Nestled among the rolling hills, vineyards, and tranquil waters of New York's Finger Lakes, you might not expect to find a vibrant and scandalous entertainment history — but look closer. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Finger Lakes served as a crucial artery for America’s golden age of live performance. Vaudeville and burlesque didn’t just reign supreme in big cities; they thrived in towns like Syracuse, Ithaca, Auburn, Geneva, Cortland, and Elmira, where hungry audiences packed ornate theaters to witness the magic, mischief, and marvels of the traveling stage.

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The Rise of Vaudeville in the Finger Lakes

By the 1880s, vaudeville had become America’s favorite form of mass entertainment — a smorgasbord of talent offering something for everyone. The railroads that crisscrossed New York made the Finger Lakes region an ideal stop for performers traveling between New York City, Buffalo, and beyond. This patchwork of mid-sized towns became a vital part of the vaudeville touring circuits known as the “small time” — crucial for up-and-coming performers and profitable for seasoned stars fine-tuning their acts.

Grand theaters in the area became essential stops for touring vaudeville shows, offering lineups that could include singers, dancers, comedians, animal trainers, magicians, and novelty acts — often all in a single night.

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The schedule was grueling: multiple performances a day, seven days a week. Performers worked tirelessly to win over diverse audiences ranging from mill workers to farmers to university students.

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Famous Vaudevillians Who Touched the Finger Lakes

Many legendary performers took to the stages in the Finger Lakes early in their careers:

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• Harry Houdini, the master escape artist, performed daring feats in Ithaca and Syracuse before achieving global fame.

• Buster Keaton, long before his silent film career, toured New York State with his vaudeville family act, The Three Keatons.

• Eva Tanguay, the “I Don’t Care Girl” known for her wild costumes and rebellious spirit, caused a stir on upstate stages with her unbridled energy.

• Will Rogers, the famed humorist and rope trickster, charmed Finger Lakes crowds with his folksy storytelling and lasso skills.

• Sophie Tucker, the “Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” belted out songs and risqué jokes in towns like Auburn and Elmira on her way to becoming a household name.

 

These stages were a make-or-break environment where acts had to connect instantly or risk being booed offstage.

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Burlesque Arrives

While vaudeville dominated the 1880s–1920s, by the 1910s burlesque began to capture a different kind of audience. Originating as satirical musical theater that poked fun at highbrow culture, burlesque in America evolved into a bawdier, striptease-driven spectacle.

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Traveling burlesque circuits like the Columbia Wheel and the Empire Wheel made regular stops in Finger Lakes cities, filling theaters with shows that combined:

• Comedy skits lampooning politicians and society

• Chorus lines of glamorous dancers

• Solo striptease performances that pushed the boundaries of local decency laws

 

Unlike vaudeville’s “something for everyone” approach, burlesque leaned into its adult appeal. Posters promised "saucy songbirds," "peachy beauties," and "naughty laughs" — and audiences packed the theaters.

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Notable Burlesque Performers

Burlesque brought a fresh wave of talent through the Finger Lakes:

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• Gypsy Rose Lee

  • The Queen of Intellectual Striptease

  • She famously honed her early act in smaller towns across New York State while traveling with Minsky's Burlesque troupes.

  • While no single playbill from Syracuse, Auburn, or Ithaca survives confirming it, she almost certainly performed in upstate venues on Columbia and Mutual circuits that routed through the Finger Lakes between NYC and Buffalo.

• Sophie Tucker

  • The Last of the Red Hot Mamas

  • Started in vaudeville but crossed into burlesque-style risqué comedy and song.

  • Tucker played Auburn, Elmira, and Syracuse multiple times according to newspaper archives, delivering bawdy songs and comic routines with plenty of double entendre.

  • Her sister Annie Abuza married Jules Aronson and they settled in Auburn sometime around 1930, and he opened the Auburn Cap and Hat Manufacturing Company at 12 Franklin Street. In 1947 they jointly owned Juliana Clothing, an infants and children’s center at 136 Genesee Street.

