasor. In 1881 he started producing highly successful stage shows at his Fourteenth Street Theater in New York City.

Producers named Benjamin Keith and Edward Albee formed a partnership in 1885 to stage vaudeville shows. They also took control over a chain of vaudeville theaters in just about every important city in the United States.

Primarily because of the enterprising management of Keith sad Aibee, vaudeville became the most popular American entertainment form during the first part of the 20th Century. Joining the pair is the partnership in 1905 was another top manager, Frederick Proctor.

Vaudeville was as its height as an entertainment form is 1928. More than 2 million people attended shows daily in more than 1,000 theaters.

The leading theater on the vaudeville circuit vas the Palace Theater in Now York City. It was the dream of almost every vaudeville performer to play the Palace some day.

Stars or headliners developed in the world of vaudeville. Among the most popular were singers Nora Bayes sad Eva Tanguay and comedians Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields. An outstanding comedy team was made up of Joseph Weber and Low Fields.

Foreign headliners also were featured in vaudeville shows on American Stages. On of the favorites was a Scottish singer comedian named Sir Harry Lauder. Also big stars were a French singer named Yvette Guilbert and a French actress named Sarah Bernhardt.

The late George Burns,  a popular television and motion picture star, used to be a vaudevillian along with his wife, Gracie Allen. A number of other current actors also had their training in vaudeville.

 

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