What it looked like: American vaudeville. Dictionary of literary terms What is Vaudeville, what does it mean and how to spell it correctly Definition of Vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville

VAUDEVILLE. - The word comes from the French “val de Vire” - Vir Valley. Vir is a river in Normandy. In the 17th century, songs known as “Chanson de val de Vire” became widespread in France. They are attributed to the folk poets of the 15th century - Olivier Basselin and Le Goux. But most likely this is simply a collective designation for a special genre of a simple, unpretentious, humorous folk song, light in melodic composition, mockingly satirical in content, and in origin associated with the villages of the Vir Valley. This can explain the further transformation of the name itself - from “val de Vire” to “voix de ville” (“village voice”). In the second half of the 17th century, small theatrical plays appeared in France, introducing these songs during the action and from them they themselves received the name “vaudeville”. And in 1792, even a special “Theater de Vaudeville” - “Theater V.” - was founded in Paris. Of the French vaudeville actors, Scribe and Labiche are especially famous.
In our country, the prototype of V. was a small comic opera of the late 17th century, which remained in the repertoire of the Russian theater by the beginning of the 19th century. This includes Knyazhnin’s “Sbitenshchik”, Nikolaev’s “Guardian-Professor” and “Misfortune from the Carriage”, Levshin’s “Imaginary Widowers”, Matinsky’s “St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor”, Krylov’s “Coffee House”, etc. Particular success had an opera-V. Ablesimova - “Miller-sorcerer, deceiver and matchmaker” (1779). “This play,” says the Dramatic Dictionary of 1787, “aroused so much attention from the public that it was played many times in a row... Not only from national audiences, but also foreigners were quite curious.” In Pushkin’s “Count Nulin” the definition of V. is still associated with the concept of aria, opera:

"...Would you like to listen
Delightful vaudeville? and count
Sings...

The next stage of V.'s development is “a little comedy with music,” as Bulgarin defines it. This V. has become especially widespread since about the 20s of the last century. V. Bulgarin considers “The Cossack Poet” and “Lomonosov” by Shakhovsky to be typical examples of this. “The Cossack poet,” writes F. Wigel in his Notes, “is especially notable for the fact that he was the first to appear on stage under his real name V. From him came this endless chain of these light works.”
Among the noble-guard youth of the early 19th century. It was considered a sign of “good form” to compose a V. for a benefit performance of this or that actor or actress. And for the beneficiary this was beneficial, because it also implied some “propaganda” on the part of the author for the upcoming benefit collection. Later, even Nekrasov “sinned” with several vaudeville acts under the pseudonym N. Perepelsky (“You can’t hide an awl in a sack, you can’t keep a girl in a sack”, “Feoklist Onufrievich Bob, or a husband is out of his element”, “This is what it means to fall in love with an actress”, "Actor" and "Granny's Parrots").
Usually V. were translated from French. “Adaptation of French vaudevilles to Russian customs was limited for the most part to the replacement of French names with Russian ones. Gogol wrote in his notebook in 1835: “But what happened now when the real Russian, and even somewhat stern and distinctive national character, with his heavy figure, began to imitate the shuffling of the petimeter, and our corpulent, but sharp-witted and intelligent a merchant with a wide beard, who knows nothing on his foot except a heavy boot, would instead put on a narrow shoe and stockings a jour, and, even better, would leave the other one in the boot and become the first pair in the French quadrille. But our national vaudevilles are almost the same.” Belinsky’s verdict on Russian vaudevilles is just as harsh: “Firstly, they are for the most part adaptations of French vaudevilles, therefore, the couplets, witticisms, funny situations, the beginning and the denouement - everything is ready, you just know how to use it. So what happens? This lightness, naturalness, liveliness, which involuntarily captivated and delighted our imagination in French vaudeville, this wit, these sweet nonsense, this coquetry of talent, this play of the mind, these grimaces of fantasy, in a word, all this disappears in the Russian copy, and only heaviness remains , awkwardness, unnaturalness, tension, two or three puns, two or three equivocations, and nothing more.”
Secular theatergoers usually cooked V. according to a very simple recipe. Griboedovsky Repetilov (“Woe from Wit”) also spoke about him:

“... six of us, lo and behold, it’s a vaudeville act
blind,
The other six put music to music,
Others clap when they give it...”

There are indications that Pushkin, meeting the requests of some friends, paid tribute to the custom of the then high-society dandies, although the texts of Pushkin’s vaudeville couplets have not been established with certainty.
Usually vaudeville poems are such that, with all condescension, they can only be called rhyming.
The passion for vaudeville was truly enormous. In October 1840, only 25 performances were staged at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater, of which almost each, in addition to the main play, had one or two more V., but ten performances were, in addition, composed exclusively of vaudevilles. Herzen, looking forward to the arrival of M. S. Shchepkin in London, recalls (in a letter to M. K. Reichel) not his big roles, but a vaudeville chorus:

“Chuk-chuk, Tetyana,
Chernobrov Kokhan."

Shchepkin himself played V. quite willingly. They occupied a very prominent place in his repertoire. Going on tour to St. Petersburg in 1834, he sent Sosnitsky his repertoire, which, along with “Woe from Wit,” contains a lot of V.
Since about the 40s. in V., an element of topicality and polemic begins to noticeably emerge, either in the text, or in the form of acting gags and couplets, and this is a great success among the public. Of course, topicality in Nicholas’s times could not go beyond the limits of purely literary or theatrical anger (and then carefully), everything else was “strictly prohibited.” In Lensky’s vaudeville, for example, “In people, an angel is not a wife, at home with her husband it is Satan.” The bastard sings:

“Here, for example, analysis
Polevoy's plays -
Both author and actor
They won’t understand a word here...”

