VAUDEVILLE

vaudeville, music hall

(noun) a variety show with songs and comic acts etc.

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vaudeville (countable and uncountable, plural vaudevilles)

(historical, uncountable) A style of multi-act theatrical entertainment which originated from France and flourished in Europe and North America from the 1880s through the 1920s.

(historical, countable) An entertainment in this style.

Synonyms

• music hall (British)

Coordinate terms

• burlesque

Source: Wiktionary

Vaude"ville, n. Etym: [F., fr. Vau-de-vire, a village in Normandy, where Olivier Basselin, at the end of the 14th century, composed such songs.] [Written also vaudevil.]

1. A kind of song of a lively character, frequently embodying a satire on some person or event, sung to a familiar air in couplets with a refrain; a street song; a topical song.

2. A theatrical piece, usually a comedy, the dialogue of which is intermingled with light or satirical songs, set to familiar airs. The early vaudeville, which is the forerunner of the opera bouffe, was light, graceful, and piquant. Johnson's Cyc.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition