Ziegfeld Follies

thumb|200px|Promotional artwork for 1912 Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with revivals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.

Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Many of the top comedians, singers and other entertainers in America appeared in the shows. They were also known for displaying beautiful chorus girls, commonly called Ziegfeld Girls, dressed in elaborate costumes.

The biopic The Great Ziegfeld won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1937. A 1941 film, Ziegfeld Girl, starring Judy Garland, and another in 1946, Ziegfeld Follies, recreated or reimagined numbers from the revues. The stage musical Funny Girl, which premiered on Broadway in 1964 depicts Fanny Brice's career with the Follies, starring Barbra Streisand, who then starred in the 1968 film adaptation; it was the year's top-grossing movie.

Founding and history

thumb|upright|Sheet music for a song from the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies

Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., reportedly at the suggestion of his then-wife, the actress and singer Anna Held. The shows' producers were turn-of-the-twentieth-century producing titans Klaw and Erlanger.

The Follies were a series of lavish revues, something between later Broadway shows and the more elaborate high-class vaudeville and variety show. The first follies, The Follies of 1907, was produced that year at the Jardin de Paris roof theatre.

During the Follies era, many of the top comedians, singers and other entertainers in America appeared in the shows, including W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, Bob Hope, Will Rogers, Ruth Etting, Ray Bolger, Helen Morgan, Louise Brooks, Marilyn Miller, Ed Wynn, Gilda Gray, Nora Bayes and Sophie Tucker.

The Ziegfeld Follies were known for displaying beautiful chorus girls, commonly called Ziegfeld Girls, who "paraded up and down flights of stairs as anything from birds to battleships." They usually wore elaborate costumes by designers such as Erté, Lady Duff-Gordon and Ben Ali Haggin. The "tableaux vivants" used in the revues were designed by Ben Ali Haggin from 1917 to 1925. Joseph Urban was the scenic designer for the Follies shows, starting in 1915, and Edward Royce directed the Follies in 1920 and 1921, in addition to several other Ziegfeld productions.

After Ziegfeld's death his widow, actress Billie Burke, authorized use of his name for Ziegfeld Follies in 1934 and 1936 to Jake Shubert, who then produced the Follies. The name was later used by other promoters in New York City, Philadelphia, and again on Broadway, with less connection to the original Follies. These later efforts failed miserably. When the show toured, the 1934 edition was recorded in its entirety, from the overture to play-out music, on a series of 78 rpm discs, which were edited by the record producer David Cunard to form an album of the highlights of the production and which was released as a CD in 1997.

Productions based on the Ziegfeld Follies

thumb|200px|The [[New Amsterdam Theatre, New York]]

In 1937, at the 9th Academy Awards, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Great Ziegfeld produced the previous year won the Best Picture (called "Outstanding Production"), Featuring numbers by Ray Bolger, Dennis Morgan, Virginia Bruce, and Harriet Hoctor, the film gave wider audiences a glimpse into the Follies; the show-stopper was the Irving Berlin-composed "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", which, by itself, cost more to produce than one of Ziegfeld's entire stage shows.

In 1941, MGM released Ziegfeld Girl, starring Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, James Stewart and Tony Martin. The film was set in the 1920s. Celebrated numbers from Ziegfeld Revues were recreated, including the famed "Wedding Cake" set which had been used for Metro's earlier film, The Great Ziegfeld. Judy Garland was filmed on the top of the cake. Charles Winninger, who had performed in the Follies of 1920, appeared as "Ed Gallagher" According to modern sources, Turner's character was modeled after Ziegfeld Girl Lillian Lorraine, who suffered a drunken fall into the orchestra pit during an extravagant number.

In 1946, MGM released a third feature film based on Ziegfeld's shows titled Ziegfeld Follies with Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, William Powell (as Ziegfeld), Gene Kelly, Fanny Brice, Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, Lucille Ball, Kathryn Grayson, and others performing songs and sketches similar to those from the original Follies. In 1947, Ziegfeld Follies was awarded the "Grand Prix de la Comedie Musicale" at the Cannes Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (black and white).

The stage musical Funny Girl, which premiered on Broadway in 1964, depicts Fanny Brice's success with the Follies. In 1964, the musical debuted on Broadway, with Barbra Streisand playing Brice, Roger DeKoven as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Brice's son-in-law Ray Stark producing. The 1968 Columbia Pictures film adaptation featuring Streisand reprising her role as Brice and Walter Pidgeon as Ziegfeld was the year's top-grossing movie. A subsequent Broadway revival in 2022 and 2023 featured Beanie Feldstein and later Lea Michele as Brice and Peter Francis James as Ziegfeld.

