Philippine Literature
The word comes from vaudeville, which was the first visible theatrical influence from America. Although a French form, it had been adapted in the United States as a show made up of assorted entertainments. Shows comprising song-and-dance numbers, magic and musical acts, skits and stand-up comedy, chorus girls and comedians were first brought in to entertain the American soldiers around the turn of the century. They entertained the native audience as well, who found them convenient and portable showcases for entertainment spectacles.
The songs and dances of bodabil (vodavil in Spanish; bodabil is the Filipinized word) soon came to serve as intermission numbers between one-act sarswelas (often billed in threes) or between the three or four acts of a full-length sarswela. They were called stage shows during the Japanese Occupation and, much later, variety shows. In some provinces the bodabil intermissions were called "jamboree," a word that had originally been applied to the opening musical numbers of a stage show.
Bodabil eventually...
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