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Jewel Box Revue

Jewel Box Revue set the stage for female impersonation shows of the future.

By Filthy StaffPublished 8 years ago 7 min read
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The most unexplainable phenomenon of show business in the year 1962 was the sudden increase in the popularity of that highly specialized branch of entertainment known as female impersonation. Very simply, female impersonation consists of men who dress like women, sing and dance like women, and even beguile and titillate like women. Several dozen companies of these female impersonators toured the nation's theaters and clubs, playing to record crowds.

By far one of the most popular troupes of the time of female impersonators is also the oldest and best-known, the Jewel Box Revue. It consisted of some 30 men who presented a two-and-a-half hour vaudeville routine, including elaborate choreography, music, and skits, and who were adorned with even more elaborate costuming and makeup. The men chirped in falsetto voices, fluttered their false eyelashes, and sashayed and wiggled their foam-rubber bosoms and behinds. And just as Liza Doolittle, in her strenuous efforts to acquire the poise of a lady, came closer to resembling a princess, so members of the Jewel Box Revue, in striving to attain femininity, don’t just resemble women—but superwomen. This helps explain why 90 percent of their audiences—by actual survey—are made up not of other men, but of women. Dowdy housewives, antiseptic secretaries, and nostalgic old maids were bewitched by the glamour that these men, using standard cosmetic equipment, were able to project. Often Jewel Box performers were asked to appear on women's beauty-tip shows on TV and to act as makeup consultants to certain well-known show business figures. A number of Rockettes from Radio City Music Hall regularly brought their beauty problems to men of the Jewel Box Revue.

Creators and directors of the troupe in 1962 were Danny Brown and Doc Benner, who organized it in 1932. Mr. Brown was then a master of ceremonies and Mr. Benner a dancer in a nightclub in Youngstown, Ohio. They started the review as a road show, later made it a resident company at a nightclub in Miami, and then moved it to the Bal Tabarin in New York City.

"The show caught on right from the start," says Mr. Brown, "and the reason was that we took the degeneracy out of female impersonation. Way back, in ancient China and in Shakespeare's time, all female roles were played by men. But during the early part of this century, female impersonation took on an unsavory character and fell out of popularity. We revived the art by staffing our company with actors of unimpeachable moral standards. Our players lead lives that are as normal as any in show business. Nine out of our 30 players are married, and the wife of one of them is our wardrobe mistress. Several of the married men have children and they bring their families along with them when we're on the road. They have no qualms about letting their kids see their act. The Jewel Box Revue is just a clean, family-type show."

Photo by Raymond Jacobs

Fighting for the Rights of Female Impersonation

Things did not always look so optimistic for the female impersonation entertainment industry prior to the success of the Jewel Box, however. America’s societal struggles with accepting the taboo of alternative lifestyles forced many men who displayed ambiguous gender characteristics to mask their true selves. Female impersonation suggested the possibility of homosexual urges and, rather than revel in the entertainment and the moment, many viewers both male and female alike preferred to avoid these settings, forcing those who did partake to back-room shows and underground establishments.

By the 1960s, much of the openly homosexual community who participated in these shows had been pushed back to small communal enclaves in Greenwich and Compton. As political leaders, like the then New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., continued to try and close down the gay bars in these communities, tensions began to reach a peak. The Stonewall Riots represent the apex of these tensions as the patrons of the gay bars in Greenwich, with the financial assistance of the Mafia, ironically enough, staged violent protests against the police who were closing down their venues. The protests became sensationalized enough that they inadvertently drew more attention to the underground popularity of this formerly taboo form of entertainment. Having piqued America’s interest in what was an ever-changing world at the time, female impersonators and the shows they put on soon began to rise in prominence. While it would truly take another two decades for these shows to become more ingrained in mainstream entertainment, the roots of these acts can be found in the speakeasies and underground bars relegated to more obscure communities in the 1950s and 1960s.

A Traveling Show

The Jewel Box Revue travelled the country while this early turmoil was taking place and breaking down gender-identity barriers in a more subtle, but equally effective way, as the protests. The Revue was particularly effective because it did not place an emphasis on the outlandish or cartoonish depictions of females by men, but instead sought to create serious material that could hold up to critical scrutiny by everyone, both gay and straight alike.

The all-male, save for one female, group that made up the Revue were actual trained performers who took their performances seriously and rehearsed over and over to ensure that everything was perfect when the curtain was drawn. In addition to this, the Revue was able to work alongside the heterosexual, mainstream community at a time when this was practically unheard of. The Revue was able to partner with the straight establishment owners where they performed because they were proactive about following any local laws or customs before putting on a show and ensured that everyone who hosted them was able to profit from doing so. While this is not necessarily as brave as risking one’s life to challenge the police in a city like New York, the Revue was altogether more effective in the way they approached the matter by taking the civil, high road that ultimately brought their performances in front of large crowds who would never have considered watching female impersonators beforehand. The success of the Jewel Box Revue was thus based in changing society from within rather than forcing it to handle uproar or turmoil. Regardless of the means that these changes were created from, the end result has been positive for the female impersonating community as a whole.

The Jewel Box Revue was a sanctuary for some of the finest female impersonators of the mid-20th century. Unfortunately, the safety and security it provided to some extent to its own performers was not always matched elsewhere. The drag shows that took place in the underground venues in other cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, were dangerous events that put the performers at physical risk. The police were upholding laws that still had not been adjusted to account for further human rights in the 1960s and were able, and even encouraged, to shut down any nightlife establishment they found to be advocating homosexual behaviors.

Photo by Raymond Jacobs

Growth in Adversity

The performers at these shows found themselves out of work and frustrated for being repressed. In addition to the law, angry civilians were also a constant risk for these performers, as it was not uncommon for an outraged community to turn against a show if they felt it was bordering on becoming too provocative. The risks were seemingly worth the rewards for these performers, however, as they continued popping up across the country and only grew in the face of adversity. This resiliency was impressive, especially considering the fact that many mainstream performers who were known around the world as sex symbols were in fact hiding their true sexuality behind the scene. It must have been dispiriting for these smaller-scale performers to see their own peers shy away from the spotlight and the attitude of fully embracing the glamour and theatrics that go into these pieces was not embraced for years.

Today’s society has demonstrated a radically different outlook on female impersonators and drag shows. The modesty that was expected of performers half a century prior has been replaced with an emphasis on encouraging people to express themselves. Major fashion icons like RuPaul have taken their performances to the silver screen where the public can tune in each week to watch different impersonators compete against one another. The mainstream acceptance of these events has taken a long time to plant itself into American society, however, and while the state of drag in America today has certainly improved exponentially, there is still lingering animosity from the remaining members of the public who continue to have an issue with gender confusion. The battles fought and won by the protestors and the members of The Jewel Box Revue decades prior, however, created a foundation of resiliency that American female impersonators carry with them even to this day.

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About the Creator

Filthy Staff

A group of inappropriate, unconventional & disruptive professionals. Some are women, some are men, some are straight, some are gay. All are Filthy.

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