Ziegfeld Follies

Ziegfeld Follies
Public domain · source
Name	Ziegfeld Follies
Caption	Cast of the 1924 edition
Genre	Revue
Years active	1907–1931
Creator	Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Location	New York City

Ziegfeld Follies was an influential Broadway revue created by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. that combined extravagant production numbers, comedic sketches, and glamorous tableaux, premiering in 1907 and reaching prominence during the 1910s and 1920s. The revue integrated high-profile collaborations and launched careers of performers across theater, film, and music, shaping American popular entertainment through ties to Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. Its legacy is evident in later stage revues, Hollywood musicals, and institutions that preserve early 20th-century popular culture.

History

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. conceived the revue following exposure to the Parisian Folies Bergère and worked with producers and impresarios such as A. L. Erlanger, The Shubert Organization, George M. Cohan, Gus Edwards, and William A. Brady to establish a New York sensation, debuting in 1907 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Early editions featured collaborations with composers from Tin Pan Alley including Irving Berlin, Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Rudolf Friml, and Cole Porter, while choreographers and directors such as Joseph Urban and H.T. Webster contributed scenic design and staging. The Follies evolved through partnerships with theatrical press figures like Florence Ziegfeld Sr. and financial backers tied to Morris Gest and Billy Minsky, surviving economic shifts such as the Panic of 1907 and World War I influences that affected touring companies. By the 1920s the revue competed with productions associated with George Gershwin, Earl Carroll, Lee Shubert, Oscar Hammerstein I, and the burgeoning Hollywood film industry, until the Great Depression and the death of Ziegfeld in 1932 brought major changes to the enterprise.

Production and Format

Each edition combined lavish production values devised by designers like Joseph Urban, Erte, Charles Dana Gibson, John Held Jr., and Ben Ali Haggin with musical arrangements from orchestrators linked to Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter. Staging utilized marquee venues including the New Amsterdam Theatre, the Lyric Theatre (Broadway), and touring circuits through cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco. Numbers interwove comic sketches by writers associated with Punch (magazine), dramatic vignettes inspired by Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde adaptations, and themed tableaux modeled on productions at Folies Bergère and Revues in Paris and London. Production staff often included stage managers and technicians experienced with electric lighting from firms linked to Thomas Edison enterprises and scenic effects reflecting innovations promoted at World's Columbian Exposition-era trade shows.

Notable Performers and Contributors

The Follies launched or showcased stars whose careers spanned theater and film, including Will Rogers, Fanny Brice, Bert Williams, Eddie Cantor, Helen Morgan, Anna Held, Isadora Duncan, and Billie Burke. Musical performers and composers featured included Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Harold Arlen, while songwriters such as Dorothy Fields and Lorenz Hart contributed lyrics and sketches. Choreographers, designers, and directors who shaped the revue included Joseph Urban, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. himself, Natacha Rambova, Erte, and Lee Shubert, with supporting appearances by vaudeville and burlesque figures such as Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Mae West, and Lillian Russell. Comedians, dancers, and novelty acts drew talent from circuits connected to Keith-Albee, Orpheum Circuit, Burlesque, and the Ziegfeld Girls tradition featured many performers who later worked in MGM and Paramount Pictures productions.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

The revue influenced Broadway aesthetics tied to names such as George M. Cohan, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin, and its visual style informed Hollywood musicals at studios like MGM, RKO Radio Pictures, and Warner Bros.. The Follies helped popularize songs and performers who became cultural icons across American media, intersecting with figures from Harlem Renaissance circles, Radio personalities, and early Television variety programming. Institutions preserving related materials include the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and museum collections with artifacts linked to Joseph Urban and Erte; scholarly work on the revue appears in studies of Vaudeville, Burlesque, Tin Pan Alley, and the history of Broadway theatre. The revue's pageantry and controversies informed debates involving aesthetics and censorship that intersected with public figures such as Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, W.E.B. Du Bois, and critics at publications like The New York Times and Variety.

Revivals and Adaptations

Following Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s death, producers and directors staged revivals and adaptations that referenced the original editions, involving theatrical figures such as Florenz Ziegfeld III, Billy Rose, David Merrick, George Abbott, Bob Fosse, and Leonard Bernstein in reinterpretations on Broadway and in touring productions. Hollywood adapted elements into films featuring performers from the revue tradition in productions by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, RKO, and later television specials produced by networks like NBC and CBS. Stage revivals and pastiches appeared in shows associated with Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Carol Channing, and modern retrospectives organized by institutions such as the Museum of the City of New York and academic programs at Yale School of Drama and New York University. Contemporary cabaret and Burlesque revivals draw on aesthetics promulgated by early 20th-century impresarios and designers who worked with the original revue.

Category:Broadway revues Category:American musical theatre