filed under fictional biography, Florenz Ziegfeld, gold diggers, musicals, NYC, retrocinema, Rococo tableau.
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Coney Island’s sideshows had PT Barnum… Monte Carlo’s Ballet Russe had Diagalev… and Broadway had Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, a huckster, a gambler, and a womanizer of exquisite taste who introduced his signature showgirls, brought vaudeville comedians uptown, and staged elaborate productions which made legends of composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern. Ziegfeld’s Follies spanned 25 years and were patterned after the Folies Bergère in Paris where sex and exotica were mixed with topical humor, operettas, and gymnastics. The word Follies derives from the Latin word for “leaves” (foliae), connoting the idea of an outdoor venue, so it was fitting that Flo’s annual Follies were originally staged in the rooftop theaters of Manhattan’s growing skyline.
…more about The Great Ziegfeld