Vaudeville Managers Association

Vaudeville Managers Association / Western Vaudeville Managers Association
Formation1900 / 1903
Dissolved1927
TypeAssociation
Legal statusDefunct
PurposeVaudeville booking
HeadquartersBoston / Chicago
Region
United States
Official language
English

The Vaudeville Managers Association (VMA) was a cartel of managers of American vaudeville theaters established in 1900, dominated by the Boston-based Keith-Albee chain. Soon afterwards the Western Vaudeville Managers Association (WVMA) was formed as a cartel of theater owners in Chicago and the west, dominated by the Orpheum Circuit. Although rivals, the two organizations collaborated in booking acts and dealing with the performers' union, the White Rats. By 1913 Edward Franklin Albee II had effective control over both the VMA and WVMA. In the 1920s vaudeville went into decline, unable to compete with film. In 1927 the Keith-Albee and Orpheum chains merged. The next year they became part of RKO Pictures.