Popular Culture Review 30.1
ject to imitation . Some performers faithfully followed the formula of a popular act in the hope of emulating its success . Others hoped to capitalize on the notoriety of vaudeville celebrities . A keyword search reveals that Bayes ’ name appears frequently in other female acts where her style of personality was imitated . Cecilia Loftus , Belle Blanche , and Madeline Livingston all used impersonations to great effect in their performance . Not all entertainers were as successful , however . In 1906 , Cecelia Weston sang at the 58 th Street Theatre in New York during which she reportedly made “ the most of her hit with Nora Bayes ' song , whom she does not credit .” 33 The following year , she continued to mimic Bayes ’ performances but was unable to match her success . Personality was apparently crucial . After performing at the Alhambra , the manager noted Weston “ sings Nora Bayes nonsense songs and other novelty items [ but ] lacks cleverness . Extremely tiresome .” 34 Singer Daisy Dimond also used some of Bayes ’ material , but it did not go over with the audience . The manager at Keith ’ s Cleveland in 1905 reported , “ She is singing one of the songs sung here by Nora Bayes . Miss Bayes made a big hit with it , and this woman didn ’ t .” 35 Material was only one part of an act , for performers like Bayes part of their success stemmed from their ability to make a song reflect a personality and in doing so to connect to their audience .
The emphasis on communicating personality or individuality grew as the supply of variety artists increased and the public looked for singular elements in a performance . Popular song provides a good illustration of the unfolding relationship between self and performance as singers personalized what had traditionally been a form of story-telling . Although songs continued to express sentiments and described characters that were not the performer ’ s , singers in vaudeville wanted to sound like the music was an outpouring from their own soul , to make the content seem authentic and reflexive .
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