TABLEAUX VIVANTS ON THE NINETEENTH CENTURY NEW YORK STAGE.
Item
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Title
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TABLEAUX VIVANTS ON THE NINETEENTH CENTURY NEW YORK STAGE.
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Identifier
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AAI8120762
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identifier
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8120762
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Creator
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MCCULLOUGH, JACK WHEELOCK.
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Contributor
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Prof. Vera M. Roberts
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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Tableaux vivants have appeared on the American stage under a variety of names: living pictures, living statues, poses plastiques, living models, and model artists. During the nineteenth century, they were highly popular as specialty acts billed with other entertainments, as static scenes integrated into plays, and as full-scale productions in themselves.;Tableaux vivants generally represented some separate source material: a painting or sculpture, a scene from history or literature, an ilustration of a familiar concept, or sometimes a completely original fanciful invention. Tableaux often made extensive use of theatrical machinery and stagecraft for realistic effects, including elaborately painted backdrops, three-dimensional scenery and properties, authentic costumes, and spectacular special effects. To represent the nude figures in well-known works of art, models wore "fleshings," or, in the case of statue representations, employed body paint or other techniques. A large picture frame frequently replaced or augmented the conventional proscenium arch in theatres, thus enhancing the "living picture" image. Similar methods of presentation were used in regular theatres, variety houses and music halls, special tableau exhibition rooms, and in private homes when tableaux vivants became a popular parlor entertainment.;After briefly describing the European origins of tableaux vivants, this study traces the history of tableaux on the New York City stage from their arrival in 1831 to their virtual demise as an independent entertainment form by 1900.;The earliest exhibitions of tableaux vivants in New York, in the 1830's, were statuary representations by such individual performers as Mrs. Barrymore (Ada Adams), George Wieland, Mr. Frimbly, and John Fletcher. These performers drew heavily on the work of the English equestrian, Andrew Ducrow. In the 1840's, tableau companies under Dr. Collyer, Professor Thier, and others adopted sensational advertising practices and relied heavily on the appeal of female nudity. Such exhibitions flew in the face of moralistic Victorian attitudes, resulting in repeated attempts to close tableau exhibitions. During the 1850's, while sensational presentations continued, "artistic" tableaux were emphasized by Louis Keller and the mainstream theatrical manager, Laura Keene. Attacks upon the more sensational tableaux continued through the 1880's, spearheaded by the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice under the leadership of Anthony Comstock. By the mid-1890's, however, opposition had cooled--tableaux were even used for charity fund-raisers--and for a short time the variety theatres competed fiercely to provide grandiose tableau spectacles under the direction of such prominent producers as Oscar Hammerstein, F. F. Proctor, and A. M. Palmer. Perhaps the most spectacular of all tableaux was the "Glyptorama" of Edward Kilanyi, which appeared briefly in 1895-96. With the advent of motion pictures in 1896, however, the appeal of tableaux vivants waned as an independent form of entertainment.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Theatre
