Theatrical production of brief, loosely connected, often satirical skits, songs, and dances.
Originally derived from the medieval French street fair, the modern revue dates from the early 19th century with the Parisian Folies Marigny and later at the Folies-Bergère . The English revue developed in two forms: one as the costume display and spectacle of the Court Theatre productions in the 1890s and another as the André Charlot Revues of the 1920s and the London Hippodrome shows, which emphasized clever repartee and topicality. In the U.S. the Ziegfeld Follies began in 1907 and usually featured a star personality. Revues appeared periodically on Broadway and West End stages until competition from movies and television moved the form to small nightclubs and improvisational theatres.