This is an ORIGINAL Playbill type Program from 1967 ALMOST 45 YEARS OLD!!!! It is from the KENNEBUNKPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE , measuring 6" x 9” 12 pagesand featurig a great cover Photograph of BARBARA NICHOLS starring in the Stage Theatre Production ofTHE HILARIOUS WORLD OF BURLESQUEIt's a great program in good shape. Ithas a lot of local ads for small business' in the MAINE. area. Nice program if you collect obscure programsor Barbara Nichols.MORE INFO ON BARBARA NICHOLS: Barbara Nichols (December 30, 1929 – October 5, 1976) was an American actress who often played brassy comic roles in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s.Nichols was born as Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Queens, New York. She began modeling for pinup magazines in the early-1950s and for a period worked as a stripper.In the mid-1950s, she moved to Hollywood and began regularly appearing in second leads in a number of films including Miracle in the Rain (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956), The Naked and the Dead (1957), The Pajama Game (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), That Kind of Woman (1958), Where the Boys Are (1960).On Broadway, she appeared in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey and in Let It Ride (1961).Nichols was a popular model in cheesecake magazines of the era and was considered a minor rival to Marilyn Monroe, along with Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Cleo Moore, Diana Dors and Sheree North. Unlike the rest, Nichols rarely starred in films, but had showy supporting roles in films starring such actors as Clark Gable, Susan Hayward, Sophia Loren, and Doris Day. One of her few starring roles was in the 1966 science fiction film The Human Duplicators.Nichols was also a frequent guest star on many television series including It's a Great Life, The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, Batman, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Her last film was Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood in 1976.Barbara Nichols died October 5, 1976 of a liver ailment (cancer) at the age of 46.MORE INFO ON BURLESQUE: Burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration. In 20th century America, the form became associated with a variety show in which striptease is the chief attraction.The term burlesque may be traced to folk poetry and theatre and apparently derived from the late Latin burra ('trifle’).The origin of the term 'burlesque' is contentious with most citing the French burlesque, which is, in turn, was borrowed from the Italian burlesco, derived from the Spanish burla ('joke') as its root. ts literal meaning is to 'send up'. In Britain 'burlesque' in verse and prose was first popularised in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer's satirical The Canterbury Tales. Later many Irish and British satirical writers came to prominence with political and social burlesques in the 18th and 19th centuries such as William Makepeace Thackeray.In 16th century Spain, playwright and poet, Miguel de Cervantes, ridiculed medieval romance in his many satirical works. Among Cervantes' works are Exemplary Novels and the Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes published in 1615.The first widespread use of the word was as a literary term in 17th century Italy and France, was where it referred to a grotesque imitation of the dignified or pathetic.Beginning in the early 18th century, the term burlesque was used throughout Europe to describe musical works in which serious and comic elements were juxtaposed or combined to achieve a grotesque effect. Early theatrical burlesque was a form of musical and theatrical parody in which a serious or romantic opera or piece of classical theatre was adapted in a broad, often risqué style that ridiculed stage conventions. In late 19th century England, in particular, such dramatic productions became very popular, especially at particular theatres such as the Olympic and the Gaiety in London. In Britain, burlesque was largely a middle class pursuit, where the jokes relied on the audiences' familiarity with known operas and artistic works. Its predilection for double entendre and casting female stars in the lead male roles (or 'breeches parts') gave burlesque its risqué popular appeal. Gradually burlesque performers started appearing in music halls too, performing musical sketches for the working classes with political and social satire. This form remained popular well in to the 20th century and can still be found today on television sketch shows.To save confusion, the traditional British burlesque style is now known as 'classical burlesque' and is still active today with a handful of specialist writer/performers.In 20th century America the word became associated with a variety show in which striptease is the chief attraction. Although the striptease originated at the Moulin Rouge in 1890s Paris and subsequently became a part of some burlesque across Europe, only in American culture is the