Ziegfeld 101
Follies Chronology - Part III
by John Kenrick

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

This completes our year by year breakdown of Florenz Ziegfeld's legendary Follies. For details on his other musical productions, click here.

Please Note: The 1924 Follies ran well over a year, so there was no 1925 edition. The production intended as The 1926 Follies was so uneven that Ziegfeld renamed it No Foolin': Ziegfeld's American Revue and brought it in for a 108 performance run at the Globe Theatre.

1927
Opened: The New Amsterdam, August 16 (167 perfs)
Book: Eddie Cantor, Harold Atteridge and others
Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Scenery by: Joseph Urban
Costumes by: John W. Harkrider
Dances Staged by: Sammy Lee
Ballets by: Albertina Rasch
Dialogue Staged by: Zeke Colvan
Featuring: Eddie Cantor, Cliff Edwards, the Brox Sisters, Clair Luce and Ruth Etting.
Notes: Ziegfeld spent over $289,000 on the 21st anniversary Follies. To cover this investment, he gave the popular Eddie Cantor star billing, the first Follies performer so honored. It was hard-earned, since Cantor appeared in almost every other scene, co-wrote the script and interpolated Walter Donaldson's hit "My Blue Heaven." The rest of the score was by Irving Berlin, who turned out several strong numbers, including another Cantor showstopper, "It All Belongs to Me." Ruth Etting introduced Berlin's "Shaking the Blues Away," and Cliff Edwards held the next-to-closing spot with his popular ukulele routine. In a number that presaged screen musicals of the 1930s, Ziegfeld filled the stage with 90 girls playing a bevy of instruments, including twelve white pianos. Clare Luce rode a live ostrich in a jungle number – one night, the animal panicked and carried Luce out onto West 41st Street. This was the last Follies to play the New Amsterdam, where the series had thrived since 1913.

1931
Opened: The Ziegfeld Theater, June 24 (165 perfs)
Book and lyrics: Mark Hellinger, Gene Buck and others
Score: Walter Donaldson, Noel Coward, David Stamper, Mack Gordon, Harry Revel and others
Scenery by: Joseph Urban
Costumes by: John W. Harkrider
Dances by: Albertina Rasch and Bobby Connolly
Dialogue Staged by: Edward C. Lilley
Ziegfeld Assisted by: Gene Buck
Featuring: Harry Richman, Jack Pearl, Ruth Etting, Helen Morgan, Hal LeRoy, Mitzi Mayfair, Albert Carroll, and Buck and Bubbles.
Notes: After a four year break producing musical comedies and losing millions if dollars in the stock market crash of 1929, Ziegfeld tried to revive his fortunes with his mot expensive Follies ever – the only edition ever staged at his art deco theatre on Sixth Avenue. The ailing glorifier spent more than $250,000 on this edition, a far cry from the $13,000 the first Follies cost back in 1907. Ziegfeld relied heavily on longtime associate Gene Buck, who did more than usual to support his increasingly unsteady boss. Harry Richman served as master of ceremonies, Helen Morgan introduced Noel Coward's "Half-Caste Woman" (which was cut after several weeks) and Ruth Etting sang a sentimental reprise of "Shine On Harvest Moon." A "Changing of the Guards" routine had the Ziegfeld girls parading in uniform outside of Buckingham Palace. Although the handsome production got favorable reviews, the massive price tag made it impossible for Ziegfeld to turn a profit. As ticket sales faltered, Flo hoped to extend the run by luring Will Rogers back from Hollywood, but it was not to be. Less than a year after this edition closed, Ziegfeld was dead.

The Post-Ziegfeld Follies

The great showman was gone, but his legendary creation lived on:

1934
Presented by: Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld (Billie Burke and an unbilled Lee Shubert)
Opened: The Winter Garden, January 4 (182 perfs)
Book: Fred Allen and others
Music and Lyrics: E.Y. Harburgh, Vernon Duke and others
Dances by: Robert Alton
Directors: Bobby Connelly and Edward C. Lilley
Featuring: Fanny Brice, Jane Frohman, Vilma & Buddy Ebsen, Eugene & Willie Howard.
Notes: Determined to pay off Ziegfeld's debts, Billie Burke let Lee Shubert pay for the right to produce new editions of the Follies. Shubert must have been delighted to buy into the legacy of his longtime enemy, but did amazingly well reviving the Follies.  He produced this edition for $125,000 -- half the amount Ziegfeld had spent three years before, but more than most Broadway musicals cost in the midst of the Great Depression. The results were considered a major improvement over the trashy revues that the Shuberts were known for. Brice portrayed "Soul Saving Sadie of Avenue A," and "Countess Dubinsky," a blue-blooded Russian émigré now reduced to burlesque fan dancing for Minsky. She also introduced Baby Snooks, a character that would later provide her a new career on network radio. Thanks to shrewd Shubert management, this Follies turned a modest profit.

1936
Presented by: Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld (Lee Shubert eventually shared billing on this edition)
Opened: The Winter Garden, January 30 (227 perfs)
Book and lyrics: David Freeman, Ira Gershwin and others
Score: Vernon Duke and others
Dance Directors: Robert Alton and George Balanchine
Costumes: Vincent Minnelli and others
Directors: John Murray Anderson and Edward C. Lilley
Featuring: Fanny Brice, Josephine Baker, Gertrude Neisen, Bob Hope, the Nicholas Brothers and Eve Arden. Cast replacements included Bobby Clark and Gypsy Rose Lee.
Notes: Once again, Lee Shubert put together a quality Follies, packed with first class talent in every department. Minnelli draped the chorines in cellophane, and Brice reprised her Baby Snooks character. One skit was a satire of Warner Brothers screen musicals, with Brice as "Ruby Blondell," Bob Hope as "Bing Powell" and Gertrude Neisen as "Delores Del Morgan."  The musical highlight was "I Can't Get Started," with Hope attempting to impress Arden by listing his world-class accomplishments. The run was interrupted when Brice fell ill in May. When it resumed in September, Hope, Baker and Neisen were gone, replaced by comic Bobby Clark and burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee. In 2001, this edition was staged in concert form by the NY City Center Encores! series, resulting in a superb recording.