The Music Hall - Thoughts on the entertainment

Our readings this week have focused on the British music hall, one of the first distinctly British entertainments that we have come across in our studies this semester.  Entertainment at the music hall included a variety of types of acts, very similar to the American vaudeville that would thrive until the advent of talking motion pictures.  (This is an interesting comparison, as we have identified in class that a current form of entertainment that is comparable to the music hall is, in fact, the cinema.)  These acts included vocal music ranging from classical / operatic arias to more popular music; comic acts including such gimmicks as men dressed as women (and vice versa); dance acts; ventriloquists; trampoline acts; magic acts; and aerial acts, among others.  The study of this for of 'variety entertainment' has lead me to another current analog:  the television talent competition.

Although the venue is drastically different, there is a major similarity to them both:  the vast array of entertainments forms considered appropriate.  However, in typical 21st century mentality, we take something that was once purely for entertainment and thrust it into a competitive atmosphere.  It seems there is very little interest in 'reality' entertainment on television unless people are pitted against one another.  While the entertainment (especially music and theater) world is very competitive, it is a different kind of competition that thrives in the television markets.  And it leads to the question:  how does one compare one type of entertainment with another?  Can a good magician and a good dance team really be placed side-by-side for the determination of which is better?  I believe good is good.

This was not something to be worried with in the Victorian music hall, thankfully.  Here, the entertainment was purer in its intent:  it was simply presented to entertain.  When placed in extensive competition, the true reasons one should perform get overshadowed by the pending rewards for winning (often monetary above all).  Because of this, I fear that much of the more important reasons to entertain are lost today.  A return to the environment of the music hall would be welcomed.