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Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, 2 volumes
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You Are Here: Books About Antiques > Collector Encyclopedias > Item 546 of 556
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$340.00 |
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$340.00
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Available from Amazon
Price Last Updated : 7-30-2008
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Features
Library Binding: 1375 pages
Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition October 8, 2006
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0415938538
ISBN-13: 978-0415938532
Product Dimensions:
11.1 x 8.7 x 1.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
Product Description
This is a one-of-a-kind reference work to the history of vaudeville, performance art, burlesque, revue, and comic opera. Author Frank Cullen has done deep research, including archival work and personal interviews, to uncover the rich history of this American art form. Most of the artists profiled here are not examined in other reference books. This will be a must-have for students of theater history and performance art, and also for anyone interested in the cultural history of America.
Publisher Description
The result of decades of research and interviews, the two-volume set, Vaudeville, Old & New: an Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, is the most comprehensive history of vaudeville yet published. It chronicles more than 150 years told through the biographies of more than a thousand vaudevillians, many of whom went on to careers in films, on Broadway, radio and television. A glossary of hundreds of terms is integrated within the A-Z text, and both volumes are generously illustrated.
Covered are:  The evolution of vaudeville from variety saloons and minstrelsy, and how it developed within the social and economic history of the era, 1820 – 1955, to become the most popular theatre of the day, providing work for more than 50,000 performers who filled bills week after week during vaudevilleÂs golden age;
 Vaudeville, as the Â"peopleÂs art,Â" a vernacular form that began bringing performers of various races and ethnicities onto a common stage well before most institutions in the USA integrated;
 The most extensive report on black vaudeville and the careers and contributions of African American entertainers on either white or black vaudeville circuits;
 VaudevilleÂs relationship to circus, dime store museums, comic opera, burlesk, revues, musical comedy, speakeasies, nightclubs, radio, movies and television, and the interaction and competition among them;
 How vaudeville coalesced into a major industry consisting of many regional and several nationwide circuits of thousands of centrally booked theatres;
 A look at the powers behind the scenes: entrepreneurs, bookers, performers agents, and the trade press;
 VaudevilleÂs combination of talent, chains of theatres and distribution networks provided the essential model for the rapid growth of the American motion picture industry and, during HollywoodÂs heyday, furnished studios with most of their business leaders as well as many of their most successful and beloved stars and character actors, and why, later, vaudevillians were the stars of the first TV show during the era of live telecasting.
 What happened to the last generations of vaudevillians during its decline and dissolution;
 The Â"new vaudevilliansÂ" who, despite the demise of the old institution of traditional vaudeville, have found audiences for the past 40 years.
Reader Reviews
This is an excellent addition to the often underappreciated and underwritten field of show biz history. But I've found some curious oversights that should have been corrected. For instance, Al Shean, of Gallagher of Shean, was said to have reprised the team's signature song in only one movie, Atlantic City (1944). How could the far more prominent Judy Garland vehicle, Ziegfeld Girl (MGM, 1941) be overlooked, where Al Shean reprised the number with Charles Winninger standing in for Gallagher? Also, in the Eddie Cantor entry, it's said that Cantor's film debut was a 1913 experimental film for Edison. Is this being confused with the 1922 experimental sound film Cantor did for inventor Lee De Forest (which isn't mentioned)? No reference book is perfect, but I just had to point this out. Plus, with the current popularity of the Jazz Singer DVD with all the Vitaphone shorts, I'm surprised that a consummate vaudeville performer like Adele Rowland isn't listed. But that's minor quibbling; I'm just glad a set of volumes as this is available, and I wish there was another set planned to include more of the alleged 50,000 performers who made up the world of vaudeville!
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Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, 2 volumes
by Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, and Donald McNeilly
List Price: $340.00
Available from Amazon
Price: $340.00
on 7-30-2008
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