Theater Turn of The Century

Theater Turn of The Century 

Stage Created in 1889

         In America in the period between 1880 to 1920 theater developed a lot. There were new and exciting things coming out changing the stiff and boring way theater used to be. At the turn of the century, America changed in theater by, stage advances, new styles of theater, and the role of ethnicity.
         Before 1850 there weren't a lot of theaters in America but as theater became more and more popular, more theaters were built. Stages used to be candlelit but with more advances to technology, stages had gaslight and limelight. and later in the 19th century came electricity making theaters have better lighting on the characters. The scenery used to be painted but was replaced with three dimensional scenery which made it easier for actors to interact with the props and scenery. Stages were changed to wooden stages and made more sturdy. Since they had wooden stages people started to develop trap doors and slots and elevators in the floor to make a greater illusion for the crowd. Before the pit was a place where the poor people were and had no seating. The pit was renamed the "Orchestra" and then expanded for more people and had seating, it was also known as the place for the rich people to sit.

Showgirls In Follies

Zigfeld Follies

         Theater concept changed a lot with the turn of the century. People had new and different ways to make theater exciting and more drawing to the crowds. Musicals became a big thing in this time period with the start of ragtime. In 1880 Vaudeville was created which were short plays consisting of dancing, singing, and comedy. A lot of the dancing in musicals and follies were risky dance moves that were done in clubs. Follies were a big thing in the late 1800's that carried on into the 1900's. Follies were very extravagant musicals that pushed the limit on risks. Follies had very large budgets and so they would have grand illusions and spectacular costumes. Showgirls usually ended the follies in very scandalous and very revealing outfits. The costumes were covered in feathers and jewels. Ziegfeld Follies was the man known to do follies and his were always the most extravagant out of anyone's. Theater also changed by having very real plots. Unlike the follies and musicals, a lot of plays came out about real life hardships and past struggles. Realism became a huge part of theater and people started to act out real issues such as social issues, domestic, and marital conflicts.

Jazz Music

         In this time period a lot of different races came to the big cities and with that a lot of new theater groups formed. People wanted to talk about their ethnic struggles and  help people learn more about their cultures. Individual theater groups were created that were made up of certain ethnic groups such as Irish, African American, and Jewish. A lot of plays preformed by these troupes were only understood by those specific ethnic groups. There were a lot of folk plays written about ethnic groups homeland to make them be reminded of their countries. A lot of stage stereotypes became with the increase of immigrants and theater. This helped people have a common interest if they were rich, poor, old or young. A lot of the dancing done in musicals and follies were from black dance clubs.
         Why were people so drawn to the big city in this time period? With more people going to the city to get jobs there was a greater population in the cities and more people with leisure time. In this era a lot of people had steady jobs and wanted something fun to do on the when they were bored. In this time period theater became known as a glamorous thing to when in earlier time theater wasn't something looked up to. Theater used to be known for lower class people and then it became known as the place for middle to higher class people. A lot of rich people went to the theater to show of that they could afford to go and dress up to impress people. Plays became more of a calm and peaceful environment to let go of stress.
Genoso

This site helped me learn specifically about Follies a very important innovation of the turn of the century. I also found from this site that African Americans helped influence a lot of the dances and musicals in theater. 

Uuniversity of Washington

 I used this website to learn about the main technological advances in stages.I also learned that crowds changed to more high class and middle class people in the theater at the turn of the century. 

Udini

This site was helpful by telling me about racial comedy in theater. It also explained how different ethnic groups had their own theaters.

Cambridge Guide to American Theatre 

I used this site to learn about African americans influencing theater. I also used it to learn about the new content of plays, which was plays with more deep thoughts and talking about every day struggles. 

Britannica

This site helped me understand the advancement in stages in the 19th century. 

my other

here is my 2nd blog

      Irene Berdard acts as a strong Indian woman in all her movies because she wants to show how strong Indian women are.
      Irene Berdard is an actress from Alaska. her father is half Cree and her mother is Inuit. Growing up she learned a lot about her Indian culture.(History Database ) She has played the parts of Pocahontas, Mary Crow Dog in Lakot Women: Siege at Wounded Knee, Suzy Song in Smoke signals, and many more. (Indian Country) She has had a struggle of  racism against Indians which she does not agree with. In a interview with Tyra Banks she said"I look at people and look in their eyes" (youtbe/tyrabanks)
Irene Berdard has been trying to get people to learn more about native Americans and really understand their culture and wants them to be seen in a better light. A lot of the times Indians are viewed as these crazy people that have no morals. In one interview she said "The film industry has been getting stronger in the way of portraying native people in a more realistic light.. audiences want to see more of the reality and more of the truth"(History Database ). She believes that people are starting to change their opinions on Native Americans and she contributed to that. She was asked by an interviewer "How does it feel to stand as a representation of what a native person can accomplish?" she responded with " This is a heavy duty question.. this coming generation, those of us who have whatever gifts they may be.. now is the time to give those gifts.. we need to inspire each other to live life in a beautiful way and In the way of peace and understanding and enveloping all humans on the planet in one circle just like the medicine wheel. I believe that when we do give these gifts and we do impart this knowledge and give freely of who we are as indigenous people all around the world, it is going to create this beautiful awakening in the coming generation."

