Popular performance / edited by Adam Ainsworth and others.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ainsworth, Adam.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theatre: history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (290 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2017.

Summary:

This book explores the multifaceted world of popular performance, examining its history, cultural significance, and diverse forms, including music halls, vaudeville, burlesque, stand-up comedy, and pantomime. Edited by Adam Ainsworth, Oliver Double, and Louise Peacock, it features contributions from leading scholars and practitioners who delve into key figures, venues, and traditions, such as Dan Leno's music hall repertoire, American vaudeville, British variety theatre, and modern celebrity performance. The book investigates the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of these performances, highlighting their evolution and impact on audiences. Designed for academics, students, and enthusiasts of theatre and performance studies, it offers insights into the interplay between entertainment, artistry, and societal norms. Generated by AI.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Illustrations

Notes on Contributors

Introduction: What is Popular Performance?

Little Tich is not a stage play

Definitions

Direct connection between performer and audience

Skill and novelty

Rooted in the present moment

Interlacing of performer and role

A distinct mode of performance

Bibliography

1 From Domestic Song to Drawing Room Recitation: Dan Leno's Music Hall Repertoire

Musical form, performance and patter

'The Shopwalker': Naturalism and a shifting class appeal

The ballroom: Music hall song and social dance.

Recitations: Parodies and the national-popular

Notes

2 American Vaudeville

The performing self

The truth of disguise

Bills and climaxes

Not quite disappearing

3 It's 1922 and at the Munich Kammerspiele Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt Perform Das Christbaumbrettl at Die rote Zibebe

'Meine Damen und Herren, introducing Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt . . .'

1922: Bert's big break

Opening night at the Kammerspiele

The Munich cabaret scene

Die rote Zibebe

Das Christbaumbrettl

Das Christbaumbrettl as social commentary

Persona and character

The use and delivery of language

Physicality and physical contrasts

Conclusion: The significance of Die rote Zibebe

4 Packed From Pit to Ceiling: The Kingston Empire (1910-1955) and British Variety

5 Grock: 'Genius Among Clowns'1

Introduction

Persona

Audience

Skill

Conclusion

References

6 Something Wicked: The Theatre of Derren Brown

Introduction: The live and the mediated

Miracle (1): The secrets of magicians

Svengali: Mentalism and magic

Infamous: Persona and performance

Miracle (2): Scepticism and belief.

Bibliography

7 Performing the Burlesque Body: The Explicit Female Body as Palimpsest

Setting the mise-en-scène at a prototypical American burlesque show

Burlesque undone: Histories, contexts, theories

Reading to read: Layers as/of 'uncovering' in MsTickle's performance

8 'Hiya Fans!': Celebrity Performance and Reception in Modern British Pantomime

'The most powerful - and most downloaded - Genie in the world'

'This isn't a performance - it's a personal appearance'

'There is no doubt whom the audienceis there to see'

'There is no doubt whom the audience is there to see'

9 With Them, Not at Them

Training

Devising walkabout performance

Real and 'not-real' in the contest for power

Creating community with Mummer&amp

dada

10 What's Special about Stand-Up Comedy? Josie Long's Lost Treasures of the Black Heart

The novelty of skill

the skill of novelty

Battling the widening gulf: The importance of intimacy and direct connection

The interlacing of performer and interpretation

11 'It Feels Like a Group of Friends Messing Around Onstage': Pappy's and Live Sketch Comedy

An uneasy fusion of theatrical and music hall elements

As live as comedy gets

The fourth member of the gang

The audience meet us first as people

Art which conceals art

Sketch comedy has changed

Demands on audience

Audience interaction: The layering of participation

On the borders between fiction and reality

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

1-4742-4733-4

OCLC:

982012995