Page - 90 - in Entangled Entertainers - Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

90 | Entangled Entertainers Th e Volkssänge r represented an idealized Vienna that was increasingly disappear- ing as a result of urban planning measures, industrialization, and other changes to the surrounding environment.46 Th ey sang about life in the city’s outlying suburbs districts with their village ambience, the Vienna of narrow streets and small houses, many of which were being demolished in order to give way to magnifi cent new buildings. Th ey evoked an idyllic Vienna that never existed but nevertheless served as a mental refuge from the upheavals of the present.47 Th is conception of the city, which was located in the past and idealized a more easily comprehensible, cozier image of life, culminated in the topos of Old Vienna (see chapter 4).48 Th e inhabitants of Vienna, or at least a portion of them, admittedly let their gaze wander into the past and constructed Old Vienna as a positive contrast to the hardships of contemporary everyday life, to the experience of alienation in a rapidly changing urban environment. A growing segment of the city’s popula- tion, however, considered the entertainment options associated with Old Vienna, the performances of farces and the swaying back and forth to the rhythm of Viennese songs, to be boring. Th ey found that many other aspects of the en- tertainment industry promised greater excitement. Th ese included breathtaking acrobatics, performances by artists with extraordinary abilities, individuals with “strange” peculiarities, and even people from “exotic” cultures. Variety shows, which popped up everywhere, off ered Vienna’s pleasure-seeking population all this and more. Danzer’s Orpheum, the Ronacher, the Apollo Th eater, the Col- osseum, the Gartenbau variety, and the like showed the entertainment industry how to inspire people. Th ese establishments were structurally designed to ac- commodate the masses. Th eir seating capacity was enormous; the Apollo, for example, off ered 24 loges (boxes) and 1,600 numbered seats. Th ey also featured a restaurant, a coff eehouse, a beer tunnel, as well as other facilities.49 Th e Ronacher was even more bombastic. It housed a “production hall” with enough tables and chairs to seat more than 1,500 people, not including its 62 loges. Th e “produc- tion hall” also had a stage where performances could be held. In addition, the Ronacher had a ballroom that could hold another 1,200 guests.50 Th e audiences who attended the variety shows wanted to be astounded by artists who either had outrageous abilities or could create the illusion of having such abilities. Th is included, for example, the American-Jewish “escape act king” Harry Houdini, who appeared on stage at the Ronac her in the spring of 1902.51 During his performances, he was bound in chains and then freed himself in a very short amount of time. Houdini’s audience members not only passively admired his skills but were also allowed to approach the stage and confi rm that his shackles were indeed securely locked in place. Th ey were even sometimes per- mitted to lock Houdini’s chains themselves. Th e audience actively participated in the spectacle. “Every evening, when Houdini arrives on the scene, many visitors come on stage, bringing their own shackles and handcuff s, hoping to embarrass This open access edition has been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched.