Vaudeville

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈvÉ”dvɪl/

Origin

From French vaudeville.

Noun

1. (historical, uncountable) A style of multi-act theatrical entertainment which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s.
2. (historical, countable) An entertainment in this style.
• 2008, January 28, Ben Brantley, Ta-ta! Give ’Em the Old Existential Soft-Shoe, “Me, Myself and I,” directed by Emily Mann and engagingly acted by a cast that includes the invaluable Albee veteran Brian Murray, is in the tradition of Mr. Albee’s mid- and late-career works like “The Marriage Play” and “The Play About the Baby”: fragmented philosophical vaudevilles that turn the most fundamental questions of identity into verbal soft-shoes.

Synonyms

• music hall British

Derived terms

• vaudevillian (noun)