The Voice of the City: Vaudeville and Popular Culture in New York

by Robert W. Snyder

This entertaining and enlightening book depicts the rise of popular culture in America by brilliantly recapturing the essence and commercial trappings of one of its most vital forms of entertainment―the vaudeville show. Vaudeville was a meeting place, an inclusive form of theatre that flourished especially in New York, where it fostered cultural exchange among the city's ethnic groups. In The Voice of the City , Mr. Snyder reconstructs the famous acts, describes the different theatres, and shows how entrepreneurs created a near monopoly over bookings, theatres, and performers. He also gives us vaudeville's decline, its audiences usurped by musical comedy, radio, and the movies. "A fascinating and highly readable social history....By exploring the place of vaudeville in the neighborhoods and in the city central theatre district, Robert Snyder brilliantly illuminates the way city culture was made and worked in the lives of people at the turn of the century."―Thomas Bender. "The most authoritative book on American vaudeville...also a remarkably good read, filled with colorful details and incisive commentary on American popular culture in the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century."―David Nasaw.

Genres: History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very readable for a book that began as a dissertation. It's a good introduction to the topic for anyone interested in the business of Vaudeville as well as the rather risque material which helped to usher out Victorian morality.

What started in Bowery "concert saloons" in the mid 1800s, (a haven for everything contemporaries considered low and degraded, like minstrel shows and can can dancing) morphed into a well oiled capitalist machine providing mass entertainment under the Keith Orpheum circuit. The idea was to broaden the appeal of the Bowery by taming it (and removing alcohol on the premises), without eliminating everything that the "rowdies" liked about it. The variety of acts ensured there was something for everyone.

The headquarters of the operation in Times square was like the stock exchange where acts were bought and sold, then placed on a pre-ordained circuit. This formed the basis of other media conglomerates that came after it. It is commonly said that Vaudeville died after the advent of films in the 1920s, but many of the stars graduated to other forms of media like film, radio, TV, and standup.

[Bob Schnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even with a BA in Theatre Arts, much of the information in "The Voice of the City" was news to me. Robert W. Snyder presents vaudeville as it really was, at least in New York City. From "small-time" to "big-time" we see how it all came together as an entertainment force spanning the period post Civil War to the Great Depression. The book covers the topic from the theatre owners to the talent agencies to the acts (and their audiences) themselves. Most interesting is how acts promoting ethnic stereotypes actually helped to bring diverse communities together and promote cultural exchange. No matter what you think you know about vaudeville, this book is sure to offer new insight.

[Bill Lydon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish there was more performers and less sociology.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read this book for the second or third time and still enjoyed it very much. It is an excellent, scholarly, well-researched, but wholly accessible history of vaudeville, placing the form in its historical context and geographical setting.

[Devan Fronk]

Pretty informative and interesting, I feel like I got a good glimpse into the world of vaudeville and learned more than I thought I would from this book.

[Jeanne T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great piece about vaudeville in new york city at the turn of the century.