Marceline, His Auguste, and the ‘Hippodrome Idea’

Abstract

Marceline Orbes’ clowning proved so popular during the New York Hippodrome's 12 April 1905 inaugural performance and the succeeding months that he purportedly signed a lifetime contract with that theatre in 1906. Marceline left this venue in 1912 to perform in his own 1913 roadshow based upon his ‘Hippodrome Idea’, which was described as central to how otherwise fragmented vaudeville acts were bound together by Marceline's artistry – evidence of how closely his identity intertwined with that of the New York Hippodrome's. Largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1927, scholars were generally unaware of Marceline until 1964, when Charles Chaplin revealed that this great artist was an inspiration for his classic 1952 film, Limelight. This study reveals how Marceline's mastery of nineteenth-century circus traditions, and brilliant trademark auguste, enabled this famous Hippodrome clown to develop a distinctive performance art uniquely associated with the New York Hippodrome.