Particular success fell on V. Lensky’s five-act “Lev Gurych Sinichkin or the Provincial Debutante,” adapted from the French play “The Father of the Debutante.” It has been preserved in the repertoire of theaters to this day; now, of course, it is already devoid of any topicality (of which there was a lot in it), but it has not yet lost its significance as a picture of the theatrical morals of that time. In the 40s, another special genre of V. “with disguises” appeared. In them, the young actress Asenkova, praised by Nekrasov, was a resounding success. The most popular authors of V. were: Shakhovskoy, Khmelnitsky (his V. “Castles in the Air” remained until the end of the 19th century), Pisarev, Koni, Fedorov, Grigoriev, Solovyov, Karatygin (author of “Vitsmundir”), Lensky and others.
The penetration of operetta (see) to us from France at the end of the 60s weakened V.’s passion, especially since all kinds of political impromptu were widely practiced in operetta (of course, within the limits of very vigilant censorship), ad-libs and especially topical ones (in the same vaudeville type) couplets. Operetta was unimaginable at that time without such couplets. But nevertheless, V. remains in the repertoire of the Russian theater for quite a long time. Its noticeable decline begins only in the eighties of the last century. Bibliography:
Gorbunov I.F., L.T. Lensky, “Russian Antiquity”, No. 10, 1880; Tikhonravov N. S., prof., M. S. Shchepkin and N. V. Gogol, journal. "Artist", book. V, 1890; Izmailov A., Fyodor Koni and the old vaudeville., “Yearbook of the Emperor. theaters", No. 3, 1909; Warneke B.V., History of the Russian theater, part II, Kazan, 1910; Notes, letters and stories of M. S. Shchepkin, St. Petersburg, 1914; Ignatov I. N., Theater and spectators, part I, M., 1916; Beskin E., Nekrasov the playwright, journal. "Educator", No. 12, 1921; Grossman L., Pushkin in theater seats, Leningrad, 1926; Vigel F. F., Notes, vol. I, M., 1928, Beskin E. M., History of the Russian Theater, M., 1928; Vsevolodsky-Gerngross, History of the Russian Theater, M., 1929 (2 vols.).

Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .

Vaudeville

(French vaudeville from vau de vire - the valley of the Vire River in France, where folk songs - vaudevilles - were widespread in the 15th century), an easy play with couplets. Initially - comic songs, from the 18th century. obligatory in comedies, then vaudeville becomes an independent genre. Found widespread use in French drama of the 18th and 19th centuries. (E. Scribe and E. Labiche were recognized as the best authors). In Russia, vaudeville became popular at the turn of the 1820s and 30s; it is a morally descriptive and descriptive genre. The best works of this genre belong to A. I. Pisarev (1803-28), D. T. Lensky (1805-60), F. A. Koni (1809-79), and N. A. also wrote vaudevilles. Nekrasov.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

Vaudeville

VAUDEVILLE. Vaudeville is a dramatic encounter in a comedic sense (see comedy). If in comedy the dramatic struggle should not be brutal, then this is even more applicable to vaudeville. Here, usually, a comedic violation of some very minor social norm is depicted, for example, the norm of hospitality, good neighborly relations, etc. Due to the insignificance of the violated norm, vaudeville is usually reduced to a sharp short collision - sometimes to one scene.

Vaudeville history. The etymology of this word (vaux-de-Vire, Vire Valley) gives an indication of the initial origin of this type of dramatic creativity (the city of Vire is located in Normandy); Subsequently, this word was interpreted through distortion as voix de ville - village voice. Vaudeville began to be understood as such works in which the phenomena of life are defined from the point of view of naive village views. The light nature of the content is a distinctive feature of vaudeville. The creator of vaudeville, who characterizes these works in terms of their content, was the 15th century French poet Le Goux, who was later confused with another poet Olivier Basselin. Le Goux published a collection of poems, Vaux de vire nouveaux. These light comic songs in the spirit of Le Goux and Basselin became the property of the broad urban masses in Paris, thanks to the fact that they were sung on the Pont Neuf bridge by wandering singers. In the 18th century, Lesage, Fuselier and Dorneval, in imitation of these vaudeville songs, began to compose plays of similar content. The text of vaudevilles has been accompanied by music since the beginning of the second half of the 18th century. The musical performance of vaudevilles was facilitated by the fact that the entire text was written in verse (“The Miller” by Ablesimov). But soon, during the actual performance of vaudeville, the artists began to make changes to the text in prosaic form - improvisations on the current issues of the day. This gave the authors the opportunity to alternate verse with prose. From this time on, vaudeville began to branch into two types: vaudeville itself and operetta. In vaudeville, spoken language predominates, and in operetta, singing predominates. However, operetta began to differ in its content from vaudeville. It parodies various phenomena of life. This is Khmelnitsky’s operetta (beginning of the 19th century): “Greek Nonsense or Iphigenia in Tauris” and the later ones: “Orpheus in Hell”, “Beautiful Helen”, “Daughter of the Market”, “Songbirds”, “Geisha”, etc. After this differentiation of vaudeville, what remains behind it is first a humorous depiction of the life of the urban class in general, and then middle and petty officials.

The ease of content of vaudeville was also facilitated by the fact that it was compiled on occasion for a benefit performance of an artist or actress, and it was staged for the most part after a serious drama or tragedy. This determined the insignificance of its volume, although not only three-act vaudevilles are known, but even five-act ones (Lensky’s vaudeville of 5 acts - “Lev Gurych Sinichkin or the Provincial Debutante”). The insignificance of vaudeville required a special condensation of the comic element compared to comedy. Therefore, the hyperbolic nature of the comic led to the rapid development of action.

