“[Ethan Mordden possesses] the kind of long view and deep investigation that almost no writer has previously brought to bear on the [history of the Broadway stage].”
--Jesse Greene, The New York Times
Praise for "All that Glittered: The Golden Age of Dra
Book Summary and Reviews of Ziegfeld by Ethan Mordden
Book Summary
Any girl who twists her hat will be fired! &#; Florenz Ziegfeld
And no Ziegfeld girl ever did as she made her way down the gala stairways of the Ziegfeld Follies in some of the most astonishing spectacles the American theatergoing public ever witnessed.
When Florenz Ziegfeld started in theater, it was flea circus, operetta and sideshow all rolled into one. When he left it, the glamorous world of "show-biz" had been created. Though many know him as the man who "glorified the American girl," his first real star attraction was the bodybuilder Eugen Sandow, who flexed his muscles and thrilled the society matrons who came backstage to squeeze his biceps. His lesson learned with Sandow, Ziegfeld went on to present Anna Held, the naughty French sensation, who became the first Mrs. Ziegfeld. He was one of the first impresarios to mix headliners of different ethnic backgrounds, and literally the earliest proponent of mixed-race casting.
The stars he showcased and, in some cases, created have become legends: Billie Burke (who also became his wife), elfin Marilyn Miller, cowboy Will Rogers, Bert Williams, W.
Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business
There&#;s no doubt as to who forever changed Broadway in Ethan Mordden&#;s biography &#;Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business.&#; Among the many questions that follow are how &#; and with whom &#; Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. did it.
In his meticulously researched and detailed portrait of the ultimate Rialto manager-producer, Mordden recalls with equal parts snark and smarts Ziegfeld&#;s life and shows.
Flo, as he was often called, was born in Chicago in , and showcased his first find, Eugen Sandow, at that city&#;s World Fair in In an effort to put a spin on the expected, to &#;surprise and delight,&#; as Mordden describes it, Ziegfeld not only put the European strongman on display, he also invited women to get a backstage closeup, an edgy variation that would come to define the Ziegfeld style: Find a unique talent and then riff on an old theme to create something new.
He created his &#;Follies,&#; by adding a twist on the revue, honing the impresario skills he employed on hit tuners such as &#;Show Boat.&#; Flo helped launch the careers of Fanny Brice, Will Rogers and Bert Williams, among others, shrewdly navigating w
Ziegfeld, by Ethan Mordden
Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business
By Ethan Mordden
St. Martin’s Press, pages, $
The names that first lit up Broadway—Klaw, Erlanger, Frohman, Belasco—have dimmed. They belonged to powerful men who, in the early 20th century, produced all the shows and owned all the theaters in New York and across the country. They’re remembered today mainly by showbiz buffs with large collections of Playbills and original cast recordings. The Shuberts do live on, though not as the brothers Sam, Lee, and J.J. who built the theatrical empire. “The Shuberts” today is shorthand for the Shubert Organization, an entity with 20 theaters under its control that functions primarily as Broadway’s largest landlord. It is powerful but colorless.
There is one name from Broadway’s early days, however, that still has currency, and that is Ziegfeld. “Ziegfeld” conjures up entertainment on a lavish scale—spectacular sets, hundreds of costumes, a piece orchestra, and row after row of chorus girls, scantily but tastefully clad.
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. was the most famous producer of his era, and if the wo
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