An extravaganza is a literary or musical work (often

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

) usually containing elements of Victorian burlesque, and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, in a spectacular production and characterized by freedom of style and structure. The term is derived from the Italian word ''stravaganza'', meaning extravagance. It sometimes also has elements of

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

, cabaret, circus, revue, variety,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

. ''Extravaganza'' came, in the 20th century, to more broadly refer to an elaborate, spectacular, and expensive theatrical production. Professor Carolyn Wiliams writes that playwrights, producers and critics have often muddled the distinction between burlesque and extravaganza, but she describes the genre this way: "Sexy yet free of "offensive vulgarity", silly yet intelligent, raucus yet spectacularly beautiful, extravaganza was a relatively "high" form of burlesque, intended for an urbane adult audience." She notes that the definition of extravaganza changed during the 19th century, in that a late century extravaganza had a " transformation scene", but earlier it focused on the sexy innuendo and fantasy, often involving fairies, and did not necessarily include a transformation scene. 19th-century British dramatist,

James Planché James Robinson Planché (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including ...

, who was known for his extravaganzas, defined the genre as "the whimsical treatment of a poetical subject." Planché, James. ''The recollections and reflections of J. R. Planché (Somerset herald): a professional biography'' (1872), Vol. II, p. 43 In 1881, Percy Fitzgerald described the classic transformation scene as follows:

References

Comedy Italian words and phrases Musical theatre Theatrical genres Satire Variety shows {{musical-theat-stub

See also

References