At first, vaudeville was written in verse, then poetry began to alternate with prose dialogues - with the indispensable repetition of the same couplets addressing the public; often the verses themselves were called vaudevilles. In later times, verses and music became optional.

Our most remarkable vaudeville artists were Khmelnitsky, Shakhovskoy, Pisarev, Polevoy, Karatygin II and others. In the era of reforms, vaudeville lost its importance, giving way to operetta. In most cases, vaudevilles were translated plays, often from French, but foreign names were often remade into the Russian style. Chekhov wrote his jokes in vaudeville form: “The Bear” and “The Proposal.”

V. Volkenshtein., Iv. Lyskov. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary of literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925

See what “Vaudeville” is in other dictionaries:

vaudeville- I, m. vaudeville f. 1. A type of folk songs common in France. Sl. 18. outdated A humorous vaudeville song, humorous couplets. BAS 2. While walking through the streets, he sang some songs composed by Poems, like French Vaudevilles.... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

- (French vaudeville). A type of theatrical play with cheerful, funny content and singing; received its name from the name of the mountains. Vau, or Val de vire, where Olivier Basselin, at the end of the 14th century, composed cheerful drinking songs. Dictionary of foreign words,... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Vaudeville- VAUDEVILLE. Vaudeville is a dramatic encounter in a comedic sense (see comedy). If in comedy the dramatic struggle should not be brutal, then this is even more applicable to vaudeville. Here, comedy is usually depicted... Dictionary of literary terms

See joke... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. vaudeville spectacle, opera (etc.), joke, farce, vaudeville Dictionary of Russian synonyms ... Synonym dictionary

- (French vaudeville, from vau de vire, literally the valley of the Vire River in Normandy, where vaudeville folk songs were widespread in the 15th century), a type of light comedy performance built on entertaining intrigue, with songs in verses, ... ... Modern encyclopedia

The film performance of the E. Vakhtangov Theater “An Evening of Old Russian Vaudevilles” was staged by Evgeny Simonov in 1978. It was based on two vaudevilles: “Give Me the Old Woman” by Vasily Savinov and “The Hussar Girl” by Fyodor Koni.

Inheriting the Vakhtangov tradition of the holiday theatre, Simonov in his work entered the territory of the imperial theaters of the 19th century, taking on popular translated plays, which progressive cultural figures, including V. Belinsky and K. Stanislavsky, fought so ardently in their time.

“An Evening of Old Russian Vaudevilles” is a kind of dedication to an old genre, light, theatrical, slightly naive. The action of the play takes place on the stage of a lurid provincial theater, decorated with gilding, stucco, plump cupids and antique railings, around which garden roses are entwined (Artist - Igor Morozov).

In this setting, the action of two stories unfolds, told to the audience by Lev Gurych Sinichkin (Grigory Abrikosov) and his daughter Lisa (Lyudmila Drebneva) - the heroes of Alexander Lensky's vaudeville. The reverent couple of provincial actors reverently introduces the audience to the theatrical traditions of Russian vaudeville, listing their illustrious predecessors Mikhail Shchepkin and Vasily Zhivokini, specially focusing on Boris Shchukin and Ruben Simonov. The Sinichkins act as hosts of the “concert”, at which other heroes of the production perform solos.

On the stage, the brilliant Vakhtangov players are fooling around and playing pranks all evening: Yuri Yakovlev, Vasily Lanovoy, Lyudmila Maksakova, Yuri Volyntsev and many others. At the time of filming the performance, they were all in excellent creative shape. You can see how Yuri Yakovlev enjoys playing the role of provincial entrepreneur Login Pusternak, who avoids meeting a girl he once seduced. A velvet suit, a cane, a dandy mustache, as a reminder of the stormy hussar youth - his Pusternak is a parody of his own Stiva Oblonsky. The aged red tape is looking for an actress to play the role of the old woman, and along the way he sings simple couplets, like: “Moments are pleasure for me, the rest is bullshit.”

The role of Praskovya Petrovna Kletkina is a benefit role, as if specially created for Lyudmila Maksakova. The actress transforms herself into several characters at once: first she enthusiastically plays an amusing, humming old woman, then she plays a German governess who hires herself as an actress for Pusternak. Charming her former lover, she performs a gypsy dance, which is immediately replaced by a French cancan. Then she involves Pusternak in a new game and he performs ballet steps with her in a naive pastoral.

As a result, the entrepreneur not only finds a brilliant actress, but also a former lover.

The second vaudeville production of “The Hussar Girl” by Fyodor Koni is also not distinguished by the complexity of the plot and the elaboration of the images.

“The Hussar Girl” is a simple story about Captain Roland, who gave up a child saved during the war to be raised without knowing whether it was a boy or a girl. Upon retiring, the warrior hopes to see his son, but instead of an heir, a beautiful girl dressed in a hussar uniform is waiting for him.

In Simonov's production, the role of the gallant captain is played by Vasily Lanovoi, who has spent his entire life specializing in the roles of people from the military class. Military bearing, passion and courage—the usual traits of Lanovoy’s characters in “The Hussar Girl”—are complemented by acting hooliganism, improvisation and irony. Lanovoy in the role of Roland unexpectedly transforms into a wonderful vaudeville actor. He sings, dances beautifully, he is light and graceful.

