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

Founding and history

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 entertainers, 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 appeared in the shows.

The Ziegfeld Follies were also famous for their display of many beautiful chorus girls, commonly known as 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

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"), starring William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. and co-starring Myrna Loy (as Ziegfeld's second wife Billie Burke), Luise Rainer (as Anna Held, which won her an Academy Award for Best Actress), and Frank Morgan as Jack Billings. Featuring numbers by Ray Bolger, Dennis Morgan, Virginia Bruce, and Harriet Hoctor, the film gave a glimpse into what the Follies were really like. 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"  with Gallagher's real-life partner, Al Shean to recreate the duo's famous song "Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean". 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. Ziegfeld Follies was awarded the "Grand Prix de la Comedie Musicale" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1947, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (black and white).

The stage musical Funny Girl depicts Fanny Brice's success with the Follies. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1964 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
• Imperial Theatre (January 25, 1944 - July 22, 1944)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre

List of performers by year

1907

• Nora Bayes (joined the cast later in run)
• Helen Broderick
• Emma Carus
• Mlle. Dazie
• Grace La Rue
• Edna Luby
• Harry Watson Jr.

1908

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

1909

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

1910

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

1911

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

1912

• Bernard Granville[22]
• Leon Errol
• Lillian Lorraine
• Josie Sadler[23]
• Rae Samuels
• Harry Watson Jr.
• Bert Williams
• The Ziegfeld Girls

1913

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

1914

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

1915

• Bernard Granville
• Ina Claire
• Leon Errol
• W. C. Fields
• Justine Johnstone
• Mae Murray
• Ann Pennington
• Ed Wynn
• Bert Williams
• The Ziegfeld Girls (including Helen Barnes, Marion Davies, Odette Myrtil and Olive Thomas)

1916

• Fanny Brice
• Ina Claire
• W. C. Fields
• Allyn King
• Bird Millman
• Ann Pennington
• Will Rogers
• Bert Williams
• Marion Davies
• 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

• Jay Brennan
• Eddie Cantor
• Frank Carter
• The Fairbanks Twins
• 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
• DeLyle Alda
• Johnny and Ray Dooley
• Eddie Dowling
• The Fairbanks Twins
• Margaret Fitzgerald
• Allyn King
• Bette Morton
• Marilyn Miller
• Van and Schenck
• John Steel
• Bert Williams
• The Ziegfeld Girls (including Billie Dove and Mary Hay)

1920

• Fanny Brice
• DeLyle Alda
• 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 Barbara Stanwyck and Geneva Mitchell)

1923

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

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
• Vivienne Segal
• Ethel Shutta
• Frank Tinney
• Dorothy Wegman
• Blanche Satchel
• Bertha Belmore
• The Ziegfeld Girls (including Louise Brooks, Claire Dodd, Peggy Fears and Dorothy Sebastian)

1927

• Eddie Cantor
• Cliff Edwards
• Ruth Etting
• Frances Upton
• Al Siegel
• The Brox Sisters
• Claire Luce
• Dorothy Wegman
• The Ziegfeld Girls (including Joan Blondell, Lilian Bond and Paulette Goddard)

1931

• Faith Bacon
• Buck & Bubbles
• Albert Carroll
• Dorothy Dell
• Pearl E'doire
• Ruth Etting
• Helen Morgan
• Agatha Hoff
• Hal Le Roy
• Mitzi Mayfair
• Ernest McChesney
• Jack Pearl
• Harry Richman
• The Ziegfeld Girls (including Iris Adrian, Virginia Biddle, Jean Howard, Mona Louise Parsons, and Zecil Silvonia)

1934

• Eve Arden
• Fanny Brice
• Robert Cummings
• Buddy and Vilma Ebsen
• Jane Froman
• Patricia Bowman
• Agatha Hoff
• Willie and Eugene Howard
• Everett Marshall
• June and Cherry Preisser

1936

• Eve Arden
• Fanny Brice
• Josephine Baker
• Judy Canova
• Bobby Clark (replacement)
• George Church
• Cass Daley (replacement)
• Harriet Hoctor
• Bob Hope
• Gypsy Rose Lee (replacement)
• The Nicholas Brothers
• Gertrude Niesen
• June and Cherry Preisser

1943

• Bil and Cora Baird
• Milton Berle
• Eric Blore (replacement)
• Jack Carter (replacement)
• Jack Cole
• Howard Jackson
• Ilona Massey
• Dean Murphy
• Arthur Treacher
• Tommy Wonder

1956 (Boston)

• Bea Arthur
• Tallulah Bankhead
• Carol Haney
• Julie Newmar

1957

• Billy DeWolfe
• Harold Lang
• Carol Lawrence
• Beatrice Lillie
• Jane Morgan

Legacy

The 1971 Stephen Sondheim musical Follies takes place at a reunion of showgirls from the Weissman Follies, a fictional revue inspired by the Ziegfeld Follies. In addition to featuring "ghosts" of statuesque showgirls from the heyday of the revues, the musical includes many songs and production numbers that are intended to evoke the types of entertainment typically featured in the Ziegfeld Follies and other revues of the period. Examples include parade of showgirls ("Beautiful Girls"); a torch song ("Losing My Mind"); a baggy pants comic song ("The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues"); and a novelty song ("Rain on the Roof"). In The Drowsy Chaperone, the character Victor Feldzieg is the producer of Feldzieg's Follies, a parody of Ziegfeld Follies.

The TV show, Boardwalk Empire, about crime and corruption in 1920s Atlantic City, New Jersey, features a character that is a former Follies dancer, Lucy Danzige, portrayed by Paz de la Huerta.

"Row, Row, Row"

The 1912 version of the Ziegfeld Follies included a song entitled '"Row, Row, Row"', which has been adapted by two football clubs competing with two different sets of rules (codes) as their club song. After the 1945 Rio Carnival, Brazilian composer Lamartine Babo wrote lyrics to "Row, Row, Row" to adapt the song as the Hino do America anthem of the America Football Club in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1962, Australian cabaret singer Jack Malcolmson, who was performing at the Richmond Football Club (Australian rules) Social Club in Richmond, Melbourne, wrote lyrics to adapt the song as the Tigers' club song, We're from Tigerland, at the request of Richmond committee member Alf Barnett. In 2014, Melbourne's Herald Sun ranked We're from Tigerland as the best club song of any Australian Football League team. Versions of the song include a 1972 recording by the Fable Singers, who recorded most AFL club songs, and a 2018 recording including Richmond players Matthew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett. The Oakleigh Youth Football Club, which Malcomson coached for over 400 games, also adapted We're from Tigerland as their club song in 2005.