Thompsonian Burlesque
Upon her arrival in the United States, Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes shocked and awed audiences with their performance of Ixion, an adaptation of the classic Greek myth. The troupe filled the house at Wood’s theatre and later at Niblo’s in New York City for months. At its core, Thompsonian Burlesque hinged on wit, banter and gossip. Robert Allen, a burlesque scholar, says of Ixion: “Burnand’s play probably provided no more than a skeletal structure on which were hung topical allusions, popular songs, familiar airs to which new lyrics had been composed, dances and even more outrageous puns” (12). The combination of the British Blondes’s singing, acting, dancing and joking gave rise to a new type of spectacle. A female performer in minimal clothing, exercising the power of humor onstage was a force that captivated audiences, and gave Thompson agency and renown.
Contemporary reviewers did not know what to make of Thompson and her British Blondes. Robert Allen notes in Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture how “Burlesque resisted the critics’ attempts even to describe it as a form of theater. It was seen as having no form or of promiscuously taking on too many…With the pun it exploded the possibility of stable meanings…” (147). Burlesque set itself apart from other theatrical forms by transgressing gender norms onstage. In comparison to The Black Crook, a musical that appeared a few years earlier in 1866 on the stage at Niblo’s which showcased ballerinas in the most revealing costumes the public had seen yet, the British Blondes embodied more masculine roles and donned more masculine costumes including faux armor and weapons. The performance of masculinity onstage allowed the British Blondes to take more liberties with the amount of leg they exposed. Photographs of their costumes show fantasy-type battle garb with armor-like elements that evoke soldiering.
Works Cited:
Allen, Robert C. Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina, 1991. Print.