  • Image of Sophie and her sister Anne from Cayuga Museum of History and Art & Case Research Lab

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• Ann Corio

  • Burlesque Beauty and Later Revivalist

  • A major star in the 1930s on the Columbia Wheel — a regular route that stopped in Syracuse and Geneva.

  • She was known for "clean burlesque" and made sure her shows mixed glamor, humor, and high-end striptease.

• Georgia Sothern

  • The Fastest Stripper in the East

  • A fiery, energetic burlesque dancer who toured upstate constantly in the 1930s.

  • Syracuse newspapers noted her appearances at burlesque houses just before WWII.

• Rose La Rose

  • Dance Athlete Turned Striptease Star

  • Often cited in routes through small upstate New York towns, likely including Auburn, Cortland, and Ithaca during her early career, though again no direct poster survives for those specific towns.

• Margie Hart

  • The Educated Torso

  • Known for blending intellectual humor with eroticism.

  • She faced legal trouble in several upstate cities for "indecency" during tours — Auburn and Elmira officials ticketed several burlesque shows featuring performers like Hart in the mid-1930s

 

Why is the evidence a little tricky?

• Small towns didn't keep detailed archives. Many traveling burlesque troupes were poorly documented compared to big city residencies.

• Burlesque was controversial, and some towns suppressed ads, posters, and even newspaper reviews to avoid promoting "immoral" entertainment.

• Columbia and Empire Circuits (the two major burlesque wheels) almost always included Syracuse, Auburn, Geneva, and sometimes Ithaca as part of their "upstate" run from NYC to Buffalo.

• If a performer was active on one of those wheels (like Corio, Sothern, Hart, or Lee), they almost certainly passed through the Finger Lakes multiple times in their careers!

 

These artists crafted performances that were daring, witty, and often highly self-aware — challenging traditional ideas of femininity and propriety even in more conservative areas.

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A Clash of Cultures

Local newspapers often documented the tension between burlesque’s rising popularity and moral reformers’ efforts to keep small-town stages “clean.” Periodic police raids and censorship battles punctuated the era. Town officials in places like Auburn and Geneva issued fines or temporary closures to theaters they deemed “too indecent.”

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Yet despite (or perhaps because of) these attempts to clamp down on risqué entertainment, the public’s appetite for burlesque only grew. Traveling shows continued to play to sold-out houses, with audiences drawn as much by the allure of rebellion as the glittering spectacle onstage.

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The Fall: 1930s–1950s

The Great Depression, World War II, and the rise of new media (especially movies, radio, and later television) all took their toll. By the late 1930s, vaudeville had largely collapsed. Burlesque staggered on, shifting into grittier, often seedier productions, sometimes attached to traveling carnivals and fairs.

In the Finger Lakes, many grand theaters closed their doors or became movie houses. Others were demolished, leaving behind only faded photographs and whispering rumors of the wild acts they once hosted.

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The Neo-Burlesque Revival

It wasn’t until the late 20th and early 21st centuries that the Finger Lakes once again saw a resurgence of burlesque energy. A new generation of performers reclaimed the art form, infusing it with progressive ideals, body positivity, and a deep respect for theatricality and satire.

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Today, cities like Syracuse and Ithaca are home to modern troupes and companies such as:

• Salt City Burlesque (Syracuse)

• Whiskey’s Tango Sideshow (Ithaca)

• Burlesque Buffet (regional Finger Lakes)

 

These groups celebrate burlesque’s rich history while pushing it forward into new and exciting territory — often performing in historic venues that once rang with the laughter and applause of vaudeville crowds.

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Today, when a burlesque dancer takes the stage in Ithaca or a variety show lights up Geneva, they are carrying forward a glittering thread that stretches back more than a century — a tradition of laughter, rebellion, and the timeless human joy of putting on a show.