Kelyanne Rodriguez-Diaz
Pronouns: she/they
Research Mentor(s): Vincent Longo
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Film, Television, and Media / LSA
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 6 – 4:40pm – 5:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Kelyanne Rodriguez Diaz
Presenter: 73
Abstract
In the early twentieth century, movie theaters around the United States included smaller scale live performances and vaudeville shows in addition to film viewings. This made live entertainment more easily accessible to middle class and minority audiences in comparison to larger scale stage performances, such as those on Broadway. Scholars often say that vaudeville declined greatly by the early 1930s, with claims that this style of live performance died completely by the 1940s. However, our research suggests that these claims give an oversimplified view of the history and impact of vaudeville as a whole, considering that vaude acts and other live performances were still being booked as late as the early 1950s. We have used two methods to assess the use of vaude in movie theaters from 1948 to 1955. We have continued work on a database of theater bills printed in Variety by inputting the city, theater, and names of acts into a Google Spreadsheet, focusing specifically on the year 1948. In order to further our understanding of the use of live performance at this time, we have also been collecting articles through the Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive that detail the choices made by the major circuits regarding halting or continuing vaude bookings, noting the reasoning behind those decisions. My case study of the Warner Bros. circuit suggests that theaters were motivated to continue using vaude as a way to offset losses from films and as a way to navigate changes in the industry due to the rise of television and the increasing influence of worker’s unions. The willingness of the major circuits to bring back vaude in their theaters even after months of straight film bookings demonstrates that vaudeville didn’t die as early as scholars claim.
Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary
