Garcia 1

Júlia Garcia

Theatre History

Research Project

Laurie Schmeling

2 December 2021

Annotated Bibliography

Starting in the 1840’s, American Burlesque took many shapes and forms. The purpose of my research is

to understand the nuances of this genre; and this bibliography aims on further analyzing the impact Lydia

Thompson had in Burlesque with her group the British Blondes, and how she was defying the 19 th century

society by not following gender norms, while still being highly regarded by most. My intent is to

highlight how she did that, as well as explain what was happening in Burlesque acting wise, and how the

audiences, and consequentially, society were being transformed by this art. I also take a look at how the

art caused scandal, like in the Chicago Times paper, when Lydia was accused of destroying women’s

images. I explored how Burlesque evolved from there as well. One more thing I thought interesting to

look into was women in plays and women in the audiences during the rise of melodrama.

Source #1 Allen, C. Robert “Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture”’ (May., 1991)
University of North Carolina Press (370 pages)

https://books.google.com/books?hl=ptBR&lr=&id=4IoXcZyKKJoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Horrible+P
rettiness:+Burlesque+and+American+
Culture.+Robert+C.+Allen&ots=rgLxLAX_Bv&sig=kZUiWvD9Ht2UZaRr7FGUUfZmETg#v=onepage
&q=Horrible%20Prettiness%3A%20Burlesque%20and%20American%20Culture.%20Robert%20C.%20
Allen&f=false

Robert Allen is a Burlesque scholar, and with this book, he not only analyses Burlesque as an art

but as a cultural reset. When Burlesque started to become about sex and the display of the female body,

the author felt like women had lost their voices. Allen talks about the moment before Burlesque started to

become decadent in his opinion. This form of entertainment was new, and ground-breaking, as it was

performed by middle-class working women and went against the arbitrary values of the society of that

time. The fan dance that started with Lydia Thompson’s company for example, quickly became famous,
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still being performed by Neo-Burlesque performers later, but around the 1900s the dancers were

complaining about the audience being too close to the stage. Even before that, “…Members of the New

York Press received an eight-page biography, which claimed that Thompson provoked such adulation

among her male fans that her European tour had resulted in suicides and duels.” said Allen. They were

quite shocked by Miss Lydia Thompson. There were police involved and many journals said that what

she was doing was disrespectful and destructive to women and their reputation. “Without question,

however, burlesque’s principal legacy as a cultural form was its establishment of patterns of gender

representation that forever changed the role of the woman on the American stage and later influenced her

role on the screen. The very sight of a female body not covered by the accepted costume of bourgeois

respectability forcefully if playfully called attention to the entire question of the “place” of women in

American society.” (Robert G. Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Univ. of

North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1991), pp. 258-259.

Source #2 Bordo, Susan R. (1993) “Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body”
Tenth Anniversary Edition, University of California Press

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rezqDU30R5wC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&ots=rtPfvmwtNh&s
ig=9a9Bzr0-44uL1bXm2PLj5e9xjxI#v=onepage&q&f=false

Looking at feminism and the body, this book interprets the anxiety surrounded around a culture of people

obsessed with a “fit” image. This expectation and aesthetic have been present in society for a very long

time. “The female is defined by society as a passive, primitive object, while the male is seen as

an active, conscious, striving subject.” (Susan R. Bordo) This is exactly what we see in Burlesque plays

and dramas that were written by men back in the 1800s, and even in prostitution. In the latter, the men

come to see the women perform. They are taking the action, and the woman is serving as entertainment.

The culture is preoccupied with the image, and denies the inevitable death of the body. She views the

body as a vessel, and it’s just that interesting.

Source #3 Curry, Jane Kathleen “Nineteenth-century American Women Theatre Managers”

https://books.google.com/books?hl=pt-
BR&lr=&id=1GPiQjAnv6IC&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&dq=nineteenth+century+american+women+theatre+man
agers&ots=xAtQECGkJ0&sig=QBaCuvd_j6LbkN7B5-
kov9drqxU#v=onepage&q=nineteenth%20century%20american%20women%20theatre%20managers&f=
false

With this source I wanted to look into women’s impact in the theatre during the 19 th century. On her first

chapter, this author goes into extend about Laura Keen and Louisa Lane Drew, stating that the manager

job was very dangerous and hard to do, and that people still have an impression women theatre managers

were rare in America in this period, which is something we discussed in class. She investigates names that

were erased from theatre history, and proves that statement as false. Curry finds material that account for

more than 50 managers, 15 of which were managing theatre out of need, and before 1853 even.

