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Avanspettacolo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Avanspettacolo (lit.'before the show') is an Italian theatrical genre that developed between the 1930s and 1950s. Closely related to revue and variety show, avanspettacolo features a diverse mixture of music, ballet, sketch comedy, and other forms of entertainment. The genre emerged during the Fascist era, as a consequence of the promulgation of "modernist" laws that granted tax relief advantages to the theatres that were adapted to play movies. As a consequence, theatre companies were forced to devise a light and short form of representation that could be performed on the stage to entertain the audience before the "main show" (i.e., the movie).[1][2][3]

Since avanspettacolo began as a low-profile and minor adaptation of revue proper, and in the 1970s ended up including such things as striptease shows, the term is sometimes used in a pejorative sense to refer to cheap, low quality comedy.[1][2][3] Nevertheless, in the first half of the 20th century avanspettacolo served as a springboard for many prominent comedians, including Eduardo De Filippo,[4]Totò,[5] Aldo Fabrizi,[6] and Lino Banfi.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b Delteatro.it: Dizionario del spettacolo - Avanspettacolo
  2. ^ a b Angelo Olivieri with Alberto Castellano, 1989: Le stelle del varietà: rivista, avanspettacolo e cabaret dal 1936 al 1966, Roma, Gremese, ISBN 8876054103
  3. ^ a b Mario Quargnolo, 1980: Dal tramonto dell'operetta al tramonto della rivista: mezzo secolo di fasti e miserie del varietà e dell'avanspettacolo, Milano, Pan, 1980, SBN IT\ICCU\SBL\0287024
  4. ^ Donatella Fischer, 2007: Il Teatro di Eduardo De Filippo: La crisi della famiglia patriarcale ("Capitolo Primo: La frantumazione della famiglia", unpaginated), Modern Humanities Research Association and Taylor & Francis (online version)
  5. ^ Antoniodecurtis.org: Totò Biografia - La stagione dell'avanspettacolo
  6. ^ OsservatoreRomano.it: "Aldo Fabrizi, un istrione del cinema da riscoprire", 16 January 2021, Fabio Colagrande
  7. ^ Lino Banfi, 1991: Alla grande. La mia vita dall'avanspettacolo all'eurovisione. Sugarco Edizione