vaudeville

plural vaudevilles

1. historicaluncountableA style of multi-act theatrical entertainment which originated from France and flourished in Europe and North America from the 1880s through the 1920s.

   Mr. Sterling was born in Baltimore on June 24, 1915, to Jack Sexton and Edna Cable, veteran performers in vaudeville, showboats and stock companies.

   1990 November 2, Peter B. Flint, “Jack Sterling, 75, Host on Radio For 18 Years in New York, Dies”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: music hall

2. countablehistoricalAn entertainment in this style.

   1 more example

   “Me, Myself and I,” directed by Emily Mann and engagingly acted by a cast that includes the invaluable Albee veteran Brian Murray, is in the tradition of Mr. Albee’s mid- and late-career works like “The Marriage Play” and “The Play About the Baby”: fragmented philosophical vaudevilles that turn the most fundamental questions of identity into verbal soft-shoes.

   2008 January 28, Ben Brantley, “Ta-ta! Give ’Em the Old Existential Soft-Shoe”, in The New York Times