The author probes the roots of vaudville in this rich chronicle of a lost but very influential brand of American entertainment, illuminating the impact of vaudville actors and techniques on everyone from Ed Sullivan to the Muppet Show.

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Product Description: This entertaining and enlightening book depicts the rise of popular culture in America by brilliantly recapturing the essence and commercial trappings of one of its most vital forms of entertainment―the vaudeville show. Vaudeville was a meeting place, an inclusive form of theatre that flourished especially in New York, where it fostered cultural exchange among the city's ethnic groups...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: A disrobing acrobat, a female Hamlet, and a tuba-playing labor activist--all these women come to life in Rank Ladies. In this comprehensive study of women in vaudeville, Alison Kibler reveals how female performers, patrons, and workers shaped the rise and fall of the most popular live entertainment at the turn of the century...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)