Ziegfeld Follies, Jazz Age, and American Musical Theatre

Posted on Dec 11, 2025 in Music

Ziegfeld Follies Performers and Yiddish Influence

In addition to the girls, the Follies featured comedians. Note and know about Bert Williams, and his signature song “Nobody,” a precursor to “Mr. Cellophane.”

Also note Fanny Brice, who came from Yiddish theatre to the Follies. What is Yiddish? Know a few Yiddish words and what they mean:

  • Schmuck
  • Schlemiel
  • Mensch
  • Schmaltz
  • Chutzpah

(Look these up, or ask Lenny!)

The capstone of Ziegfeld’s Broadway career was producing Show Boat.

Chapter 10: Jerome Kern and American Ascendance

“They Didn’t Believe Me” and the Modern Popular Song

  • Page 129: “They Didn’t Believe Me” from The Girl From Utah – some say it is the first modern popular song. Dennis Davenport suggests it may be the first modern popular song. What makes this a “modern popular song”? Start with the easygoing vernacular diction of the lyric. Also, the tune can swing, though swing as such was just evolving. This is one of the first tunes that is part of the Great American Songbook and that has become a jazz standard.
  • Note that WWI affected the perception of German culture in the US, including Austrian operetta. The decline of Germanic culture combined with the ascendance of US popular styles, including ragtime and jazz, to create a new uniquely American style of popular music.

Chapter 12: The 1920s

Prohibition and the Jazz Age

Dates for Prohibition: 1920–1933. (Ballpark dates are fine.) The “Great Experiment” was a reaction to widespread public drunkenness, but the effects were detrimental to society: ordinary citizens became lawbreakers, and organized crime supplied alcohol to clandestine bars called “speakeasies.” It was also the Jazz Age. Technically, there is no jazz in musical theatre, because jazz always involves improvisation. But “jazz influenced” scores became popular through the Gershwins and others.

The 1920s was also the age of three emerging media: radio, the phonograph, and film (silent until 1927).

The Great American Songbook Defined

From class, not in the text: The Great American Songbook begins with Jerome Kern (“They Didn’t Believe Me”) in 1916, and its heyday is the 1920s through the 1950s. Songs in this repertoire are no longer especially connected to the show or film for which they were originally conceived. Lyrically, they are in a vernacular style, with words that can be sung by either sex, often with titles that are everyday catchphrases. Musically, they have a regular pattern of chord changes that facilitate jazz improvisation. These tunes can “swing” and they are as effective instrumentally as vocally. Major Songbook composers are Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, and Rodgers.

First Gershwin hit: “Swanee,” not from a show, but popularized by Jolson.

American Operetta Versus Musical Comedy (Pages 161–165)

From class: be able to compare the two streams of Operetta and Musical Comedy. This is an oversimplification, but useful as you learn and assimilate knowledge about traditional shows.

Operetta Characteristics

  • Music most important
  • Legit singing
  • Orchestral conception
  • Poetic lyrics
  • Dance: waltz, ballet, “graceful” steps
  • Examples: Herbert – Naughty Marietta, Romberg – The Student Prince, Friml – Rosemarie

Musical Comedy Characteristics

  • Music drives the plot, lyrics are equally important
  • Singing: more pop, crooning, belting, character voice
  • Band with rhythm section: piano, bass, and drums
  • Lyrics: breezy, slangy, vernacular
  • Dance: tap, foxtrot, and other social dances (Astaire style).
  • Examples: Anything by George M. Cohan, Gershwin, Berlin.

Synthesis of Operetta and Musical Comedy

Show Boat

In operetta, after Herbert, the main composers are Sigmund Romberg and Rudolf Friml.

  • Romberg: The Student Prince (1924) is most important.
  • Friml: Rose Marie (1924) and The Desert Song (1926) – in collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II.

Review Questions

  1. Ballpark dates for Prohibition: 1920–33.
  2. Why was Prohibition a bad idea? Normal citizens became lawbreakers; speakeasies supplied illegal alcohol.
  3. Why do we say musical theatre may be “jazz influenced” but not technically “jazz”? Jazz always involves improvisation; musical theatre is just jazz-inspired with musical hints.
  4. What are the three emerging media of the 1920s? The phonograph, the radio, film (silent till ’27).
  5. Name three songs each by: Berlin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart.
    • Berlin: “Say It With Music,” “What Ill Do,” “All Alone”
    • Porter: “Let’s Do It,” “Fifty Million Frenchmen,” “Anything Goes”
    • Rodgers & Hart: “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” “Blue Moon,” “My Funny Valentine”
  6. What was Gershwin’s first hit song? “Swanee”

Additional Questions

  • What classic Gershwin score was originally premiered by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra? Rhapsody in Blue
  • Name a show and a couple of songs by Vincent Youmans. Show: Hit the Deck. Songs: “Tea for Two,” “Peach on the Beach” (Note: “Peach on the Beach” is likely a transcription error; “More Than You Know” or “Time on My Hands” are common Youmans songs, but keeping original text structure).
  • Landmark Black musical with songs by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake? Shuffle Along
  • What song from The Student Prince was especially popular in Prohibition-era America? (The provided answer only listed the composer, Romberg. The popular song was “Drinking Song” or “Serenade.”)
  • Show Boat creatives:
    • Composer: Jerome Kern
    • Lyrics and Script: Oscar Hammerstein
    • Producer: Ziegfeld
  • When was interracial marriage declared fully legal in the United States? June 12, 1967 (Loving v. Virginia)