Burlesque

From New World Encyclopedia
The Machison Sisters, a nineteenth century vaudeville-burlesque act

Burlesque is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring parodic humor, usually usually consists of comic skits and sometimes a chorus line or striptease. The name burlesque is derived from the literary tradition of the same name, characterized by comic imitation of a serious artistic form.

Burlesque originated in nineteenth-century music hall entertainments and vaudeville. In the early twentieth century it emerged as a popular blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment.

In burlesque, performers often create elaborate sets with lush, colorful costumes, mood-appropriate music, and dramatic lighting. It may also include novelty acts, such as fire-breathing or demonstrations of unusual flexibility, to enhance the impact of performances.

Like its cousin, commedia dell'arte, burlesque turns social norms head over heels. The genre traditionally encompasses a variety of acts such as dancing girls, chanson singers, stand-up comics, mime artists, and strip tease, all satirical and with a saucy edge. The strip tease element of burlesque became subject to extensive local legislation, leading to a carefully limited theatrical form that titillated without falling foul of censors.

Development

Scene from the 1880s burlesque "The Forty Thieves" by British comic playwright Robert Reece
Burlesque star Gilda Gray popularized the dance known as the "Shimmy"
Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee

The burlesque genre originated in the 1840s, early in the Victorian Era, a time of culture clashes between the social rules of established aristocracy and a working-class society. Possibly due to historical social tensions between the upper classes and lower classes of society, much of the humor and entertainment of burlesque focused on lowbrow and ribald subjects.

British poster from the 1890s advertises a "farcical comedy."

Early burlesque featured shows that emphasized comic sketches, often lampooning the social attitudes of the upper classes, alternating with dance routines. It developed alongside vaudeville in the late nineteenth century and ran on competing circuits. In its heyday, however, burlesque bore little resemblance to earlier literary "burlesques" which parodied widely known works of literature, theater, or music.

The popular burlesque show of the 1870s through the 1920s was a raucous, bawdy style of variety theater. It was inspired by Lydia Thompson and her troupe, the British Blondes, who first appeared in the United States in the 1860s, and also by early "leg" shows such as The Black Crook (1866). The form, humor, and aesthetic traditions of burlesque were largely derived from the minstrel show. Another well known early burlesque troupe was the Rentz-Santley Novelty and Burlesque Company, created in 1870 by M.B. Leavitt, who had earlier feminized the minstrel show with her group Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels.

Burlesque rapidly adapted the minstrel show's structure: part one was composed of songs and dances rendered by a female company, interspersed with low comedy from male comedians. Part two was a potpourri of short specialty acts in which the women did not appear. The show would end with grand finale in which the entire company would perform.

According to entertainment hisotrian Robert G. Allen: "Without question... burlesque's principal legacy as a cultural form was its establishment of patterns of gender representation that forever changed the role of the woman on the American stage and later influenced her role on the screen... The very sight of a female body not covered by the accepted costume of bourgeois respectability forcefully if playfully called attention to the entire question of the 'place' of woman in American society." Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture: 258-9).

The genre often mocked established entertainment forms such as opera, Shakespearean drama, musicals, and ballet. The costuming (or lack thereof) increasingly focused on forms of dress considered inappropriate for polite society. By the 1880s, the burlesque had evolved some informal rules for defining itself:

  • Sexually suggestive dialog, dance, plotlines and staging.
  • Quick-witted humor laced with puns, but lacking complexity.
  • Short routines or sketches with minimal plot cohesion across a show.
  • Minimal costuming of female performers.

Charlie Chaplin in his autobiography gives an interesting account of burlesque in Chicago in 1910:

Chicago...had a fierce pioneer gaiety that enlivened the senses, yet underlying it throbbed masculine loneliness. Counteracting this somatic ailment was a national distraction known as the burlesque show, consisting of a coterie of rough-and-tumble comedians supported by twenty or more chorus girls. Some were pretty, others shopworn. Some of the comedians were funny, most of the shows were smutty harem comedies—coarse and cynical affairs (Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography: 125–6).

The popular burlesque show of this period eventually evolved into the strip tease which became the dominant ingredient of burlesque by the 1930s. In the 1930s, a social crackdown on burlesque shows led to their gradual downfall. The shows had slowly changed from ensemble ribald variety performances, to simple performances focusing mostly on the strip tease. The end of burlesque and the birth of striptease was later dramatised in the entertaining film The Night They Raided Minsky's.