Lanovoy’s main partner is Yuri Volyntsev, who deliciously plays the cowardly teacher Karl Lerman. The work of two young heroines, actresses Irina Kalistratova and Olga Gavrilyuk, who faithfully serve the Vakhtangov Theater to this day, is interesting. Musical, lively and flexible, they twist the intrigue of the plot with special passion. As befits a French comedy, the vaudeville “The Hussar Girl” ends with two weddings.
And the performance itself is filled with the soulful singing of Sinichkin and Lisa, who confess their love to His Majesty the theater. The vaudeville genre, popular in the 19th century, combines performance and operetta, and is still loved by actors and the public.

Despite its simple plot close to a sitcom, unpretentious dialogues, great acting - it refers us to the public theater, the comedy of masks, accessible to the common viewer, but invariably requiring virtuosity from the performer. Inheriting the tradition of “Princess Turandot,” the Vakhtangov Theater’s production of “An Evening of Old Russian Vaudevilles” challenges the Russian psychological school and theatrical routine. Using the usual tools of the school of performance, playfully, outstanding masters this evening put on the masks of bad provincial actors and act out stories “on the theater,” doffing their hat to the old-fashioned tradition and remembering their eminent predecessors.

Contrary to popular belief, vaudeville at the beginning of the 20th century had nothing to do with Paris and women in fluffy dresses and stockings. It combined many types of theatrical art and was not directly related to sexuality. The word itself is indeed of French origin, but as a type of performance, vaudeville emerged in the United States and Canada in the 1880s to 1930s.

The birth of the genre

In the 1840s, America already had its own “folk theater” - a minstrel show in which white actors in makeup performed scenes from the lives of blacks. At that time, the male population of the United States watched obscenely humorous performances in closed clubs with the participation of dancers and gymnasts, and provincial audiences were entertained by traveling healers. Only vaudeville managed to combine the preferences of a diverse audience in one show.

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_22.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "The Sleeping Car scene from vaudeville. March 1904. From the library archives University of Washington.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_23.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Vaudeville shooting scene. From the archives of the University of Washington Libraries.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_24.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Choristers from the Cavaliers Act, 1911. From the archives of the University of Washington Libraries ")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_01.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Lew Christensen, William Christensen, Viora Stoney and Mignon Lee in vaudeville costumes Mascagno Four. Circa 1925–1929. Digital archive of the Christensen family.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_02.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Lew Christensen, William Christensen, Viora Stoney and Mignon Lee in Venetian costumes for vaudeville act Mascagno Four. Circa 1927–1934. Digital archive of the Christensen family.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_03.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Lew and William Christensen with three dancers during a vaudeville tour, 1926. Christensen Family Digital Archive.")

The main entertainment of an American

Boston's Vaudeville Saloon Theater (1840) is considered the first American vaudeville. It is not known what exactly was shown there, but the visitors to this saloon were mostly men. By the end of the 19th century, the welfare of Americans had increased markedly, and with it the demand for entertainment. In 1881, American impresario, entertainer and “father of vaudeville” Tony Pastor introduced the family show format to several New York theaters. Other variety managers appreciated his idea and came to a simple conclusion: the larger the audience, the greater the revenue.

The next step was taken by Benjamin F. Keith, who built several vaudeville theaters in Boston. In 1885 he was joined by impresario Edward Franklin Albee, and together they created a chain of theaters and ticket offices throughout the country. Entrepreneurs established a real monopoly on vaudeville.

Wardens and masters of ceremonies handed out cards to visitors with advice: “Gentlemen would be kind enough not to hold cigars or cigarettes in their mouths inside the building.”

With the development of cities, vaudeville became the main attribute of American cultural life at the beginning of the 20th century. Each performance lasted about two hours and consisted of approximately ten to twelve acts, unrelated to the plot. Each scene was performed by artists of different types of theatrical and circus arts: acrobats, jugglers, comedians, dancers, magicians - anyone who could hold the attention of the audience for more than three minutes. It was something like a talent show that was supposed to make people laugh and surprise. And it doesn’t really matter what time the viewer entered the theater. The author of the book “American Vaudeville Through the Eyes of Contemporaries” Charles Stein quotes Keith: “The hall is always filled with people, the show is in full swing, everything is bright, cheerful and inviting.”

Particular attention was paid to theater buildings. In their design, the architects tried to adhere to the standards of sophistication and luxury, despite the fact that entry was open to anyone (albeit for money). During performances in the theater, strict rules were followed. Wardens and masters of ceremonies handed out cards to visitors with advice: “Gentlemen would be kind enough not to hold cigars or cigarettes in their mouths inside the building,” “Please do not talk during the act, as this will irritate the spectators around and prevent them from listening to the performance.”

By the end of the 1920s, vaudeville was at the peak of its popularity, with approximately two million spectators attending performances daily. In 1925, the Keith-Albee network united 350 theaters, employing about 20 thousand people.

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_11.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Entrance to the Keith Theater. Philadelphia, circa 1907. Collection of George Grantham Bain ")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_12.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Impresario Ernst Robert and his saloon in Manhattan. Circa 1908. George Collection Grantham Bane.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_14.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Majestic Theatre, Detroit, Michigan. From the Shorpy archive.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_05.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Kiwanis Follies on stage. Hoquiam City Theater. WA/Flickr." )

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_07.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "The Five Ames Sisters. Hoquiam City Theater, 1929. WA/Flickr. ")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_13.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Vaudeville singers Brox sisters. 1924. From the Shorpy archive.")

