Avanspettacolo Explained

Avanspettacolo 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. 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]

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20130115195629/http://delteatro.it/dizionario_dello_spettacolo_del_900/a/avanspettacolo.php Delteatro.it: Dizionario del spettacolo - Avanspettacolo
2. Angelo Olivieri with Alberto Castellano, 1989: Le stelle del varietà: rivista, avanspettacolo e cabaret dal 1936 al 1966, Roma, Gremese,
3. 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. http://www.antoniodecurtis.org/la_stagione_dell_avanspettacolo.htm Antoniodecurtis.org: Totò Biografia - La stagione dell'avanspettacolo
6. https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2021-01/quo-012/aldo-fabrizi-un-istrione-br-del-cinema-da-riscoprire.html 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