Burlesque and film

A number of burlesque stars brought their risque comedic skills to film, among them W.C. Fields, May West, Fanny Brice, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason.

The first motion-picture adaptation of an actual burlesque show was Hollywood Revels (1946), a theatrical feature film starring exotic dancer Allene. Much of the action was filmed in medium or long shots, because the production was staged in an actual theater and the camera photographed the stage from a distance.

In 1947, enterprising film producer W. Merle Connell reinvented the filmed burlesque show by restaging the action especially for movies, in a studio. The camerawork and lighting were better, the sound was better, and the new setup allowed for close-ups and a variety of photographic and editorial techniques. His 1951 production French Follies is a faithful depiction of a burlesque presentation, with stage curtains, singing emcee, dances by showgirls and strippers, frequent sketches with straightmen and comedians, and a finale featuring the star performer. The highlight is the famous burlesque routine "Crazy House," popularized earlier by Abbott and Costello. Another familiar chestnut, "Slowly I Turned" (famous today as a Three Stooges routine), was filmed for Connell's 1953 feature A Night in Hollywood.

Other producers entered the field, using color photography and even location work. Naughty New Orleans (1954) is an excellent example of burlesque entertainment on film, equally showcasing girls and gags, although it shifts the venue from a burlesque-house stage to a popular nightclub. Photographer Irving Klaw filmed a very profitable series of burlesque features, usually featuring star cheesecake model Bettie Page and various lowbrow comedians (including future TV star Joe E. Ross). Page's most famous features are Striporama (1953), Varietease (1954), and Teaserama (1955).

These movies, as their titles imply, were only teasing the viewer: the girls wore revealing costumes but there was never any nudity. In the late 1950s, however, other producers made more provocative films, sometimes using a "nudist colony" format, and the relatively tame burlesque-show movie died out. As early as 1954 burlesque was already considered a bygone form of entertainment; burlesque veteran Phil Silvers laments the passing of burlesque in the movie musical Top Banana.

New Burlesque

Contemporary burlesque performer Immodesty Blaize

A new generation nostalgic for the spectacle and perceived glamour of the old times determined to bring burlesque back. This revival was pioneered independently in the mid 1990s by Billie Madley's "Cinema" and Ami Goodheart’s “Dutch Weismanns’ Follies” revues in New York and Michelle Carr’s “The Velvet Hammer Burlesque” troupe in Los Angeles. In addition, and throughout the country, many individual performers were incorporating aspects of burlesque in their acts. These productions, inspired by the likes of Sally Rand, Tempest Storm, Gypsy Rose Lee and Lili St. Cyr have themselves gone on to inspire a new generation of performers.

Today, New Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque’s previous incarnations, with acts including striptease, expensive costumes, bawdy humor, cabaret, and more. There are modern burlesque performers and shows all over the world, and annual conventions such as the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and the Miss Exotic World Pageant are held.

Famous Burlesque Stars

  • Abbott & Costello
  • Jack Albertson
  • Robert Alda
  • Milton Berle
  • Jo Boobs
  • Fanny Brice
  • Sherry Britton
  • Ann Corio
  • Millie DeLeon
  • Immodesty Blaize

  • Marie Dressler
  • Leon Errol
  • Dixie Evans
  • Joey Faye
  • W.C. Fields
  • Jackie Gleason
  • Gilda Gray
  • Bob Hope
  • Bert Lahr
  • Gypsy Rose Lee
  • Jennie Lee
  • Pinky Lee

  • Dirty Martini
  • Billie Madley
  • Bettie Page
  • Molly Picon
  • Tracy Phillips
  • The World Famous Pontani Sisters
  • Rags Ragland
  • Sally Rand
  • Betty Rowland

  • Phil Silvers
  • Red Skelton
  • Lili St. Cyr
  • Tura Satana
  • Blaze Starr
  • Tempest Storm
  • Dita Von Teese
  • Lola the Vamp
  • Mae West
  • Bette Midler

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Allen, Robert G. Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0807819609
  • Jump, John Davies. Burlesque. London: Methuen, 1972. ISBN 978-0416666502
  • Minsky, Morton, and Machlin, Milt. Minsky's Burlesque. New York: Arbor House, 1986. ISBN 978-0877957430
  • Warrack, John, and West, Ewan. The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Oxford ISBN 0-19-869164-5

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