Variety is a type of theater whose performances are based on a combination of different genres of theatrical, musical, pop and circus art. The performances of the variety shows are always light and cheerful. They are filled with humor, irony, elements of parody. Actors and readers, singers and dancers, magicians and acrobats perform on the variety show.
Parisian variety show
Variety theaters became widespread in large cities of Western Europe at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They got their name from the Variety Theater, which was founded in 1720 in Paris.
Cafesantans and cabarets are considered the forerunners of variety shows, although the concepts of "cabaret" and "variety show" are sometimes considered synonymous. For a long time Paris remained the center for the development of variety shows.
The performances of the variety shows were distinguished by an incredibly magnificent design. Perhaps the main genre of variety shows was revue - variety review.
In the 1880s, such well-known cabaret variety shows as Black Cat and Foley Berger appeared. In addition to splendor, their ideas were characterized by excessive sentimentality and obscene jokes.
Variety theaters reached their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. In the famous Paris cabaret variety show “Moulin Rouge” and “Apollo” such talented chansonnier artists as Maurice Chevalier and Josephine Baker began to perform. They managed to combine vocal art and acting.
At the same time, variety shows became a school of virtuoso technique of spectacular pop dance, which arose in the operetta, and later became one of the expressive means of the musical.
