The Business of Mass Entertainment

If vaudeville spoke so effectively to modern life and if it was so popular, why did it disappear after World War I? There was nothing inevitable about vaudeville’s decline; but its vulnerabilities were apparent even as it grew. As vaudeville became more popular, some entrepreneurs tried to separate their businesses from the mass of variety theaters by creating what they called the “big time,” a glitzier vaudeville based on palatial theaters, glamorous amenities and high-priced celebrities. Referencing characters like Fred Proctor, Edward F. Albee, and Sherman Dudley, this chapter shows how managers formed national chains and booking cartels and tried to strangle out their competitors. These tactics drove managers who could not secure enough affordable celebrity acts to reduce overhead by showing movies. The cost of ever-increasing glamor burdened “big time” chains with staggering overhead, something which made them vulnerable when the market contracted sharply after WWI. The cause of vaudeville’s decline was both structural and unrehearsed.