Cinema vs. Vaudeville

The era of radio broadcasting and the availability of inexpensive receivers, and over time, the advent of cinemas and television, distracted the mass audience from the variety genre. Theater owners appreciated the high profitability of cinema - now there was no need to pay for the work of artists and musicians, lighting, and decorations. Although, ironically, it was in vaudeville that silent films began to be shown in 1895.

In 1934, the last of the best vaudeville theaters, The New York Palace, closed. Many actors then went into cinema, where they paid more and had better working conditions. But there were also those who continued to work in city theaters and entertain the American public.

Nowadays, vaudeville theaters exist to attract tourists or to preserve the family business. For example, the Texas vaudeville show Esther's Follies, opened back in 1977, shows performances in all states. And in the early 2000s, a group of historians from American universities won a grant to develop a virtual vaudeville, which will not let us forget about the main American entertainment of the early 20th century.

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_19.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Vaudeville produced by Fanchon and Marco. From the archives of the University of Washington Libraries.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_20.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Vaudeville produced by Fanchon and Marco. From the archives of the University of Washington Libraries.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_17.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Emma, ​​dancer of the Hoffman Girls. From the archives of Wake Forest University.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_16.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Hoffman Girls, vaudeville dancers. From the archives of Wake Forest University.")

("img": "/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/vaudeville_18.jpg", "alt": "Vaudeville", "text": "Max Hoffman's troupe is staging the play "Scheherazade." From the archives of Wake Forest University. ")

VAUDEVILLE(French: vaudeville), a genre of light comedy play or performance with an entertaining intrigue or anecdotal plot, accompanied by music, couplets, and dances.

Vaudeville originated and was formed in France (in fact, the name itself comes from the valley of the Vire River in Normandy, Vau de Vire, where the folk songwriter Olivier Basslin lived in the 15th century). In the 16th century “vaudeville” was the name given to mocking street city couplet songs, usually ridiculing the feudal lords who became the main enemies of monarchical power in the era of absolutism. In the first half of the 18th century. vaudeville began to be called couplets with a repeated refrain, which were introduced into fair performances. At that time, the genre was defined as follows: “a performance with vaudevilles” (i.e., with couplets). By the middle of the 18th century. Vaudeville became a separate theatrical genre.

Early vaudeville is closely associated with synthetic fairground aesthetics: slapstick, pantomime, eccentric characters of folk theater (Harlequin, etc.). Its distinctive feature was its topicality: the verses were performed, as a rule, not to original music, but to familiar popular melodies, which undoubtedly made it possible to prepare a new performance in a very short time. This gave vaudeville extraordinary mobility and flexibility; it is no coincidence that the first heyday of vaudeville occurred during the years of the French bourgeois revolution (1789–1794). The possibility of an immediate response to current events made vaudeville a propaganda tool of revolutionary ideology. After the revolution, vaudeville loses its pathos and topical sharpness; however, its popularity does not fall, but, on the contrary, it increases. It is in vaudeville that a passion for jokes, puns, and wit is manifested, which, in the words of A. Herzen, “constitutes one of the essential and beautiful elements of the French character.” By the early 1790s, the popularity of vaudeville in France was so great that a group of actors from the Comedie Italienne theater opened the Vaudeville Theater (1792). Following it, other vaudeville theaters opened: “Theater of Troubadours”, “Theater of Montansier”, etc. And the genre itself gradually began to penetrate theaters of other genres, accompanying productions of “serious” plays. The most famous French authors of vaudeville are Eugene Scribe (who wrote more than 150 vaudevilles independently and in collaboration with other writers in the 18th century) and Eugene Labiche (19th century). It is noteworthy that the vaudevilles of Scribe and Labiche retain their popularity today (Soviet television film Straw hat audiences have been watching E. Labiche’s play with pleasure for decades).

French vaudeville gave impetus to the development of the genre in many countries and had a significant influence on the development of European comedy in the 19th century, not only in drama, but also in its stage embodiment. The basic principles of the structure of the genre - rapid rhythm, ease of dialogue, lively communication with the audience, brightness and expressiveness of characters, vocal and dance numbers - contributed to the development of a synthetic actor who masters the techniques of external transformation, rich plasticity and vocal culture.

In Russia, vaudeville appeared at the beginning of the 19th century as a genre developing on the basis of comic opera. A. Griboyedov, A. Pisarev, N. Nekrasov, F. Koni, D. Lensky, V. Sollogub, P. Karatygin, P. Grigoriev, P. Fedorov and others contributed to the formation of the Russian dramatic school of vaudeville. stage history of Russian vaudeville. A galaxy of brilliant Russian comedians is widely known, for whom vaudeville formed the basis of their repertoire: N. Dur, V. Asenkova, V. Zhivokini, N. Samoilov, etc. However, the largest actors of the realistic direction also worked in vaudeville with great pleasure and no less success: M. Shchepkin, I. Sosnitsky, A. Martynov, K. Varlamov, V. Davydov and others.

However, by the end of the 19th century. vaudeville is practically disappearing from the Russian stage, supplanted both by the rapid development of realistic theater and, on the other hand, by the no less rapid development of operetta. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, perhaps the only notable phenomenon of this genre were ten one-act plays by A. Chekhov ( Bear,Offer,Anniversary,Wedding and etc.). Despite the abandonment of traditional couplets, Chekhov retained the typically vaudeville structure of his one-act plays: paradoxicality, rapidity of action, unexpected outcome. However, later A. Chekhov moved away from the vaudeville tradition, in his later plays developing the dramatic principles of a completely new type of comedy.

