vaudeville

American  

[vawd-vil, vohd-, vaw-duh-] / ˈvɔd vɪl, ˈvoʊd-, ˈvɔ də- /

noun

1. theatrical entertainment consisting of a number of individual performances, acts, or mixed numbers, as by comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, and magicians.

2. a theatrical piece of light or amusing character, interspersed with songs and dances.

3. a satirical cabaret song.

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vaudeville British  

/ ˈvəʊdəvɪl, ˈvɔː- /

noun

1. Brit name: music hall.  variety entertainment consisting of short acts such as acrobatic turns, song-and-dance routines, animal acts, etc, popular esp in the early 20th century

2. a light or comic theatrical piece interspersed with songs and dances

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vaudeville Cultural  

1. Light theatrical entertainment, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, consisting of a succession of short acts. A vaudeville show usually included comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers, trained animals, magicians, and the like.

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Etymology

Origin of vaudeville

1730–40; < French, shortened alteration of Middle French chanson du vau de Vire “song of the vale ( def. ) of Vire,” a valley of Calvados, France, noted for satirical folksongs

Example Sentences

For all its verbal vaudeville, though, this holiday pageant occasionally hints at Thomas’s abiding theme, death.

From The Wall Street Journal

History marched on, and the Plaza with it — segueing from an independently operated movie theater to a community arts center with live performances, including vaudeville and a sold-out Louis Armstrong show.

From Los Angeles Times

A subtle pathos, along with the playwright’s verbal sophistication, prevents the play from degenerating into a collegiate vaudeville.”

From Los Angeles Times

It plays out cheerily as a kind of vaudeville show.

From The Wall Street Journal

With his country twang and aw-shucks mannerisms belying a keen intellect, Will Rogers was the lasso-roping star of vaudeville and the Broadway stage.

From Los Angeles Times