AMERICAN VAUDEVILLE

This book, crammed with the authentic voices of the men and women who were vaudeville, re-creates for us the excitement, the razzle-dazzle, the history of vaudeville, the essence of vaudeville with seventy-three extraordinary pieces culled from articles, memoirs, editorials, commentaries, critiques and skits. Here, speaking for themselves, are the men and women who were onstage or backstage or our front applauding (or booking) - from B.F. Keith (the founder) and the critics and producers to the great stars: Fanny Brice, George Burns, Lillian Russell, George M. Cohan, Eddie Cantor, Joe E. Brown, Eddie Foy and many more...Listen to their voices and to dozens of others, it's all here, from vaudeville's shaky beginnings in 1883 in a dime museum in Boston to the moment when talking pictures finally brought it all crashing down. American Vaudeville helps readers recapture the magic of one of the great eras of American show business.