Some revival of the Russian vaudeville tradition can be found in 1920-1930, when A. Fayko worked in this genre ( Teacher Bubus), V. Shkvarkin ( Someone else's child), I. Ilf and E. Petrov ( Strong feeling), V. Kataev ( Squaring a circle) etc. However, vaudeville did not receive further development in its pure form, in the 20th century. Other, more complex comedy genres were much more popular: socially accusatory, eccentric, political, “dark,” romantic, fantastic, intellectual comedy, as well as tragicomedy.

Tatiana Shabalina

Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary (ed. 1987)

Efremova's Dictionary

Vaudeville

1. m.
   1. A short dramatic work of a light genre with entertaining intrigue, couplet songs and dances.
   2. outdated A humorous vaudeville song, humorous couplets.

Ushakov's Dictionary

Vaudeville

vaudeville, vaudeville, husband. (French vaudeville) ( theater.). A comic play of a farcical nature, original with singing couplets.

Ozhegov's Dictionary

VODEV AND LH [de], I, m. A short comic play, usually with singing.

| adj. vaudeville, oh, oh.

Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language (Alabugina)

Vaudeville

I, m.

A short comic play, usually with singing and dancing.

* Put on a vaudeville show. *

|| adj. vaudeville, oh, oh.

* Vaudeville situation. *

Dictionary of musical terms

Vaudeville

(from fr. vaudeville) - a type of light comedy with couplets sung to music. It was widespread in France in the second half of the 18th century. Appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. A. Verstovsky, A. Alyabyev and others wrote music for vaudevilles. At the end of the 19th century. Vaudeville is being replaced by musical comedy and operetta. Nowadays, vaudeville is rare (“Lev Gurych Sinichkin” by A. Kolker, text by V. Dykhovichny and A. Slobodsky).

Lexicon of Jazz

Vaudeville

Vaudeville

In the modern sense, it is a kind of everyday comedy with musical numbers, couplets, dances, pantomimes and stunt scenes. In the USA, the so-called American volleyball (and as its variety - Negro vaudeville), the specifics of which are associated with the national characteristic features of the plot and music, with an appeal to local folklore and everyday material, as well as with the influences of minstrel theater (see minstrel show).

encyclopedic Dictionary

Vaudeville

(French vaudeville, from vau de Vire - the valley of the Vire River in Normandy, where folk vaudevir songs were widespread in the 15th century),

1. view "sitcom" with couplet songs, romances and dances. Originated in France; from the beginning 19th century received pan-European distribution. The heyday of Russian vaudeville - 1820 - 40s. (A. A. Shakhovskoy, D. T. Lensky, P. A. Karatygin, F. A. Koni, N. A. Nekrasov, etc.). Classics of the genre - E. Scribe, E. M. Labiche.
2. The final verse song in a vaudeville play.

Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language

Vaudeville

French - vaudeville (comedy with songs and couplets).

This word, French in origin, appeared in Russian in the modern meaning of “a dramatic work of the comedy genre with the singing of funny couplets” in the 18th century.

The original meaning of the word – “folk song” – has been known in the language since the 16th century.

According to scientists, the French word that served as the basis for the borrowing was formed from a proper name: a Norman area called de Vire, which became famous for its cheerful songs and their performers.

Derivative: vaudeville.

Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism

Vaudeville

(French vaudeville) is a type of comedy, a light, entertaining play of everyday content, based on entertaining intrigue and combining witty dialogue with music and dancing, funny couplet songs.

RB: types and genres of literature

Type: comedy

Persian: E. Labiche, V. Shakhovskoy, E. Scribe, D. Lensky

* Vaudeville is the younger brother of comedy, a good-natured and good-natured merry fellow who does not pretend to make deep generalizations or serious thoughts. In the old days, vaudeville included verses and dances performed during the action by universal actors. Later, vaudeville freed itself from dancing and singing and transformed into a one-act (rarely more) joke play. An example of such vaudevilles is Chekhov's Bear, Proposal, Anniversary (S.S. Narovchatov). *

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Vaudeville

Franz. the word Vaudeville comes from the word vaux-de-Vire, i.e. the valley of the city of Vire in Normandy, the birthplace of the national poet Olivier Basselin, who here first began to compose humorous songs called vaudevilles, and later vaudevilles. In the XV and XVI centuries. These vaudeville songs, composed by unknown authors in a satirical and humorous spirit about various events in political life, became very popular in France and were sung by wandering singers, among other things, on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris (hence they were often called pon-neuves). Sometimes, however, V. did not have a satirical content and was a simple cheerful drinking song. As the best composers of V. songs in the 18th century. Piron, Panhard and Collet are known, who published them in the Almanach des Muses. In 1792-1793 two books appeared: “Constitution en vaudevilles” (Merchant) and “La République en vaudevilles”, in which the new institutions were depicted in a humorous manner.

The transformation of vaudeville songs into a special kind of dramatic works did not occur earlier than the 18th century. The entrepreneurs of the fair theaters sometimes inserted suitable songs into the plays. Since 1712, Lesage, Fuselier and Dorneval began to compose plays with vaudevilles; Lesage published a collection: "Thé âtre de la Foire ou l"Opéra Comique, contenant les meilleures pièces, qui ont été représentées aux foires de Saint Germain et de Saint Laurent avec une table de tous les vaudevilles et autres airs etc." (Paris, 1721-37). In 1753, Vade made the first attempt to specially commission music for the play “Les Troqueurs” he composed. Sedin, Ansom, Favard and others followed his example; they wrote music for them Grétry, Philidor, Monsigny, etc. Little by little, new music replaced the motives of old vaudevilles; plays of a transitional type began to appear, which were not quite correctly named comic operas (probably on behalf of the Opéra-comique theater, where they were first given). As the conversational part in these plays increased and the action began to be interrupted only by inserted couplets, this new genre of dramatic works resulted in that unique form, which was preserved without significant changes by modern V. In 1792, when the freedom of theaters was proclaimed, in Paris a special vaudeville stage was opened, which was called T héâtre Vaudeville. Among the vaudeville artists whose works were successful during the era of the first empire and restoration, let us name Dupaty, Desaugiers, Bayard, Melville and the famous Scribe, who is considered the creator of the newest formation of vaudeville; Labiche later became famous in the same genre. V. remains to this day a unique product of French esprit, bearing the imprint of the light, elegant Parisian life with its beautiful, cheerful sensuality and subtle, unsparing witty phrase.

