Revue
Related burlesque - entertainment - minstrel shows - music halls - show - variety - cabaret
Poster by Paul Colin for the Révue Nègre, 1925
Definition
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. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revue [Mar 2006]