War and Vaudeville
One of the occasional pitfalls of writing time-travel stories is ending up in the past and then having to research history. It doesn’t require a different kind of researching muscle, but it gets into areas I usually don’t wade into. This week my work-in-progress required me to look into vaudeville during World War II, specifically Philippine bodabil, as it was locally called.
This section of my WIP occurs during the Japanese occupation and is about two pre-Golden Age movie stars and their lives during the war. I guessed that filmmaking during the war probably halted and found that to be true, but not just for logistical reasons, but because Japan wanted to eliminate America’s cultural influence over its former colony.
The Tivoli Theater in Manila, Philippines (c. 1940-50); photo by Harrison Forman
What I also didn’t know is that how bodabil resurged as the main type of mass entertainment supplanting movies. When film studios were shut down, the entire industry pivoted to theater, staging these variety shows that featured song and dance and comedy sketches, even stage magic. Many of the era’s biggest movie stars became bodabil top-billers, or at least returned to those roots where they came from before the advent of cinema.
It’s been a fascinating look into how art flourishes during wartime (or at least was allowed to continue under close watch). I had this misplaced idea that Manila during occupation was this bleak, joyless, dead city, and was glad to be disabused of that notion.
Also, this specific art form has such an interesting way of demonstrating how colonial cultural forces overlapped in the Philippines. During the Spanish occupation, Philippine theater mostly had the sarswela (zarzuela, or Spanish musical plays) and then when the Americans took over at the turn of the century, we got bodabil (vaudeville). Each time, Filipinos made the art forms their own, and sometimes melded them together. I found an interesting flyer showing this mishmash: a Manila theater staging a bodabil show featuring Filipino and American performers, marketed in Spanish:
Origin unknown
Of course bodabil as a form was influenced by the Japanese too, though mostly as a target of satirical skits that criticized the occupying forces.
Researching this period of history and bodabil in particular gave me such a rich well from which to derive stories for my characters. There are many conflicts that arise when new art forms (like film) replace the old, and especially when the industry reverts during wartime. There are also compelling themes of cultural colonization, and art as a means of critique and resistance. Best of all, this deep dive let me inhabit this world of lavish art deco theaters, colorful characters, and the gaudy, bawdy, and sublime antics they got into.
Preview image: Detail of The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles, performing arts poster, 1894. Strobridge Lithographing Co., Cincinnati & New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.