What is Vaudeville?

Vaudeville was a form of variety entertainment which was very popular in the United States, Canada and England from mid-1800s until the 1950s.
The performances consisted of singers, dancers, comedians, ventriloquist, magicians and novelty acts.

Vaudeville performers would travel from town to town and perform on stage in vaudeville theaters, some of today's movie theaters began as vaudeville theaters.
Vaudeville companies sometimes performed in large tents, similar to circus tents but with a "dramatic end". A dramatic end tent is designed so that one end is free of poles to accommodate a stage and dressing area.

Vaudeville has often been confused with burlesque, however they are quite different. Burlesque is similar to vaudeville but is a form of adult entertainment performed on stage featuring strippers, risqué comics and novelty acts.

We invite submissions from the families of vaudevillians. If we get adequate information on an individual (biography, photos Etc.), we may add that person to the website.

If you only have basic information (name, date of birth and death, cities lived or worked in, Etc.), we will add that to our vaudeville database for future research and possible inclusion in the website at a later date.

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