Ziegfeld 101
Follies Chronology
by John Kenrick

The photos below are thumbnails – click on them to see full size versions.

This is a year by year breakdown of Florenz Ziegfeld's legendary Follies – production information was confirmed by referring to the original programs. For details on Ziegfeld's other musical productions, click here.

A 1902 program for the original Jardin de Paris, a popular night spot on the Champs Elysees. Ziegfeld and Abe Erlanger borrowed its name for the run down New York roof theatre where the Follies premiered in 1907.

1907
Opened: The Jardin De Paris (atop The New York Theater), June 8 (70 perfs)
Book and lyrics: mostly by Harry B. Smith
Score: Maurice Levi and various composers
Dances by: Gus Solke, Jack Mason
Principles Directed by: Herbert Gresham
Chorus Directed by: Julian Mitchell
Uncredited Directors: Jose Smith and John O'Neill
Musical Conductor: Frederick Solomon
Featuring: Grace LaRue, Emma Carus, Harry Watson, Helen Broderick and The Anna Held Girls. Nora Bayes joined the cast towards the end of the run.
Notes: Subtitled, "Just One of Those Things in Thirteen Acts," this $13,000 rooftop production was meant for a limited summer run, but proved so popular that it moved into the Liberty Theater that autumn before going on a short tour. Although Ziegfeld conceived and mounted the show, the actual producers were Klaw and Erlanger – they paid Ziegfeld $200 a week for his "managerial" services. The skits were gentle spoofs of current figures (Teddy Roosevelt, Victor Herbert, etc.) and the score included such forgettable songs as "In the Surf," "The Ju-Jitsu Waltz" and "I Oughtn't to Auto Any More." Almost every scene provided excuses to showcase pretty chorines in revealing costumes. At one point, Ziegfeld marched his girls into the aisles banging on drums, allowing patrons a close look at their charms.

1908
Opened: The Jardin de Paris, June 15 (120 perfs)
Book and lyrics: mostly by Harry B. Smith
Score: Maurice Levi and various composers
Principles Directed by: Herbert Gresham
Ensemble Numbers Produced by: Julian Mitchell
Featuring: Nora Bayes, Grace LaRue, Mlle. Dazie and Harry Watson
Notes: With the history of civilization as its theme, this edition almost doubled the run of its predecessor. An otherwise forgettable score featured Nora Bayes singing her great hit "Shine On Harvest Moon." The Ziegfeld girls were the main attraction, appearing as curvaceous New Jersey mosquitoes (wings and all) commuting through the then-unfinished Holland Tunnel. In a tribute to Broadway's latest hit, the girls paraded as "Merry Widows of the World." A more suggestive number had them dressed as taxi cabs, with electric signs indicating if they were "on duty."

1909
Opened: The Jardin de Paris, June 14 (64 perfs)
Book and lyrics: mostly by Harry B. Smith
Score: Maurice Levi and various composers
Settings by: Lee Lash Studios, John Young, Ernest Albert, Hugo Baruch
Costumes by: Edel, W. H. Matthews, Jr., and others
Staged by: Julian Mitchell
Featuring: Lillian Lorraine, Bessie Clayton, Sophie Tucker, Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. Eva Tanguay joined the cast in mid-run.
Notes: Nora Bayes returned, singing her latest hit, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon." When newcomer Sophie Tucker proved a hit on the pre-Broadway tour, a jealous Bayes demanded Tucker be dismissed. Tucker was left with one scene, playing a hefty leopard in a jungle number. When Bayes left early in the Broadway run, Ziegfeld brought in the dynamic vaudeville star Eva Tanguay – who was such a hit that she had to be given top billing. Ziegfeld's mistress Lillian Lorraine was given "Shine on Harvest Moon," and further displayed her creaky voice (and some more appealing attributes) singing "Nothing But a Bubble" while soaking in a bathtub. A production number entitled "The Greatest Navy in the World" featured the Ziegfeld girls wearing battleships as headgear that lit up when the stage lights were lowered. In another memorable sequence, several chorines flew over the audiences heads in a replica of the Wright Brothers' airplane.

1910
Opened: The Jardin de Paris, June 20 (88 perfs)
Book and lyrics: mostly by Harry B. Smith
Score: Gus Edwards "and many others"
Settings: John Young, Unitt & Wicks, Ernest Albert
Costumes: Herr Crage, W.H. Matthews, Jr.
Staged by: Julian Mitchell
Conducted by: Frank Darling
Featuring: Fanny Brice, Bert Williams and Lillian Lorraine, (with Anna Held on film)
Notes: The little-known Fanny Brice made such a hit on opening night singing "Lovey Joe" and "I Thought He Was a Business Man" that Ziegfeld tore up her contract the next morning, gave her a major raise, and raised her to star status. Bert Williams became the first Negro to co-star with whites in a major Broadway show – but only after Ziegfeld defied bigoted protests. Williams justified the effort when his comic rendition of "Nobody" stopped the show. Anna Held appeared in an innovative filmed sequence playing the role of Hailey's Comet. The chorus girls appeared in a daring swimming tank extravaganza, and later rode swings over the audience's heads while singing "Swing Me High, Swing Me Low."

