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 In the course of the its long history Vaudeville had created its own protocol. Vaudeville took most of its form from Minstrel shows, popular traveling troupes from the early 19th Century. In 1843, the Christy Minstrels were performing at the Bowery Theater in New York. Minstrel shows were divided into three "acts" or "sets". The first was the "line", an introductory piece with the minstrels seated in a string across the stage, a straight man in the center and acting as foil for comedians at each end. The second set was the "Olio", a collection of variety acts that often included animal acts, singers and dancers. And finally the "after-piece", which might be short dramatic renderings or comic parodies of dramatic presentations. Invariably, Minstrels were white troupes acting in Blackface and a lot of the comedy was dependent on black stereotypes. Crude perhaps, but it provided an avenue for black performers into an otherwise closed arena. While black performers also appeared in blackface and assumed the white parody of black culture, they brought their own particular talents to the stage. William "Juba" Lane was appearing with the white Georgia Champion Minstrels as early as the 1840's and presenting a unique and soon imitated dance style. By the 1890's, William Walker and Bert Williams are appearing at the Casino Theater Roof in an all Black production. This was followed shortly by, Clorindy, or the Origin of the Cakewalk, written by Will Marion Cook and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Finally, Williams, (without Walker who had died in 1911) became one of the leading headliners of Vaudeville.
By 1900, the introductory sets of the Minstrel shows were gone, and the presentations had assumed the name Vaudeville. Though blackface was still popular and would be carried into the 1950's by performers like Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor, it was no longer a requisite for the Variety stage. The "Olio" was the established format, with the "dumb acts" opening the shows, animal acts, acrobats or magicians who didn't rely on dialog. Houdini was such a "dumb act", who soon rose to top billing, a feat uncommon for a "dumb" act. "Top billing" was generally the third position on the card, and it was here that the "star" of the show would get a half hour or forty-five minutes to wow their audience. Willie Hammerstein, who was managing the Victoria for his father, added the "Freak Act" to the venue, and presented to audiences individuals who had become household names through fame or infamy. It was the freak act that gave Evelyn Nesbit her second career on the stage. When it became clear that America was tired of Miss Nesbit's story, he shipped her off to Europe and posted "rave reviews" of her European popularity in American papers. Americans were still keen on seeing Europe's top stars, so Evelyn's return was very lucrative for Hammerstein and Miss Nesbit. Like legitimate theater, Vaudeville had its circuits too. Martin Beck, Marcus Loew, Alexander Pantages, Sylvester Poli, Keith-Albee (Benjamin and Edward), F. F. Proctor and for a short time William Morris, were the names associated with the strings of theaters that criss-crossed the country from Broadway to the West Coast. Performers had seven to twelve minutes to capture their audience and entertain. In the larger theaters where the top performers were billed, the shows might run two a day, in smaller theaters where they worked to build their acts and perfect their performances the shows could be scheduled up to six times daily. Stamina was the name of that game. The history of Vaudeville is its own story. We're primarily interested in it for its contribution to the Broadway theater, particularly this decade from 1910 to 1920. It provided an avenue for black performers to participate and soon innovate on Broadway. It created an alternative for stars like Mrs. Fiske, Sarah Bernhardt, Alla Nazimova, the Barrymores, Elsie Janis, etc. to display their talents to a broader audience between their legitimate shows (to say nothing of their extra earning capacity). It provided a testing and tempering ground for some of Broadway's biggest stars like George M. Cohan, Al Jolson, Fannie Brice and Eddie Cantor. And it was responsible for the one innovation that led to its own demise and the cutback in legitimate theatrical productions on Broadway. To pick up some extra income and reduce the down time of Vaudeville
houses, managers began running the novelty, "flickers", "flickering
flicks", "moving pictures", between shows. Again some of Broadway's
biggest talents began taking advantage of the short production times
and high salaries which accompanied the new industry. Nazimova,
for instance, moved to Hollywood to establish residence in "The
Garden of Allah", and star in some of the first full production
movies that were made. By the next decade, many of Broadway's biggest names will be trekking from New York to Hollywood (or the local New York studios) to spread their talents between the stage and the screen. Joining the Barrymores will be Sarah Bernhardt, the Gish sisters, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Alla Nazimova and Marion Davies, to name but a few.
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The Cakewalk,
introduced by Williams and Walker was soon being done in clubs all
over the country and when assumed by Vernon and Irene Castle, a
vaudeville dance team, and introduced to Europe, it became a worldwide
rage. The Castles created numerous variations of the cakewalk, but
always there was that music, syncopated, Ragtime, Blues, the beginnings
of jazz. By 1914, Irving Berlin was creating an entire show in these
rhythms. There's new things on the horizon also, for in 1915, Eubie
Blake meets Noble Sissel and Broadway is about to get a surprise;
a Black play, with Black producers, for a white audience. What can
the stage be coming to? Blake and Sissel worked together for two
years before being separated by the exigencies of the war. During
that time they were aided by Sophie Tucker who was singing Blake
and Sissel songs in her Vaudeville act in 1917.
The Barrymores also found the new venue profitable. Both John
and Lionel Barrymore were more comfortable with the new medium.
Lionel because of his stage fright, and John because his one criticism
of theater was the repetition. Once having perfected a character,
he hated to repeat it nightly. Tales of the difficulties he had
with theater are not exaggerated. Once while starring with Florence
Reed in a play called, The Yellow Ticket, he made his entrance
dead drunk. Miss Reed had the curtain brought down and Barrymore
removed, restarting the show with a stand-in.
