Revue

Revue, French word meaning ‘survey’, used for an entertainment consisting of a number of short items—songs, dances, sketches, monologues—which are not normally related. Unlike the English music-hall and American vaudeville, in which a succession of performers appeared, revue players reappeared in various numbers throughout the programme. The first revue to be staged in London, at the Royal Court Theatre, was Under the Clock (1893) by Seymour Hicks and Charles Brookfield, but it was only part of an evening's entertainment. The first American revue, described as a ‘review’, was The Passing Show (1894). Pot-Pourri (1899) was the first English revue to be so described on the playbill. A specialized type of revue that became widely popular at holiday resorts was that presented by the characteristically English pierrot troupes. One of the first to devise such entertainments was Harry Pélissier (1874–1913), whose company wore black-and-white pierrot costumes against a setting of black-and-white curtains, Pélissier himself acting as compère and writing much of the material. The London success of the Pélissier Follies, 1908–12, finally established the popularity of modern revue with West End audiences, and the pierrot costume was widely adopted. One of the most famous concert-parties of this type was The Co-Optimists, who appeared in London during several seasons in the 1920s.

In America Ziegfeld's Follies, an entertainment somewhat similar to Pélissier's, which ran through 25 editions and established revue as an important feature of the New York theatrical scene, was first seen in 1907. The star of the series from 1910 onwards was Fanny Brice [ Fannie Borach] (1891–1951), a singer and comedienne whom Ziegfeld discovered doing impersonations in burlesque. She later married Billy Rose and appeared in his Crazy Quilt (1931). (She was the subject of a Broadway musical, Styne's Funny Girl, in 1964.) The edition of 1910 introduced another outstanding newcomer, Bert Williams, and in two later editions the musical-comedy star Marilyn Miller also appeared. Another entertainer, later famous in films, Al Jolson [ Asa Yoelson] (1886–1950), appeared at the newly built Winter Garden Theatre in the revue La Belle Paree (1911), and so began a long association with that playhouse during which he starred there in many musical shows, including Whirl of Society (1912) and Dancing Around (1914).

Just before the First World War revue was at the height of its popularity in London, and was seen at the Alhambra, the Empire, and the London Hippodrome, this last housing from 1912 to 1925 the revues of Albert de Courville (1887–1960). Much of the music, and many of the artists, came from America, de Courville's Hullo Ragtime! (1912) being a typical example. In 1914 Alfred Butt (1878–1962) inaugurated a series of revues at the Palace Theatre, the first of which, The Passing Show, introduced to London the American star Elsie Janis [ Elsie Bierbower] (1889–1956), who, originally on the stage as a child, as ‘Little Elsie’, went into musical comedy, and eventually became famous in such revues as The Century Girl (1916), Hullo! America (1918), Elsie Janis and her Gang (1919 and 1922), and Puzzles of 1925. She also appeared in her own play A Star for a Night (1911).

A new type of ‘intimate’ revue, which relied more on witty dialogue than on dress and dancing, was essayed by C. B. Cochran with Odds and Ends (1914), but his best-known revues were those at the London Pavilion from 1918 to 1931, which included three by Noël Coward, Rodgers and Hart's One Dam Thing after Another (1927), and Cole Porter's Wake up and Dream (1929). During roughly the same period André Charlot (1882–1956), who came from Paris in 1912 and was associated with the pre-war productions of revue at the Alhambra, was putting on such shows as A to Z (1921), Coward's London Calling (1923), and, most notably, Charlot's Revue (1924 and 1925), which was popular in both London and New York. The outstanding name in revue in New York at the time, however, was George White [ George Weitz] (1890–1968), whose Scandals of 1919 was successful enough to warrant 12 further editions. Also in 1919 came the first of the Greenwich Village Follies, of which seven more editions were to appear during the 1920s. The first was presented by the Canadian John Murray Anderson (1886–1954), known as ‘the king of revue’, who was involved as director, lyricist, or author with several of the later editions. He produced and staged 34 musical comedies and revues, including three of the later editions of the Ziegfeld Follies. Ed Wynn [ Edwin Leopold] (1886–1966), one of the greatest American comedians of his day, had his first starring role in revue in the Ed Wynn Carnival (1920). He presented on stage a personality of staggering ineptitude, with a lisp, fluttering hands, and outrageous costumes. He later appeared in such revues as The Grab Bag (1924), The Laugh Parade (1931), and Boys and Girls Together (1940), as well as in musical comedies, usually tailored to suit his personality, among them Simple Simon (1930) and Hooray for What! (1937). Another major star of American revue was Eddie Cantor [ Isidore Itzkowitz or Isidore Iskowitz] (1892–1964), an eye-rolling singer and comedian who often appeared in blackface. He was in several editions of the Ziegfeld Follies as well as in other revues such as Make it Snappy (1922) and musical comedies—Kid Boots (1923; London, 1926) and Whoopee (1928).

