Category: 1860s-1900s
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Respectable Transgression: Womanless Weddings, Mock Weddings, and the Performance of Gender
The article explores historic mock weddings and womanless weddings, highlighting their roles as spaces permitting temporary gender nonconformity, while underscoring… Read more.
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Burlesque at the Wagner Opera House | Moline, IL
In the American Midwest of the 1890s and early 1900s, an “opera house” was less a temple to grand opera… Read more.
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Burlesque in Davenport, IA | Part 1
From riverboats to vaudeville stages, Davenport, Iowa was no stranger to spectacle. Between the 1860s and 1940s, this Mississippi River… Read more.
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Greene’s Opera House | Cedar Rapids, IA
Greene’s Opera House emerged as a cultural hub in Cedar Rapids during the late 19th century, offering residents access to… Read more.
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Sam T. Jack: Pioneer of Black Burlesque in America
In the late 19th century, American burlesque was evolving from Victorian parody into a bold, risqué form of variety entertainment.… Read more.
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Belle Howitt: Icon of British Burlesque
Belle Howitt was a celebrated soubrette of the British Blondes troupe. She appeared in productions such as Ixion, Poll and… Read more.
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Alice Oakes & The Oakes Company: Comic Opera on Tour
“In the early seventies the only travelling opera company of a comic character was that headed by Alice Oakes. She… Read more.
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The Hyers Sisters: Early Burlesquers
American burlesque history is usually traced to Lydia Thompson’s “British Blondes” in New York, but the Hyers Sisters were already… Read more.
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History of Burlesque in Council Bluffs, IA
Council Bluffs has always been a city of crossroads — a place where travelers, traders, and dreamers converged along the… Read more.
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Early Burlesque in Des Moines, IA
Long before Des Moines embraced its modern burlesque revival, the city played host to a vibrant, complicated legacy of tease… Read more.
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Aida Overton Walker: Queen of the Cakewalk
Aida Overton Walker (1880 – 1914) was a transformative figure in American performance history. As a dancer, singer, choreographer, and… Read more.
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Uncovering the Lost Legacy of Saidie Sellyna
In a sepia publicity portrait dated circa 1911, a poised young woman named Saidie Sellyna (Thompson) gazes confidently at the… Read more.
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Burlesque in Falls City, NE
Long before Falls City became known for quiet streets and prairie charm, it played host to a livelier, more provocative… Read more.
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Burlesque at the McDaniel’s Theatre | Cheyenne, WY
Cheyenne, Wyoming has been the frontier of entertainment since the mid-1860s. At the heart of it all stood McDaniel’s Theatre,… Read more.
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Burlesque in Auburn, NE
In the quiet corners of southeast Nebraska, performance history flickers between preservation and mystery. Auburn may not boast the grand… Read more.
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Burlesque in Chadron, NE
Nestled in the Nebraska Panhandle, Chadron’s performance history is anything but provincial. Beginning in the late 1800s, the town’s opera… Read more.
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Sada Yacco: Geisha and Global Icon
In the twilight of the 19th century, as Japan opened its doors to the world, one woman stepped through them… Read more.
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Loïe Fuller
The Serpentine Dancer Born in 1862 in Fullersburg, Illinois, Loïe Fuller was a performer who defied categorization. She began her… Read more.
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Charmion: The Strongwoman
In the golden age of vaudeville, when corsets reigned and propriety was the law of the land, one woman dared… Read more.
