American burlesque, as an institution, emerged in the late 1800s and evolved greatly up until the 1920s. Historically, a burlesque was a comedic work, and American burlesque originally reflected this traditional meaning of the term. In the United States and elsewhere, burlesques would parody well-known plays or operas, or significant political and social events (McNamara…Continue Reading Burlesque: The “Other” Side of Vaudeville by Sidney Pullen