Vaudeville in Russia. The first beginnings of Russian vaudeville are usually seen in the comic opera with Ablesimov’s couplets “The Miller, the Sorcerer, the Deceiver and the Matchmaker,” given for the first time on January 20, 1779 and which went through many performances thanks to the couplets in the folk-sentimental spirit and Sokolovsky’s music. But in essence, The Miller is much closer in texture to a comic opera. The first Russian vaudeville should be recognized as “The Cossack the Poet,” composed by Prince A. A. Shakhovsky with music by Kavos (1812). Shakhovsky’s original vaudevilles should also include: “Fedor Grigorievich Volkov”, “Lomonosov” (1814), “Meeting of the Uninvited” (1815), “Two Teachers” (1819), “News on Parnassus, or the Triumph of the Muses”. The last of them was written by Shakhovsky to ridicule the writers of empty theatrical plays, who arrogantly dream of becoming, along with classical writers, earning the respect of posterity. The play disputes Vaudeville’s rights to a place on Parnassus, where he somehow climbed along with Melodrama and the Journal, and ridicules “equivocations, couplets, jokes and funny trifles” with which “quick vaudevilles” will never get into the Temple of Immortality. All Shakhovsky’s arrows are directed against his happy rival in the field of vaudeville, N.I. Khmelnitsky, and against the latter’s witty “New Prank, or Theatrical Battle,” which was then given with great success. Khmelnitsky had previously written several successful vaudevilles: “You Can’t Outrun Your Betrothed,” “Grandma’s Parrot” (1819), “Actors Between Each Other, or the Debut of Actress Troepolskaya,” “Quarantine” (1822) and others, mostly with music by Maurer . At the same time, attempts at original Russian V. were made by M. N. Zagoskin (“Makaryevskaya Fair” and “Lebedyanskaya Fair”) and R. M. Zotov (“Adventure at the Station”). The most witty vaudeville performer and coupletist of the 20s and 30s is undoubtedly A.I. Pisarev. His vaudevilles, although mostly translated, enjoyed great success, mainly due to the wit of the couplets, which often touched on the topic of the day and ridiculed the features and phenomena of modern reality. “Teacher and Student”, “Calif’s Fun”, “Shepherdess”, “Five Years at Two O’Clock”, “The Old Sorceress, or That’s What Women Love”, “Three Tens”, “Magic Nose”, “Two Notes”, “ Uncle for Rent", "The Petitioner" (1824), "The Troublemaker", "Thirty Thousand People" (1825), "A Means for Marrying Daughters", "Meeting of Stagecoaches" and others did not leave the repertoire for a long time and enjoyed enormous success. The music for these vaudevilles was written by Verstovsky, Alyabyev and F. E. Scholz, which, of course, increased the interest of these plays and their success among the public. Pisarev represents a transition to vaudeville acts of the second era in the history of Russian V., embracing the 30s, 40s and 50s. of our century. In this era, V. reaches its greatest flourishing, gaining predominant importance in the repertoire and enjoying the constant and unchanging love of the public, who shared Repetilov’s opinion that only “V. is a thing, and the rest is all gil.” Vaudevilles have already completely moved away from the forms of comic opera and show a great desire for originality, reproducing the comic phenomena of modern, mainly metropolitan life. Types of bureaucratic and generally bourgeois people, comic phenomena of family and city life with the most confusing intrigue, constant misunderstandings (quiproquo), a mass of funny sayings in the speeches of the characters, witticisms and puns, which were especially abundantly equipped with couplets, are brought onto the stage. The couplets were put into the mouths of almost all the actors and often represented an appeal to the public, especially the almost inevitable final couplets, in which the actors addressed the audience with a request on behalf of the author for a favorable reception of the acted work. V.'s music has become significantly simplified compared to comic operas; the couplets were composed for the most part on popular motifs from operas and operettas, playful in nature and easy to perform. In general, the musical side of vaudeville fades into the background. Many of the verses, which were beyond the power of actors deprived of voice and hearing, were not sung, but spoken to the music, and this genre of recitation gained a prominent place in Russian vaudeville thanks to some highly talented vaudeville performers. Of the numerous Russian vaudeville actors of this era, let us name first of all Fyodor Alekseevich Koni. The most successful of his vaudevilles were: “There are devils in still waters” (1842), “The Dead Husband” (1835), “The Hussar Girl” (1836), “Titular Councilors in Home Life” (1837), “St. Petersburg Apartments” ( 1840), “Trouble from the heart and grief from the mind” (1851), “Don’t fall in love without memory, don’t marry without reason,” “Student, artist, choir member and swindler,” etc. Dimitry Timofeevich Lensky (real name Vorobiev) from 1828 to 1854 published more than 100 plays, mainly vaudevilles, translated and borrowed from French. The ability to adapt French originals to Russian morals and types, the liveliness of scenes, resourcefulness and wit in the speeches and couplets of the characters - these are the distinctive features of Lensky’s vaudevilles; some of them have not left the repertoire to this day. Having made his debut with the unsuccessful play “Matchmaker Out of Place” (1829), he quickly gained success with