"Showgirl
troupes like the Tiller Girls performed in elaborate revues to the
applause of Berlin’s intellectuals who say in the synchronicity and
exactness of the energetic movements an adequate symbol of the
industrial process. German entrepreneurs such as Erik Charell,
Hermann Haller, James Klein and Rudolf Nelson developed their own
revues into increasingly lavish Moulin Rouge-type shows featuring
hundreds of nude female dancers, singers, and musicians, as well as
extravagant sets and costumes. By the mid-1920s revues had become the
most popular form of live entertainment in Berlin. Consisting of a
large variety of quick-paced numbers, they had a structural affinity
to the fragmented urban experience : their juxtaposition of
sights and sounds seemed to express modernity more directly than
classical theater ever could. During the 1926-1927 season, Berlin
offered no fewer than nine revues, seen by a total of 11.000
spectators.
The
revue craze lasted as long as the prosperity did : from 1924 to
1929. "
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| A James Klein revue |
From « The Weimar Republic sourcebook », Anton Kaes, Martin
Jay, Edward Dimendberg, University of California Press
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