A
revue is a type of multi-act popular
theatrical entertainment that combines
music, dance and
sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and
melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932. Though most famous for their visual
spectacle, revues frequently satirized contemporary figures,
news or literature. Due to high ticket prices, publicity campaigns and the occasional use of material, the revue was typically patronized by audience members who earned even more and felt even less restricted by middle-class social mores than their contemporaries in
vaudeville. Like much of that era's popular entertainments, revues often featured material based on sophisticated, irreverent dissections of topical matter, public personae and fads, though the primary attraction was found in the frank display of the female body.