his further vaudevilles: “The Solicitor Under the Table” (1834), “Two Fathers and Two Merchants” (1838), “That’s how the pills go - whatever you put in your mouth, thank you.” ", "Lev Gurych Sinichkin", "Kharkov groom, or a house on two streets", "In people there is an angel, not a wife - at home with her husband Satan" and others. Pyotr Andreevich Karatygin 2nd, although he followed the French originals that were fashionable in his time , but he introduced into his vaudevilles, more than all other vaudeville artists, the Russian everyday coloring of derived types and characters, drawn exclusively from St. Petersburg life. Resourceful in witticisms and inventive in puns, Karatygin, like Lensky, brought Russian vaudeville to purely French gaiety and liveliness, often touching on various issues of public life that interested modern society. Thus, his first V., given in 1830: “Familiar Strangers,” brought F. Bulgarin and N. Polevoy to the stage under the names of Sarkasmov and Baklushin, who were constantly at odds with each other. “Borrowed Wives” (1834), “Wife and Umbrella” (1835), “Officer for Special Assignments” (1837) drew the public’s attention to the young author, and V. “Box of the 1st tier at Taglioni’s performance” (1838) enjoyed a huge success. “The First of July in Peterhof” (1840), “Bakery” (1843), “Natural School” were the best of his original vaudevilles. Karatygin’s translated vaudevilles, such as “The Leg” (1840), “Vitsmundir” (1845), “School Teacher”, “Dead Stranger”, “Adventure on the Waters”, were no less successful, and to some extent still enjoy them today. , "The House on the Petersburg Side, etc. Pyotr Ivanovich Grigoriev 1st, a contemporary and stage comrade of Karatygin, became famous for his special genre of vaudeville with dressing up, adapted to the stage abilities of the contemporary performers of these roles. "Makar Alekseevich Gubkin", "Comedy with an Uncle " (1841) and "The Daughter of a Russian Actor" received great fame and are still performed to this day. "Skladchina" (1843), "Polka in St. Petersburg" (1844), in which a dance that had just come into fashion at that time was performed on stage, "Wife or cards" (1845), "Another Comedy with Uncle", "Andrei Stepanych Buka" (1847) and "Salon pour la coupe des cheveux" (1847), often performed jointly by actors of the Russian, French and German troupes, and other original B Grigoriev did not leave the posters; his translated vaudevilles, for example: “There are many wives”, “Love pranks”, “Orphan Susanna” and others. also enjoyed considerable success. Pavel Stepanovich Fedorov made his debut with the unsuccessful original vaudevilles “Peace with the Turks” (1880), “The Reluctant Marquis” (1834); had greater success with “I Want to Be an Actress,” “The Archivist” (1837) and “Enough” (1849); became famous for his translations by V. : “Confusion” (1840), “One Hundred Thousand” (1845), “Az and Firth”, “We see a speck in someone else’s eye”, etc. Nikolai Ivanovich Kulikov wrote several original vaudevilles that are still performed today, such as: "Vaudeville with Dressing Up", "Gypsy" (1849), "Crow in Peacock Feathers" (1853), and translated ones, for example. “The Enchanted Prince, or the Transmigration of Souls” (1845), “The Troubled Girl”, “The Recruit in Love”, etc. Count Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sollogub gave several vaudevilles on the topic of the day, such as: “Bouquet, or St. Petersburg flower rage” (1845), “Fashionable Treatment” (1847), as well as the one given now by V. “Trouble from a Tender Heart” (1850). Of the other works of this era, which have enjoyed success to this day, V. Korovkin deserves mention: “Novices in Love”, “His Excellency” (1839), “Father, of which there are few”; Solovyov: “We don’t keep what we have, we cry when we lose it” (1843); Yakovlevsky - "Black Day on the Black River" (1846), "Uncle's Tailcoat and Auntie's Bonnet" (1849), and Onyx - "December 1st", "Oh, the French Language". V. of this era owes his success most of all to the talented play of Asenkova, Duras and especially A.E. Martynov, who created a whole gallery of types full of inimitable comedy: Sinichkin, Buka, Karlusha ("The Baker"), Pavel Pavlovich ("What We Have, we don’t store"), etc. The third era of V., the 60s, already represents the fall of this genre. At first, although there are still imitations of previous models and belated translations from French, such as: “Simple and well-mannered”, “Weak string”, “Mutual teaching”, “The need for invention is cunning”, “Mitya”, “The lordly arrogance and Pansies” eyes", "Boarder", "Old Mathematician", "Darlings scold - only amuse themselves", etc., but then V. begins to move into either an operetta or a one-act comedy. “Russian romances in the faces” and “Russian songs in the faces” by Kulikov, “Opressed Innocence”, “The Lovely Stranger” are still quite close to vaudeville, and “Autumn Evening in the Village”, “Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire”, “A Means to Drive Out red tape", "Flash at the Hearth", "Which of the Two", "Carefree", "On the Sands" by Trofimov, "Engagement in Galernaya Harbor" by Shchigrov (Shchiglev) and others, are increasingly losing the character of V. and merging with everyday descriptive comedies, scenes and skits of anecdotal content. The operetta that appeared in the 60s dealt an incurable blow to playful vaudeville, absorbing its musical seasoning, without which it would inevitably merge with light comedy and farce comedy, as has happened in our contemporary repertoire.