Revue

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A revue is a type of theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches that satirize contemporary figures, news, or literature. The three ancestors that helped shape the form of the revue in the late 1800's are minstrelsy, burlesque, and variety shows. From minstrelsy, the revue gets its mass oriented comedy, from burlesque, satire and women in specific dress or undress, and from variety, the succession of acts. The first show to successfully converge all these elements was The Black Crook premiering at Niblo's Garden on September 12 1866. Revues can also be recognized by the title "Follies", as Florenz Ziegfeld and his infamous "follies girls" popularized and molded the existence of the revue.

This new form of entertainment dominated the mainstream theatres of Broadway and were the shows that first introduced and jumpstarted the careers of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Rodgers and Hart then created the series of revues in the 1920s that went under the general title Garrick Gaieties. Famous faces such as Fanny Brice debuted in the 1910 Follies as well as Eartha Kitt in a revue called New Faces of 1952.

Early talkies made filmed versions of revues in order to showcase their stars using the new medium. The Gold Diggers of 1933, for example, was a popular entertainment that was a little more than a revue, however strung on a skimpy plot.

Specialist writers / composers of revues have included Sandy Wilson, Noel Coward, John Stromberg, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Earl Carroll and Flanders and Swann.

Revues are often common today as student entertainment and use pastiche, in which contemporary songs are re-written in order to comment on the college or courses in a humorous nature. While most comic songs will only be heard within the revue they were written for, sometimes they become more widely known, such as A Transport of Delight about the big red London bus by Flanders and Swan, who first made their name in a revue titled At the Drop of a Hat.

Towards the end of the 20th century, a sub-genre of the revue appeared that dispensed skits entirely. This type of revue may or may not have identifiable characters and a rudimentary story line but, even when it does, the songs remain the focus of the show. This type of revue usually showcases songs written by a particular composer or songs made famous by a particular performer. Examples of the former are "Side by Side by Sondheim" (music by Stephen Sondheim), "Eubie!" (Eubie Blake) and "TomFoolery" (Tom Lehrer). Examples of the latter include "Five Guys Named Moe" (songs made popular by Louis Jordan) and "On the Record" (songs from Walt Disney films).

References

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