1911
Opened: The Jardin de Paris, June 26 (80 perfs)
Book and lyrics: George V. Hobart and others
Score: Maurice Levi, Irvin Berlin and others
Staged by: Julian Mitchell
Featuring Fanny Brice, Bert Williams, The Dolly Sisters, Lillian Lorraine, Leon Errol, Vera Maxwell and Bessie McCoy
Notes: This was the first edition officially called The Ziegfeld Follies, an overdue tribute from co-producers Klaw and Erlanger. Comic Leon Errol made his Follies debut as a nervous tourist led through the Grand Central Station construction site by porter Bert Williams. This marked the first of many showstopping skits these two comics would share over the years. Vaudeville's popular Dolly Sisters danced dressed as Siamese twins. The ladies of the chorus appeared attired as sailors on the "HMS Vaudeville," and danced the "Texas Tommy Swing." Lillian Lorraine's behavior became increasingly temperamental, culminating in a backstage catfight with Fanny Brice – which Brice ended by dragging the defeated Lorraine across the stage in full view of a roaring audience. Soon afterward, Lorraine skipped an important rehearsal, and was fired at the insistence of co-producer A.L. Erlanger.

1912
Opened: The Ziegfeld Moulin Rouge (formerly The Jardin de Paris), October 21 (80 perfs)
Book and lyrics: Harry B. Smith and others
Score: Raymond Hubbell and others
Scenery: Ernest Albert
Staged by: Julian Mitchell
Conducted by: Frank Darling
Orchestrations by: Frank Sadler
Featuring: Bert Williams, Elizabeth Brice, Leon Errol, Ray Samuels, Lillian Lorraine and Harry Watson
Notes: Erlanger renamed the Jardin de Paris in Ziegfeld's honor for an edition that critics and audiences acclaimed as the finest Follies yet. The performance began with several cast members planted in the audience, arguing over what sort of show it should be. Errol and Williams performed a hilarious taxicab sketch, and Elizabeth Brice (no relation to Fanny) scored singing "Row, Row, Row." The finale was an eye-popping "Society Circus Parade," with ponies and showgirls circling the stage. Lillian Lorraine returned to sing "Daddy Has a Sweetheart," and was fired by Erlanger during tryouts – but she performed the song in vaudeville to such acclaim that Ziegfeld rehired her.

From 1904 through the 1920s, this was the New Amsterdam Theatre's standard program cover. Acclaimed as Broadway's most sumptuous venue, it was the pride of Klaw and Erlanger's theatrical empire. The home for Ziegfeld's Follies from 1913 onwards, the New Amsterdam also housed such Ziegfeld hits as Sally and Whoopee.  Broadway program covers switched to a black and white format in the 1930s, and Playbill added its distinctive black on yellow logo in the 1950s.

1913
Opened: The New Amsterdam Theater, June 16 (96 perfs)
Book and lyrics: Gene Buck, George V. Hobart and others
Score: Raymond Hubbell, David Stamper and others
Scenery: Ernest Albert, John Young and others
Staged by: Julian Mitchell
Featuring: Leon Errol, Frank Tinney, Jose Collins and Ann Pennington
Notes: Erlanger moved the Follies into his glamorous flagship theatre, The New Amsterdam. diminutive dancer Ann Pennington's high kicks and dimpled knees proved a sensation. Eccentric comic Leon Errol danced a "Turkish Trot," with his pants falling down in the midst of a massive Julian Mitchell dance routine. Women calling for the right to vote were spoofed in "The Ragtime Suffragette," and a production number depicted the opening of the Panama Canal, with the Ziegfeld girls pouring forth as the locks opened. The finale was set in a "Satanic Cabaret."

1914
Opened: The New Amsterdam, June 1 (112 perfs)
Book and lyrics: George V. Hobart, Gene Buck and others
Score: Raymond Hubbell, David Stamper and others
Scenery: Ernest Albert and others
Staged by: Leon Errol (replacing Julian Mitchell)
Conducted by: Frank Darling
Featuring: Ed Wynn, Leon Errol, Bert Williams, Annette Kellerman, Vera Maxwell and Ann Pennington
Notes: After a battle with Ziegfeld, director Julian Mitchell walked out in the midst of rehearsals. Errol took over – a grateful Ziegfeld reputedly lent a hand but gave Errol sole program credit. Bert Williams introduced "Darktown Poker Club," a pantomimed poker game that became a personal trademark. He also clowned with Leon Errol on top of an unfinished skyscraper. Vaudeville comic Ed Wynn scored well in his Follies debut, appearing as "Joe King the Joke King." Several scenes referred to the latest dance craze, the Tango, including the finale – a lavish "Tangorilla" dance routine set in the jungles surrounding Ziegfeld's beloved Palm Beach.

On to Follies Chronology - Part II

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