I’ve always had a fondness for the Ziegfeld Follies covers. It goes with my love of art nouveau, I guess. It helps that many of the costumes worn by Ziegfeld’s chorus girls were designed by Erte, an influential nouveau artist. The Ziegfeld girls "paraded up and down flights of stairs dressed as anything from birds to battleships. The Follies were reviews, essentially high class Vaudeville variety show featuring some of the era’s top entertainers.
This cover comes from the 1919 Follies, held at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, NY. It featured Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller (of Evansville, IN), and Bert Williams and included the tune Tulip Time. I’m guessing the bird theme of the cover means that the chorus girls spent some time wearing feathers during the show. Nice cover, maybe not dance related, but nice none the less.
This particular post combines a couple of my favorite things, old buildings and old music. I found a photo of the New Amsterdam Theater
with the Follies posters. I took a look at the modern building, but it looks like it's been stripped of its nouveau charm. So many things are 'improved' to make them less than what they once were.
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