Editing Revue (section)

{{Short description|Theatrical act with music, dance, and sketches}}
{{For-multi|the 1982 album|Revue (album)|the German magazine|Revue (magazine)|the typeface|Revue (typeface){{!}}Stephenson Blake|the newsletter service|Twitter, Inc.#Revue}}
{{More footnotes|date=September 2009}}
A '''revue''' is a type of multi-act popular [[theatre|theatrical]] [[entertainment]] that combines [[music]], [[dance]], and [[sketch comedy|sketches]]. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and [[melodrama]] but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Revue {{!}} theatre|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/revue|access-date=2021-01-26|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=2023-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330062223/https://www.britannica.com/art/revue|url-status=live}}</ref> Though most famous for their visual [[spectacle]], revues frequently satirized contemporary figures, [[news]] or literature. Similar to the related subforms of [[operetta]] and [[musical theatre]], the revue art form brings together music, dance and sketches to create a compelling show. In contrast to these, however, revue does not have an overarching storyline. Rather, a general theme serves as the motto for a loosely related series of acts that alternate between solo performances and dance ensembles.

Owing to high ticket prices, [[wikt:ribald|ribald]] publicity campaigns and the occasional use of [[wikt:prurient|prurient]] material, the revue was typically patronized by audience members who earned more and felt even less restricted by middle-class social norms than their contemporaries in [[vaudeville]]. Like much of that era's popular entertainments, revues often featured material based on sophisticated, irreverent dissections of topical matter, public personae and fads, though the primary attraction was found in the frank display of the female body.