Avanspettacolo () is an Italian theatrical genre that developed between the 1930s and 1950s. Closely related to revue and variety show, avanspettacolo features a diverse mixture of music, ballet, sketch comedy, and other forms of entertainment. The genre emerged during the Italian fascism, as a consequence of the promulgation of "modernist" laws that granted tax relief advantages to the theatres that were adapted to play Movie theater. As a consequence, theatre companies were forced to devise a light and short form of representation that could be performed on the stage to entertain the audience before the "main show" (i.e., the movie). Delteatro.it: Dizionario del spettacolo - AvanspettacoloAngelo Olivieri with Alberto Castellano, 1989: Le stelle del varietà: rivista, avanspettacolo e cabaret dal 1936 al 1966, Roma, Gremese, Mario Quargnolo, 1980: Dal tramonto dell'operetta al tramonto della rivista: mezzo secolo di fasti e miserie del varietà e dell'avanspettacolo, Milano, Pan, 1980, SBN IT\ICCU\SBL\0287024
Since avanspettacolo began as a low-profile and minor adaptation of revue proper, and in the 1970s ended up including such things as striptease shows, the term is sometimes used in a pejorative sense to refer to cheap, low quality comedy. Nevertheless, in the first half of the 20th century avanspettacolo served as a springboard for many prominent comedians, including Eduardo De Filippo,Donatella Fischer, 2007: Il Teatro di Eduardo De Filippo: La crisi della famiglia patriarcale ("Capitolo Primo: La frantumazione della famiglia", unpaginated), Modern Humanities Research Association and Taylor & Francis ( online version)Totò, Antoniodecurtis.org: Totò Biografia - La stagione dell'avanspettacolo Aldo Fabrizi, OsservatoreRomano.it: "Aldo Fabrizi, un istrione del cinema da riscoprire", 16 January 2021, Fabio Colagrande and Lino Banfi.Lino Banfi, 1991: Alla grande. La mia vita dall'avanspettacolo all'eurovisione. Sugarco Edizione
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