Vaudeville

The term Vaudeville is of French origin, and is usually applied to plays of light or satiric nature, interspersed with songs. In the fifteenth century it referred to French satirical songs added to comedies; later a form of light or comic opera.

The evolution of the form in English countries

In the USA the term (and its alternative, variety) has become synonymous to what is known as "music hall" in Britain and its colonies. It evolved to became the general name for a show consisting of a number of contracted acts, or “turns”, including songs, dances, acrobatic displays, It formally existed in America between 1881 when Tony Pastor first put on a new kind of variety show in New York, to 1932 when the last vaudeville theatre (the Palace Theatre on Broadway) closed. It succeeded the older concept of variety, though thought to be a little more “genteel”, and - like variety - consisted of a collection of anything up to fifteen robust farcical, comic, musical, animal, and other acts.

A rich tradition, it exists even today, though in vastly smaller numbers than in its heyday. Its influence has been quite pervasive in the popular arts.

In the late 20th century for example something called the "New Music Hall" or "New Vaudeville" arose in the USA and elsewhere.

In South Africa this form arrived largely through a number of British music hall performers and American vaudeville and variety stars who visited the country in the early years of the 20th century. The South African tradition of variety is discussed under African Variety and Vaudeville in South Africa below.

For Vaudeville performances in South Africa, see Music Hall, Minstrels and Cabaret