Artists and Models (revue)
Artists and Models was a series of five theatrical revues staged by brothers Lee and J. J. Shubert at the Shubert Theatre in New York between 1923 and 1930.
First staged on August 20, 1923, the shows developed from performances put on in Greenwich Village by the Illustrators Society of New York, and were the first revues to feature topless and naked females in movement on the Broadway stage. Although the performers were purportedly playing the roles of artists' models, the shows "emphasized girls in various stages of undress",[1] and "aimed at a fairly low-brow audience".[2] The shows employed respected composers such as Jean Schwartz, J. Fred Coots, Sigmund Romberg, Al Goodman, Harry Akst, and Harry Warren,[2] and proved popular with audiences despite mixed reviews.[1][3]
The show's title was later adopted for films in 1937 and in 1955.
References
- Thomas S. Hischak, Broadway Plays and Musicals, McFarland, 2009, pp.26-27
- Gammond, Peter (1991). The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 22. ISBN 0-19-311323-6.
- Rachel Shteir, Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.76-78