BRATTLEBORO-ByWay Books & More, 399 Canal St., hosts performer Stephanie Bass Abrams for an afternoon of vaudeville talk Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m. as a preview to her upcoming vaudeville show at the Vermont Jazz Center.
What is vaudeville? Vaudeville is a style of live variety entertainment, jam-packed and fast paced. Vaudeville was the most popular form of American commercial entertainment from the mid-1890s through the First World War with millions of people attending shows weekly at its peak.
Its popularity stemmed from its broad appeal and accessibility, offering an array of performances which included slapstick comedy, acrobatics, singing, dancing and more. Abrams’s talk will look at the history of Jewish vaudeville from New York’s Lower East Side to the Catskills, to Hollywood, and at how it shaped American entertainment.
Abrams is an award-winning performer and director with over 30 years of experience in theater and circus. She has performed as a mime, contortionist, and vaudeville artist around the U.S. and in Hong Kong, in films including Minority Report directed by Steven Spielberg, and even modeled for Pixar — organizers claim she is rumored to have inspired the Elastigirl character in The Incredibles.
She has written and directed more than 30 original productions and has served as artistic director and dramaturg for many others. Her work has been performed around New England, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, New York City, Washington, D.C., and in 10 countries, including a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015.
In addition to performing, Abrams has taught circus and physical theater in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and China and currently serves as Artistic Director of the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College.
More information on Abrams’s company and her upcoming vaudeville show, A Bissel Borscht Belt at the Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro this June, can be found at kinetictheorytheatre.com.
Free parking is available behind the store, with off-street parking on Lexington Avenue. For more information, contact Severia A. Drake at 802-490-8014 or [email protected].
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.