(Indian Country). Irene Berdard stated that "People were put on this earth for learning, no matter what race"(youtbe/tyrabanks).

Irene Berdard likes to play strong women Indian Roles. A lot of people made harsh comments about the movie "Pocahontas" being false but Irene Berdard played her because she represented what Indian women are, strong. when asked "What makes Pocahontas special among the Disney canon?" she said "Pocahontas is the strongest. She's not waiting for her prince she actually saves John Smith from death. She is independent and strong willed." (Disney).
Indian women have always had a strong part in their tribes. The women controlled all the goods and children, helped with medical problems, on the council, and some even went into battle for the wounded husbands. A lot of Indians believe that their origin stems with the women because they are the ones who gave them life. Most Indian tribes are matrilineal. In the North East and South East there are many female rulers. All the women have power over their behavior, children, body, and land from before their marriage. A lot of Indian tribes have women spirits such as the three sisters, who they believe gave them all their essentials, and white painted lady, and child of the water. Closer to nowadays Indian women joined armed forces in World War Two. Women have formed groups to stop assaults on native groups, their names are White Buffalo Calf, Native Women's Association, The Women of all Red Nations, The Inuit Women's Association, The Women's Dance Health Program, and The Sacred Shawl Society. these groups want to help with violence, drugs, alcohol, cultural preservation, training midwives, improve education, and stopping loss of subsistent way of life.(Women in american indian society)

Many Indians have experienced racial and gender issues. Irene Berdard as an actress has helped everyone see how Indians really are and that they are strong and smart people.

 

 

 

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/irene-bedard-discusses-her-journey-as-a-leading-native-actress-131748

I used this article for broad information on Irene Berdard’s career including all the movies she has been in. There also was a couple of question and answers with Irene Berdard.

http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?iPin=AIW010&SID=2&DatabaseName=American+Indian+History+Online&InputText=%22Irene+Bedard%22&SearchStyle=&dTitle=Bedard%2C+Irene&TabRecordType=Biography&BioCountPass=4&SubCountPass=1&DocCountPass=0&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=0&FedCountPass=&MedCountPass=0&NewsCountPass=0&RecPosition=1&AmericanData=&WomenData=&AFHCData=&IndianData=Set&WorldData=&AncientData=&GovernmentData=

I used this website for information before and the early part of her life.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2mBurTRWCS

interview with Irene berdard about racism

www.janagraber.com/profiles/native-american-actress-irene-berdard/

Green, Rayna. Women in American Indian Society. New York: Chelsea House, 1992.
     Print.

I used this book for information on women in Native American societies and what the womens roles are.

Cowboys

          Nowadays people watch and read about the cowboy and think of a strong man that carried a gun and didn't allow anyone to say anything bad about them. People do not realize that a cowboy was on the bottom of social ranking and was low paid. They had nothing special about them and not many people cared about them. They did not carry around weapons and threaten to kill people all the time. Cowboys did not get to go on crazy adventures and be the hero, most of the time they would just get their work done on the farms and go home. Most cowboys just would herd cattle. Most people think of cowboys as glorious heroes but in reality they were just a low paid worker.
           A lot of people decided to move to the west because they thought there would be numerous job opportunities and that it would be the perfect place to start over. When people got to the west a lot of them had trouble finding jobs and even good places to live. Most of the homes were on dirt floors and made of hay. A lot of people that wanted to farm in the west had trouble because the landscape was so crazy, it went from trees everywhere to dry flat deserts. A lot of Chinese people moved to California at this time and this made it extra hard to work because they were taking the jobs. especially minors had trouble jobs and some if they could would go back home.
           People that lived in the East were intrigued about the West and wanted to learn about it without moving there. Art was a big factor in evidence of the West. People would make paintings then would go to the East and show off their work. A lot of people would pay to see these paintings because they were so interested in the landscape. The landscape was so different around the West and people couldn't believe it. There were also book written about the West like "The Virginian" that was still popular into the sixty's. Buffalo Bill was a man that would go around the East and do shows about the East. There were numerous ways people would find out about the West without having to go there.

      Coming into history I thought I knew a lot more about the post Civil War than I did. I knew that there was segregation and President Lincoln was killed. I thought that was the only big things that happened after the war. Now I know all the struggles the blacks faced without having jobs, homes, or their family. At first I thought that that when the John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln that it was good and that Lincoln wasn't trying to help them but wanted to punish them but now I realized it only hurt them in the long run. I also learned that during this time they had a lot of corrupt presidents that picked sides. I am glad we went more into depth this year and helped me see that it wasn't all happy at the end of the Civil War.
      Some people don't understand that history has a lot of use and purpose they say "Why do we need to learn about the past? we live in the present" but what those people don't understand is we don't want to make those mistakes again. You also need to know about what worked and how to make things work with so many people having different opinions. It is especially to know about where you live because you need to know about your ancestors and learn about the mistakes they made. You also need to know the history behind monuments and houses because they were important.