Variety at heart of vaudeville camp

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This article was published 30/10/2020 (1799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conjuring up a time when vaudeville was the premier mode of entertainment — first for men working in the Gold Rush, and later when it swept across Canada — is something the hosts of a virtual (and hopefully, in-person) camp expect will attract people of all ages.

The Crescent Arts Centre is hosting a 12-week vaudeville camp for seniors, adults and people of all ages. Called The Crescent Arts Centre Follies, the program will teach participants the basics of one of the most joyous and diversified forms of entertainment in history, according to the camp organizers.

“Vaudeville is a variety show, which has its roots in the 1860s to 1880s, in the frontier towns of North America during the Gold Rush, when young guys were looking for entertainment,” Grant Simpson said. “Imagine 500 young guys, ages 18 to 30, crowded into a theatre-saloon, looking for entertainment. In those days, theatres were always attached to a saloon, as they served food and alcohol.”

At the time, women were leery of the Wild West atmosphere at the shows, deeming them lewd and crude.

In the 1880s, according to Simpson, “Tony Pastor, the father of vaudeville, decided he wanted to put on a show that could bring in the wives and daughters as well. By opening it up to women, he could double his audience.”

Not only did Pastor ensure the acts were more family-friendly, he gave away items like sewing patterns or material, or dish sets doled out one piece per week to attract a female audience.

At its height, vaudeville had 30,000 performers travelling to 4,000 theatres across North America, according to Simpson.

“People would go to see magic acts, high-wire acts. They saw new inventions like a gramophone introduced for the first time and went wild over that. The first bicycles were introduced in a vaudeville setting.”

Winnipeg held on to theatres showing vaudeville acts long after the introduction of movies, which were to sound the death-knell for vaudeville, Simpson said.

Simpson has deep roots in vaudeville, having first performed and then owned the Frantic Follies troupe in a city in Yukon for 40 years. He was convinced to move to Winnipeg two years ago by Mitch Podolak, the late founder of Home Routes.

He’ll put those years of experience into teaching the online camp, with the hope of staging a live performance if and when pandemic restrictions for indoor gatherings are lifted.

Sandi Howell said hosting vaudeville camps at the Crescent Arts Centre — located at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church in Osborne Village — is a way to engage seniors and people of all ages. Howell said they received New Horizons for Seniors federal funding to run the Vaudeville camps, including the new virtual camp.

“The timing is right for this, as we head into winter and as we’re saturated with news about COVID-19. People are looking for a safe way to learn a new skill,” she said.

The camp will start with Simpson presenting about the heyday of vaudeville, and then walking the online students through acting in skits, singing Barbershop choruses, comedy, magic, juggling, dancing, novelty acts and more. The duo recruited guest instructors, such as magician Brian Glow, a choreographer to teach blocking, and Winnipeg theatre veteran Sharon Bajer to do theatrical exercises.

The cost of the online class is $20 per person and will launch once the organizers receive enough interest from the public, according to Simpson.

For more information, contact Sandi Howell by email at sandihowell@shaw.ca or by phone at 204-990-4895.