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The Great American. Theatre. Humble Beginnings. Broadway is the street in New York that has come to symbolize live theater entertainment throughout the world.
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The Great American Theatre
Humble Beginnings Broadway is the street in New York that has come to symbolize live theater entertainment throughout the world. Today the area, known to tourists and theater-goers, stretches from W.41st Street, where the Nederlander Theater is located, up to W. 53rd Street's Broadway Theater.
Broadway Only four theaters are located physically on Broadway, the Marquis at 46th Street, the Palace at 47th Street, the Winter Garden at 50th Street and the Broadway at 53rd. All the other legitimate houses are located east or west of this twelve block stretch.
Light The Lights • In 1891, the first electric marquis was lit on Broadway. • By midway through the following decade, the street blazed with electric signs as each theater announced its shows and stars in white lights. • By the turn of the 20th Century the street had an entirely different look, with as many as sixteen theaters on Broadway itself and many others located on the side streets or other avenues. • Because of the magnificent illumination of the Avenue and the Square, Broadway had been christened "The Great White Way".
Early American Acting Styles • The great American playwrights didn't appear until the 1920's, and most plays were formula contrivances of morality with young maidens, Dapper Dan heroes and the required shady evil villain who was always hissed and booed. • The style of acting of the day would be considered "over the top", or at least, greatly exaggerated and emotionally filled nonsense today
The Syndicate • The 19th Century saw the development of American theater throughout the country. It also saw the development of the all powerful "Syndicate", which was a cartel of the owners of regional theaters who joined forces under the influence of one of Broadway's early great producers. • Though often at odds with the Puritan morality that underwrote the founding of the new nation, theater was the only mass entertainment of the day. • European actors were imported and America soon produced its own stars and companies.
The Syndicate • Behind the scenes of this show-business world, long before unions or Equity, was the all powerful Syndicate. • Entrepreneurs succeeded by building strings of theaters and booking companies to travel their "circuit". To insure profitable circuits for his productions nation-wide, in 1896, producer Charles Frohman invited the owners and managers of the country's theater chains to a conference. The result was the "Syndicate“.
Locked Out • Under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln Erlinger, a booking magnate who dominated the south. The power was vast, as the Syndicate controlled the bookings of theaters all across the country. Erlinger booked everything from actors to playwrights. • Without an association with the Syndicate, it was difficult or impossible to book a show or find employment as an actor.
The Shuberts • There were those who were opposed to the Syndicate, especially the Shubert Brothers who went into competition with the Syndicate. It eventually became a war with the Syndicate being crushed by the Shubert empire. Erlinger and his group were interested in only one thing, and that was money. Others, especially the Shuberts, had an interest in serving the arts as well as the box office.
Minstrel Shows • Minstrel shows were 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.
Bamboozled • Minstrels were white troupes acting in Blackface and a lot of the comedy was dependent on black stereotypes. • Crude, 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.
The Evolution To 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.
Vaudeville • Vaudeville played a major role in entertainment at this time. Unlike a Broadway musical or play with a script to follow, Vaudeville was a series of acts presented by comics, singers, acrobats and other performers. • The Palace Theatre is the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Vaudeville, but that wasn't built until 1913 and Vaudeville was alive and well long before the Palace opened its doors.
The Orpheum Circuit • The "act" was held sacred by the Vaudevillians and these performers toured the country perfecting their act on the circuits hoping to make the big time. • Similar to the booking offices of Broadway, the Keith organization dominated the bookings all over the country right up until the time when Vaudeville began to die. • Talking motion pictures became Vaudeville's kiss of death, and the replacement for low priced mass entertainment. • Still, Vaudeville was extremely popular entertainment and its growth ran parallel to that of Broadway plays and musicals in the next decade.
The Circuit • 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 Death Of Vaudeville • To be cont…