In 1923 Earl Carroll presented the first of 11 editions of his Vanities. Other successful revues were The Band Wagon (1931), whose score by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz was perhaps the best ever written for a revue, and As Thousands Cheer (1933), with music by Irving Berlin, in which Marilyn Miller made her last appearance on the stage.

In London, Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge co-starred in several revues, while Clarkson Rose (1890–1968) presented every summer his famous seaside revue Twinkle, most of which he wrote himself, combining it with appearances in pantomime at Christmas. Continuous revue was introduced at the Windmill Theatre in 1932. From 1934 to 1939 Norman Marshall staged intimate revue annually at the Gate Theatre, bringing fame to one of the supreme exponents of this genre, Hermione Gingold (1897–1987). It also flourished at the Little Theatre with Nine Sharp (1938) and The Little Revue (1939), written by Herbert Farjeon (1887–1945), the major revue librettist of the period. Grandson of the American actor Joseph Jefferson, he was also a dramatic critic and author, and with his sister Eleanor was responsible for the musical plays The Two Bouquets (1936), An Elephant in Arcady (1938), and The Glass Slipper (1944). Both the Farjeon revues featured the Australian-born comedian Cyril Ritchard (1898–1977), who had settled in England and was later seen in Coward's revue Sigh No More (1945), as well as in a number of straight roles, among them Tattle in Congreve's Love for Love in New York in 1947 and Sir Novelty Fashion in Vanbrugh's The Relapse in London in 1948 (NY, 1950). He eventually moved to America.

The vogue for revue continued during and after the Second World War, George Black (1890–1943) presenting in London a series beginning with Apple Sauce (1940), and his sons George and Alfred continuing the tradition. On a more intimate scale, the biggest success of the 1940s was the Sweet and Low series with Hermione Gingold, for which the books were written by Alan Melville (1910–83). He was connected with many other revues and was the author of several plays, among them Castle in the Air (1949), Dear Charles (1952), and Simon and Laura (1956). Gingold also appeared in several revues with Hermione Baddeley. Dora Bryan (1924– ) was seen in revues such as The Lyric Revue (1951), The Globe Revue (1952), and Living for Pleasure (1958), as well as in musical comedy and plays such as Shaw's Too True to be Good (1965) and Ronald Millar's They Don't Grow on Trees (1968), in which she played nine parts. In Bamber Gascoigne's Share My Lettuce (1957), Maggie Smith made her London début. Also in the cast was Kenneth Williams (1926–88), an actor well known for his ‘camp’ style and wide range of silly and affected voices. He was later seen in the revues Pieces of Eight (1959) and One over the Eight (1961), and in such diverse straight parts as the Dauphin in Shaw's Saint Joan (1954), Julian in Peter Shaffer's The Public Eye (1962), and the title-role in Robert Bolt's Gentle Jack (1963). At the Drop of a Hat (1956; NY, 1959) and At the Drop of Another Hat (1963; NY, 1966) were two-man entertainments by Michael Flanders (1922–75), confined to a wheel-chair by poliomyelitis, who wrote the words, and Donald Swann. Beyond the Fringe, a brilliantly clever satirical revue which originated with the Cambridge Footlights Club and had already been seen at the Edinburgh Festival, arrived in London in 1961 (NY, 1962); it was the joint work of Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore. Thereafter topical revue was mainly confined to television, and since on economic grounds spectacular revues were impossible, the genre could not survive, though Oh! Calcutta! (NY, 1969; London, 1970), devised by the drama critic Kenneth Tynan, in which both men and women appeared naked for much of the show, attracted curious audiences.