term burlesque closely associated with the striptease. These shows were not considered 'theatre' and were regarded as 'low' by the vaudevillians, actors and showgirls of neighbouring theatreland.While the American form of burlesque has its origins in 19th century music hall entertainments and vaudeville, in the early 20th century American burlesque re-emerged as a populist blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment featuring striptease and broad comedy acts that derived their name from the low comedy aspects of the literary genre known as burlesque. Here the term "burlesque" was used loosely to describe these adult revue shows in which striptease acts would perform—often with themes, characters or gimmicks—but classic striptease and "hootchy kootchy" dance were already forms in themselves and not automatically "burlesque" by default.In burlesque, performers, usually female, often create elaborate sets with lush, colorful costumes, mood-appropriate music, and dramatic lighting, and may even include novelty acts, such as fire breathing or contortionists, to enhance the impact of their performance.Put simply, burlesque means "in an upside down style". Like its cousin, commedia dell'arte, burlesque turns social norms head over heels. Burlesque is a style of live entertainment that encompasses pastiche, parody, and wit. The genre traditionally encompasses a variety of acts such as dancing girls, chanson singers, comedians, mime artists, and striptease artistes, all satirical and with a saucy edge. The striptease element of burlesque became subject to extensive local legislation, leading to a theatrical form that titillated without falling foul of censors.The American form also was highly influenced by 19th century English variety and music hall shows as developed in the 1840s, early in the Victorian era, a time of culture clashes between the social rules of established aristocracy and a working class society. Originally, burlesque featured shows that included comic sketches, often lampooning the social attitudes of the upper classes and their music (particularly parodies of opera songs), alternating with dance routines. It developed alongside vaudeville and ran on competing circuits. In Britain, burlesque continued its established position in theatreland and enjoyed its own theatres (such as the Olympic Theatre in London) and was largely a middle class pursuit, where the jokes relied on the audiences' familiarity with known operas and artistic works.In its heyday, American burlesque bore little resemblance to the earlier literary and musical burlesques of the UK (now known as "classical" or "traditional British" burlesque) which parodied widely known works of literature, theater, or music and did not feature striptease. Possibly due to historical social tensions between the upper classes and lower classes of society, much of the humor and entertainment of later American burlesque focused on lowbrow and ribald subjects.The popular burlesque show of the 1870s through the 1920s referred to a raucous, somewhat bawdy style of variety theater inspired by Lydia Thompson and her troupe, the British Blondes, who first appeared in the United States in the 1860s, and also by early "leg" shows such as The Black Crook (1866). Its form, humor, and aesthetic traditions were largely derived from the minstrel show. One of the first burlesque troupes was the Rentz-Santley Novelty and Burlesque Company, created in 1870 by Michael B. Leavitt, who had earlier feminized the minstrel show with his group Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels.Burlesque rapidly adapted the minstrel show's tripartite structure: part one was composed of songs and dances rendered by a female company, interspersed with low comedy from male comedians. Part two was an "olio" of short specialties in which the women did not appear. The show's finish was a grand finale.The genre often mocked established entertainment forms such as opera, Shakespearean drama, musicals, and ballet. The costuming (or lack thereof) increasingly focused on forms of dress considered inappropriate for polite society. The British form, however, carried on much in the same musical-satirical style of the 19th century and is still so today.By the 1880s, the genre had created some rules for defining itself:Minimal costuming, often focusing on the female form. Sexually suggestive dialogue, dance, plotlines and staging. Quick-witted humor laced with puns, but lacking complexity. Short routines or sketches with minimal plot cohesion across a show. Charlie Chaplin in his autobiography gives an interesting account of burlesque in Chicago in 1910:Chicago... had a fierce pioneer gaiety that enlivened the senses, yet underlying it throbbed masculine loneliness. Counteracting this somatic ailment was a national distraction known as the burlesque show, consisting of a coterie of rough-and-tumble comedians supported by twenty or more chorus girls. Some were pretty, others shopworn. Some of the comedians were funny, most of the shows were smutty harem comedies—coarse