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A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. "Burlesque", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, accessed 16 February 2011 The word is loaned from French and derives from the Italian , which, in turn, is derived from the Italian – a joke, ridicule or mockery.In theatrical use, a burla was "a comic interlude or practical joke introduced, usually extempore, into a performance by the servant masks of the commedia dell'arte ... developed at will into a small independent 'turn', the characters returning at its conclusion to the main theme of the plot". See Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found. "Burla", The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre, Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online, accessed 16 February 2011 "Burlesque News – The Growth of Burlesque", New York Clipper, Vol. 62, No. 31, September 12, 1914, p. 18 (accessed February 28, 2017, via MyHeritage)
Burlesque overlaps with caricature, parody and travesty, and, in its theatrical form, with extravaganza, as presented during the Victorian era.Fowler, H. W., rev. Ernest Gowers (1965). Modern English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 68 and 96 The word "burlesque" has been used in English in this literary and theatrical sense since the late 17th century. It has been applied retrospectively to works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.Baldick, Chris. "Burlesque", The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press, accessed 16 February 2011 Contrasting examples of literary burlesque are Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Samuel Butler's Hudibras. An example of musical burlesque is Richard Strauss's 1890 Burleske. Examples of theatrical burlesques include W. S. Gilbert's Robert the Devil and the A. C. Torr – Meyer Lutz shows, including Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué.
A later use of the term, particularly in the United States, refers to performances in a variety show format. These were popular from the 1860s to the 1940s, often in and clubs, as well as theatres, and featured bawdy comedy and female striptease. Some Hollywood films attempted to recreate the spirit of these performances from the 1930s to the 1960s, or included burlesque-style scenes within dramatic films, such as 1972's Cabaret and 1979's All That Jazz, among others. There has been a Neo-burlesque in this format since the 1990s.
In 17th century Spain, playwright and poet Miguel de Cervantes ridiculed medieval romance in his many satirical works. Among Cervantes' works are Exemplary Novels and the Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes published in 1615. Burlesque, MSN Encarta, accessed 18 June 2012 The term burlesque has been applied retrospectively to works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.
Burlesque was intentionally ridiculous in that it imitated several styles and combined imitations of certain authors and artists with absurd descriptions. In this, the term was often used interchangeably with "pastiche", "parody", and the 17th and 18th century genre of the "mock-heroic".Sanders, p. 291 Burlesque depended on the reader's (or listener's) knowledge of the subject to make its intended effect, and a high degree of literacy was taken for granted.Speaight, George. "All froth and bubble", The Times Literary Supplement, 1 October 1976, p. 1233
17th and 18th century burlesque was divided into two types: High burlesque refers to a burlesque imitation where a literary, elevated manner was applied to a commonplace or comically inappropriate subject matter as, for example, in the literary parody and the mock-heroic. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque is Alexander Pope's "sly, knowing and courtly" The Rape of the Lock.Sanders, pp. 290–91 Low burlesque applied an irreverent, mocking style to a serious subject; an example is Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras, which described the misadventures of a Puritan knight in satiric doggerel verse, using a colloquial idiom. Butler's addition to his comic poem of an ethical subtext made his caricatures into satire. Hudibras was so popular that it became the subject of parody itself. See Sanders, p. 255.
In more recent times, burlesque true to its literary origins is still performed in and Sketch comedy. Tom Stoppard's 1974 play Travesties is an example of a full-length play drawing on the burlesque tradition.Stanton, p. 50; and Hunter, Jim (1982) Tom Stoppard's Plays. London: Faber and Faber, , pp. 23–33, 141–146 and 237–242
In this sense of farce and exaggeration rather than parody, it appears frequently on the German-language stage between the middle of the 19th century and the 1920s. Burlesque operettas were written by Johann Strauss II ( Die lustigen Weiber von Wien, 1868),Lamb, Andrew (1992), "Strauss, Johann" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) Ziehrer ( Mahomed's Paradies, 1866; Das Orakel zu Delfi, 1872; Cleopatra, oder Durch drei Jahrtausende, 1875; In fünfzig Jahren, 1911)Lamb, Andrew (1992), "Ziehrer, C. M." in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) and Bruno Granichstaedten ( Casimirs Himmelfahrt, 1911). French references to burlesque are less common than German, though Grétry composed for a "drame burlesque" ( Matroco, 1777).Charlton, David and M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet, "Grétry, André-Ernest-Modeste: Works," Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 24 February 2011 Igor Stravinsky called his 1916 one-act chamber opera-ballet Renard ( The Fox) a "Histoire burlesque chantée et jouée" ( burlesque tale sung and played) and his 1911 ballet Petrushka a "burlesque in four scenes". A later example is the 1927 burlesque operetta by Ernst Krenek entitled Schwergewicht ( Heavyweight) (1927).
Some orchestral and chamber works have also been designated as burlesques, of which two early examples are the Ouverture-Suite Burlesque de Quixotte, TWV 55, by Telemann and the Sinfonia Burlesca by Leopold Mozart (1760). Another often-performed piece is Richard Strauss's 1890 Burleske. Other examples include the following:
Burlesque can be used to describe particular movements of instrumental musical compositions, often involving dance rhythms. Examples are the Burlesca, in Partita No. 3 for keyboard (BWV 827) by Bach, the "Rondo-Burleske" third movement of Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler, and the "Burlesque" fourth movement of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1.McGregor, Andrew, "Dmitri Shostakovich Violin Concertos 1 & 2 Review", BBC Music, accessed 24 February 2011
Victorian burlesque related to and in part derived from traditional English pantomime "with the addition of gags and 'turns'."Erich Schwandt et al. "Burlesque", Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 3 February 2011 In the early burlesques, following the example of ballad opera, the words of the songs were written to popular music;Moss, Harold Gene. "Popular Music and the Ballad Opera", Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Autumn, 1973), pp. 365–82, University of California Press, accessed 2 February 2011 later burlesques mixed the music of opera, operetta, music hall and revue, and some of the more ambitious shows had original music composed for them. This English style of burlesque was successfully introduced to New York in the 1840s.Rogers, Delmer D. "Public Music Performances in New York City from 1800 to 1850", Anuario Interamericano de Investigacion Musical, Vol. 6 (1970), pp. 5–50, accessed 2 February 2011
Some of the most frequent subjects for burlesque were the plays of Shakespeare and grand opera.Marvin, Roberta Montemorra. "Verdian Opera Burlesqued: A Glimpse into Mid-Victorian Theatrical Culture", Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 33–66, Cambridge University Press, accessed 2 February 2011 Wells, Stanley. "Shakespearian Burlesques", Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter, 1965), pp. 49–61, Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University, accessed 2 February 2011 The dialogue was generally written in rhyming couplets, liberally peppered with bad . A typical example from a burlesque of Macbeth: Macbeth and Banquo enter under an umbrella, and the witches greet them with "Hail! hail! hail!" Macbeth asks Banquo, "What mean these salutations, noble thane?" and is told, "These showers of 'Hail' anticipate your 'reign. A staple of burlesque was the display of attractive women in Breeches role, dressed in tights to show off their legs, but the plays themselves were seldom more than modestly risqué.
Burlesque became the speciality of certain London theatres, including the Gaiety and Royal Strand Theatre from the 1860s to the early 1890s. Until the 1870s, burlesques were often one-act pieces running less than an hour and using and parodies of popular songs, opera and other music that the audience would readily recognize. The house stars included Nellie Farren, John D'Auban, Edward Terry and Fred Leslie."Theatrical Humour in the Seventies", The Times, 20 February 1914, p. 9"Mr. D'Auban's 'Startrap' Jumps". The Times, 17 April 1922, p. 17 From about 1880, Victorian burlesques grew longer, until they were a whole evening's entertainment rather than part of a double- or triple-bill. In the early 1890s, these burlesques went out of fashion in London, and the focus of the Gaiety and other burlesque theatres changed to the new more wholesome but less literary genre of Edwardian musical comedy.Gänzl, Kurt. "Edwardes, George Joseph (1855–1915)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 3 February 2011
The entertainments were given in clubs and cabarets, as well as music halls and theatres. By the early 20th century, there were two national circuits of burlesque shows competing with the vaudeville circuit, as well as resident companies in New York, such as Minsky's at the Winter Garden. The transition from burlesque on the old lines to striptease was gradual. At first, showed off their figures while singing and dancing; some were less active but compensated by appearing in elaborate stage costumes.Humez, Nick. "Burlesque". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Gale Virtual Reference Library, accessed 16 February 2011 The strippers gradually supplanted the singing and dancing soubrettes; by 1932 there were at least 150 strip principals in the US. Star strippers included Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm, Lili St. Cyr, Blaze Starr, Ann Corio and Margie Hart, who was celebrated enough to be mentioned in song lyrics by Lorenz Hart and Cole Porter. By the late 1930s, burlesque shows would have up to six strippers supported by one or two comics and a master of ceremonies. Comics who appeared in burlesque early in their careers included Fanny Brice, Mae West, Eddie Cantor, Abbott and Costello, W. C. Fields, Jackie Gleason, Danny Thomas, Al Jolson, Bert Lahr, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton and Sophie Tucker.