The Follies

Follies of 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910 at the Jardin de Paris
Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 at the Jardin de Paris
Ziegfeld Follies of 1912 at the Moulin Rouge
Ziegfeld Follies of 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920 at the New Amsterdam Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1921 at the Globe Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927 at the New Amsterdam Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 at the Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 at the Winter Garden Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 at the Winter Garden Theatre
Ziegfeld Follies of 1943

:* Winter Garden Theatre (April 1, 1943 – January 25, 1944)

:* Imperial Theatre (January 25 – July 22, 1944)

Ziegfeld Follies of 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre

List of notable performers by year

;1907

Louise Alexander
Nora Bayes (joined the cast later in run)
Helen Broderick
Emma Carus
Mlle. Dazie
Grace La Rue
Lillian Lee
Edna Luby
Charles J. Ross
Marion Sunshine
Florence Tempest
Harry Watson Jr.

;1908

Nora Bayes
Marjorie Bonner
Mlle. Dazie
Grace La Rue
Harry Watson Jr.
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Mae Murray)

;1909

Nora Bayes
Bessie Clayton
Maurice Hegeman
Jack Norworth
Lillian Lorraine
Sophie Tucker
Vera Maxwell
The Ziegfeld Girls

;1910

Fanny Brice
Maurice Hegeman
Anna Held (in a filmed sequence)
Lillian Lorraine
Bobby North
Bert Williams
Vera Maxwell
The Ziegfeld Girls

;1911

Fanny Brice
The Dolly Sisters
Leon Errol
Lillian Lorraine
Vera Maxwell
Bessie McCoy
Bert Williams
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Jeanne Eagels)

;1912

Leon Errol
Bernard Granville
Rae Samuels
Harry Watson Jr.
Bert Williams
Vera Maxwell
The Ziegfeld Girls

;1913

Elizabeth Brice
Leon Errol
José Collins
Ann Pennington
Frank Tinney
Nat M. Wills
The Ziegfeld Girls

;1914

Leon Errol
Gladys Feldman
Annette Kellermann
Vera Maxwell
Vera Michelena
Ann Pennington
Bert Williams
Ed Wynn
The Ziegfeld Girls

;1915

Ina Claire
Leon Errol
Gladys Feldman
W. C. Fields
Bernard Granville
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Irene Hayes, Julanne Johnston and Lilyan Tashman)

;1917

Diana Allen
Elvira Amazar
Fanny Brice
Eddie Cantor
Dolores
The Fairbanks Twins
Allyn King
William E. Ritchie
Will Rogers
Lilyan Tashman
Bert Williams
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Peggy Hopkins Joyce)

;1918

Eddie Cantor
Madeline and Marion Fairbanks, The Fairbanks Twins
Gladys Feldman
W. C. Fields
Joe Frisco
Pauline Hall
Kay Laurell
Lillian Lorraine
Allyn King
Marilyn Miller
Ann Pennington
Bert Savoy
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Doris Eaton, Martha Mansfield and Nita Naldi)

;1919

Eddie Cantor
Johnny and Ray Dooley
Eddie Dowling
Madeline and Marion Fairbanks, The Fairbanks Twins
Allyn King
Marilyn Miller
Van and Schenck
John Steel
Bert Williams
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Billie Dove and Mary Hay)

;1920

Fanny Brice
Eddie Cantor
Jack Donahue
Ray Dooley
Mary Eaton
W. C. Fields
Bernard Granville
Art Hickman's Orchestra
Allyn King
Moran and Mack
Van and Schenck
Charles Winninger
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Juliette Compton and Dorothy Mackaill)

;1921

Fanny Brice
Mary Eaton
W. C. Fields
Raymond Hitchcock
Vera Michelena
Van and Schenck
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Anastasia Reilly and Mary Nolan)
Germaine Mitti and Eugene Tillio

;1922

Mary Eaton
Gallagher and Shean
Gilda Gray
Nervo and Knox
Olsen and Johnson
Will Rogers
Jack Whiting
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Naomi Johnson, Geneva Mitchell, and Barbara Stanwyck)

;1923

Fanny Brice
James J. Corbett
Ann Pennington
Hap Ward
Bert & Betty Wheeler
Paul Whiteman
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Lina Basquette, Dolores Costello, Hilda Ferguson, and Naomi Johnson)

;1924–25

Billie Burke
Ray Dooley (joined the cast later in run)
W. C. Fields (joined the cast later in run)
Lupino Lane
Ann Pennington
Will Rogers and Australia, where Melbourne's Herald Sun ranked the latter adaptation, "We're from Tigerland", as the best Australian Football League club song.

References

External links

Ziegfeld on Musicals101.com
Ziegfeld Follies at Internet Broadway Database