Source #4 Dudden, Faye E. “Women in the American Theatre: Actresses and Audiences, 1790-1870”

https://books.google.com/books?hl=pt-
BR&lr=&id=xOs7V6ohQQwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=american+theatre+audiences+19th+century&ots=
OGuzvHiRSd&sig=U7pYHUDAFNavWgU3qEPGp-
2IgLw#v=onepage&q=american%20theatre%20audiences%2019th%20century&f=false

This book reminded me of our discussions in class because the author mentions melodrama, and “Under

The Gaslight” with the lead woman playing the heroine for the “first time” in a play, while doing the very

thing the man was “supposed” and expected to do: save the “damsel in distress” or in this case, the person

in danger. This play defied the submissive woman stereotype seen previously in theatre. Here the author

speaks about how melodrama gave virtue to the woman heroine and vice to the villain, almost always

played by a man. “The struggle to defeat the villain invited female audience members to identify with an

embattled woman persecuted by an altogether hateful man, and to relish his downfall.” (pages 70-71) She

goes on to say women were finally starting to be counted as part of the mass of people who went to the

theatre, and they enjoyed melodrama.

Source #5 Ellis III, Ted R. (1982) “Burlesque Dramas in the Victorian Comic Magazines”, Victorian
Periodicals Review Vol. 15, No. 4 (Winter, 1982), pp. 138-143 (6 pages) Published by: The Johns
 Garcia 4

Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20082049

This source touches on Burlesque-extravaganzas, which to me felt important to learn and talk about, to

further understand this art form. It helped me in the understanding of Burlesque as something not limited to

the stage, and to theatre audiences but to society as a whole. This is not the first source I read that explains

how melodrama was fading away with the rise of burlesque. There was also burlesque drama and plays that

mirrored the 17th century burlesque acting, specifically composed for the actor, or the dancer, the carpenter,

the author, etc. It was a burlesque of plays.

Source #6 Ferreday, Debra (Apr. 2008) “Showing the girl”: The new burlesque, First Published April 1,
2008 Research Article Volume: 9 issue: 1, page(s): 47-65
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464700108086363

This paper brings attention to the cultural phenomenon “new burlesque”, a subculture that came after the

19th century, associated with strip-tease and cabaret seen in the beginning of the 20th century. However, it

explains a few things about 19th century burlesque as well, and I thought it would be good information to

compare the new with the beginning of the art form. The author makes a great point when explaining how

Burlesque performers became aware of feminism, and how in the 19th century there wasn’t a pressure, or

a need to be feminine in these performances, because the goal was to do the opposite. She explains the

ongoing discussion that Burlesque can be read as a drag performance, as a parody of femininity, but that

there is a tension between the desire to mock feminine ideals, and an attachment to femininity as an

identity position. I argue that this ideal was one aspect that hasn’t changed with the form, and ever since

the beginning of Burlesque.

Source #7 Glenn, A. Susan (Mar., 1993). Review: Taking Burlesque Seriously Reviews in American
History Vol. 21, No. 1 (Mar., 1993), pp. 93-100 (8 pages) Published by: The Johns Hopkins University
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Press Reviewed Works: Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture by Robert C. Allen; Funny
Woman: The Life and Times of Fanny Brice by Barbara W. Grossman

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2702956?casa_token=-
Y27wfu0yYAAAAA%3AsPLDxFSpAjCHGnDLuwfDVJtx8n7KVICk-
RWrpdBAnZ78fMctEHtPkOdK0-
MMBWz1MNNjTGFXXgQPO0jZUmmlv1AKAQ4umCw_0SjTcdb7ehhEUBkrQ&seq=1#metadata_inf
o_tab_

Being one of the first articles within a book I found about Burlesque, Glenn informed me how

exactly different Burlesque was during the 19th century than it is today: it was about comedy, and parody

of the rules of anything and everything that had a normal structure - not at all about sex appeal. It was

about social change and wanting to advance society’s outdated ideas. People would come to the theater to

see how women portrayed sexuality. However, the most astounding was the women performers of this era

and how they battled against men’s domination in the world and the subordination of women to men. And

then there was Lydia Thompson. The talk of the theatre scene in London had come to New York City.