The uninhibited atmosphere of burlesque establishments owed much to the free flow of alcoholic liquor, and the enforcement of Prohibition was a serious blow.Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found. "Burlesque, American", The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre, Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online, accessed 16 February 2011 In New York, Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia clamped down on burlesque, effectively putting it out of business by the early 1940s. It lingered on elsewhere in the US, increasingly neglected, and by the 1970s, with nudity commonplace in theatres, reached "its final shabby demise."Allen, p. xi Both during its declining years and afterwards there have been films that sought to capture American burlesque, including Lady of Burlesque (1943),"New Films In London", The Times, 2 August 1943, p. 8 Striporama (1953), Striporama Internet Movie Database, accessed 17 February 2011 and The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968).Slonimsky, Nicholas, "Burlesque show", Baker's Dictionary of Music, Schirmer Reference, New York, 1997, accessed 16 February 2010
In recent decades, there has been a revival of burlesque, sometimes called Neo-Burlesque,Caldwell, Mark. "The Almost Naked City", The New York Times, 18 May 2008, accessed 19 September 2009 on both sides of the Atlantic.Newman, Martin. "Burlesque ventures out of the West End and into... Camden Town", The Mirror, 18 February 2012 A new generation, nostalgic for the spectacle and perceived glamour of the classic American burlesque, developed a cult following for the art in the early 1990s at Billie Madley's "Cinema" and later at the "Dutch Weismann's Follies" revues in New York City, "The Velvet Hammer" troupe in Los Angeles and The Shim-Shamettes in New Orleans. Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly Burlesque Nightclub at Revel Atlantic City opened in 2012.Oliverie, Kristin. "Burlesque Is the Word at Atlantic City's Revel", The Daily Meal, accessed 18 June 2012 Notable Neo-burlesque performers include Dita Von Teese, and Julie Atlas Muz and Agitprop groups like Cabaret Red Light incorporated political satire and performance art into their burlesque shows. Annual conventions such as the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and the Miss Exotic World Pageant are held.Sohn, Amy. Teasy Does It, New York Magazine , 21 May 2005, accessed 24 February 2011Clodfelter, Tim. "This ain't your granddad's burlesque – but he sure wouldn't mind watching" . Winston-Salem Journal, 31 January 2008, accessed 24 February 2011
In music
Classical music
Beginning in the early 18th century, the term burlesque was used throughout Europe to describe musical works in which serious and comic elements were juxtaposed or combined to achieve a grotesque effect.Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, p. 134 As derived from literature and theatre, "burlesque" was used, and is still used, in music to indicate a bright or high-spirited mood, sometimes in contrast to seriousness.
Jazz
The use of burlesque has not been confined to classical music. Well-known ragtime travesties include Russian Rag, by George L. Cobb, which is based on Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, and Harry Alford's Lucy's Sextette based on the sextet, 'Chi mi frena in tal momento?', from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.Harrison, Max (2006): Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings p 229
Victorian theatrical burlesque
Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as "travesty" or "extravaganza",According to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "the various genre terms were always applied freely", and by the 1860s their use had become "arbitrary and capricious": see "Burlesque," Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 3 February 2011 . In an 1896 article on Burlesque in The Theatre, the three terms are used interchangeably: see Adams, W. Davenport. "Burlesque: Old v. New", The Theatre, 1 March 1896, pp. 144–45 was popular in London theatres between the 1830s and the 1890s. It took the form of parody music in which a well-known opera, play or ballet was adapted into a broad comic play, usually a musical play, often risqué in style, mocking the theatrical and musical conventions and styles of the original work, and quoting or pastiche text or music from the original work. The comedy often stemmed from the incongruity and absurdity of the classical subjects, with realistic historical dress and settings, being juxtaposed with the modern activities portrayed by the actors. Madame Vestris produced burlesques at the Olympic Theatre beginning in 1831 with Olympic Revels by J. R. Planché.Adams, W. Davenport. A Book of Burlesque (London: Henry and Co., 1891), p. 44 Other authors of burlesques included H. J. Byron, G. R. Sims, F. C. Burnand, W. S. Gilbert and Fred Leslie.
American burlesque
American burlesque shows were originally an offshoot of Victorian burlesque. The English genre had been successfully staged in New York from the 1840s, and it was popularised by a visiting British burlesque troupe, Lydia Thompson and the "British Blondes", beginning in 1868.Hoffos, Signe and Moulder, Bob. "Desperately Seeking Lydia" and "Appreciating Lydia", The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery Magazine, Vol. 43, Autumn 2006, pp. 1–7 New York burlesque shows soon incorporated elements and the structure of the popular . They consisted of three parts: first, songs and ribald comic sketches by low comedians; second, assorted olios and male acts, such as acrobats, magicians and solo singers; and third, chorus numbers and sometimes a burlesque in the English style on politics or a current play. The entertainment was usually concluded by an exotic dancer or a wrestling or boxing match. "Burlesque show", Encyclopædia Britannica, Online Library Edition, accessed 16 February 2011
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