"Ixion Burlesque" opened in New York on September 28, 1868. That’s when Lydia Thompson's name

became known throughout America. From there it was history. Over the years the troupe was known as

Ixion Burlesque, The British Blondes, and The Lydia Thompson Troupe.

Source #8 Hewitt, Barnard (1961) Mrs. John Wood and the Lost Art of Burlesque Acting Educational
Theatre Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2 (May, 1961), pp. 82-85 (4 pages) Published by: The Johns Hopkins
University Press https://www.jstor.org/stable/3204686

Even though this source is analyzing the work of Mrs. John Wood specifically, it also tells how Burlesque

acting was innovating as an art by not only following the rhythm of comedy through language but a lot of

times with a stream of puns. Most burleques would let satires take away the shape of characters and even

transform them. Acting in this period (1860/70) had a highly developed sense of the absurd. There was a

mocking with direct approach to the audience, so the audience would be captivated by the comedy. Some

actors would keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, afraid something scandalous was about to happen.
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Source #9 Mullenix, Reitz Elizabeth (2003) Reviewed Work: Lydia Thompson: Queen of
Burlesque by Kurt Gänzl. “Theatre Journal” Vol. 55, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 378-380 (3 pages)
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press file:///C:/Users/Julia/Downloads/25069266.pdf

Kurt Ganzl’s mentions Lydia Thompson in his book as part of the series “Forgotten Stars of Musical

Theatre”. This review criticizes Gänzl’s book and favors Richards Allen’s book “Horrible Prettiness:

Burlesque and American Culture” for identifying Lydia Thompson’s ability to transform America’s

notions of this type of entertainment (Burlesque). The author mentions yet another author, Faye Dudden’s

and her study (in 1994) that investigates the actress’s career, and her impact in American culture,

especially in regards to gender. However, the author does not disregard Ganzl’s book for complete. After

all, he does talk about Thompson’s early life and career, looking closely at her performances in London.

She says the strength of the book is in highlighting Thompson as a strong actress. Ganzl’s also covers

much of Thompson’s life when she was married to Alex Henderson, who was also her manager, and her

personal life was indeed what I most took away this part of my research.

Source #10 Steck, E. E. (2012). The Whore in All of Us: Transgressive Female Sexuality in the Works
of Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes, Mae West, and Annie Sprinkle. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.14418/wes01.1.759 https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/ir-1607

This publication states that the British Blondes filled the void left by the Black Crook, performing

in their place after they closed. Here, Steck talks about how the clothes burlesque dancers wore exactly

defied gender norms. The British Blondes were inspired by the Parisian “demimonde”. Demimonde

comes from the French expression “Le Demi-Monde” which means a group of women that were part of

the respectable society (higher class) while being supported by rich men who were their partners. This

group of women had a specific fashion that included body-hugging clothes that were comfortable, and

could be “easily demarcated as male” (Steck). The author mentions how ground-breaking the Blondes

were because all entertainment that came before were a variety of male acts. The Blondes borrowed the

kind of entertainment the men were doing and modified it. Women playing men was not a new sensation.
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This was about wearing man’s clothes, making fun of high class society to appeal to the working class

audience, while also sexualizing a performance.

Just extra important information: It is interesting to notice how most websites, when talking about

Burlesque nowadays, refer back to Gypsy Rose Lee, but forget to mention Lydia Thompson.

“…the burlesque show of the 19th century was patterned after the popular minstrel show. It consisted of

three parts: first, a series of songs, coarsely humorous sketches or bits, and comic monologues usually by

baggy-pants comics; second, the olio, an assortment of variety acts—e.g., acrobats, magicians, and

instrumental and vocal soloists; third, chorus numbers and occasionally a take-off, or burlesque, on

politics or a current play. The usual finale was a performance by an exotic dancer or a wrestling or boxing

match.” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica)

“When Burlesque shows were first established in America, they primarily centered around humorous

sketches but later shifted to more elements of strip tease in the early 20th century. Although the shows

themselves were not primarily risqué, audiences flocked to theaters in order to observe women portraying

their sexuality on stage. To this day, scholars continue to study the impact that these performances had

not only on the historical elements of stage performance, but on women’s sexuality as it pertains to the

arts.”