Ziegfeld Follies Essays

Background information and dynamics of the family Gorden Wong, 30 years old, elder son in the family; living with father, Sing (age 70), mother, Cindy (age 65) and younger brother, Simon (age 25). Sing and Cindy retired for 4 and 10 year separately. Simon is still in the college, studying a nursing course; he will be graduated from college in coming July. Sing and Cindy were immigrants from Mainland China 35 years before. They are hard working and live frugally. Father Sing grew up in a big family

Katherine Anne Porter, originally Callie Porter, was born in Indian Creek, Texas on May 15, 1890 (Baym). Many events during her childhood were what influenced Porter’s writings. She was introduced to unforgettable hardships at only two years old with the death of her mother (Baym). After this tragedy, Porter and her siblings lived with their grandmother for 9 years, in extreme poverty, until she passed away as well (West). After her grandmother’s death, she attended many convent schools and ran away

Musical theatre performance, which presents fictional plots and impresses audiences with show-stopping dance and song, unites dramatic works across the globe. American musical theatre, specifically, draws inspiration from European straight plays, burlesques, and operas, while dramatizing American topics. Nineteenth-century musical comedies use entertaining situations, rather than plot, to frame performances involving song, dance, and humor. For example, George M. Cohan’s works, although inspired

Everyone Loves Lucille Ball Some famous Americans have won the noble peace prize, while others might be known for creating world peace or world catastrophes. Lucille Ball will forever be remembered as the person who entertained people with “rubber faced antics (“Lucille Ball Biography”) “zany impersinations.” These comments may seem demeaning; however, they glorifiy Lucille Ball’s legacy. An actress, comedian, a producer, Lucille Ball is most famous for producing and acting in her most famous sitcom

popularity earned him a contract with a very big movie producer of that time, Hal Roach. Even with all of these going on, Rogers kept doing shows for Ziegfeld as this was his main job. He demanded and received salaries of $3100 a week as well as some other benefits from Ziegfeld (Russell). This amount “made him the highest paid performer in the Follies, followed by W.C. Fields, who made $1750 a week” (Russell). That statement is speaking of the volume and popularity of Will Rogers as W.C. Fields was

In this paper, I will be addressing the impact of a great figure in musical theatre, a man who made significant contributions in the history of musical theatre, the Russian born and Jewish American Irving Berlin. I will address some important phases in his life. I will start by giving an overview of his early life and family. Also, I will be talking about his major initial works as a lyricist and composer and some of his major early contributions in musical theatre. Moreover, I will discuss how he

Geographical: The Charleston was originated in an island near Charleston, South Carolina by black people. According to Harry T. Sampson in 1922, the Charleston was performed in the New Amsterdam Theater in New York during the "Ziegfeld Follies" show. This was the first time the Charleston was danced at a show by white people. The Charleston became popular the next year in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild. After this show the Charleston because the most popular dance of the 1920's. Most people danced

acting skills, she starred in two movies in the early 1930s, Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam. and moved her family from St. Louis, Missouri to Les Milandes, her estate in Castelnaud-Fayrac, France. In 1936 she returned back to the US to star in Ziegfeld Follies, despite the fact that she was a huge celebrity in Europe, American crowds hated the idea of a black woman with so much limelight, newspaper reviews were just as cruel as the audience(The New York Times called her a “Negro wench”), Josephine

or listen to boring operas about stories they didn’t understand. Jazz was one of the first devices that really helped people express how they felt and let them radiate a new and even dangerous personality in new musical experiences. Also, The Ziegfeld Follies in 1920 brought a jazz number onto the scene described as “a song [celebrating] a ‘jazzy Cleopatra’ . . . whose vigorous dancing and bold flirtations make her, like jazz itself, dangerous and irresistible” (Magee 706). Musicals of this time period

Born as Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906, in Saint Louis. Her mother had dreams of becoming a music-hall dancer, but gave them up to become a mother and washerwoman and her father abandoned them when she was an infant. Most of her time as a youth was spent in poverty. To help support her family, she started cleaning houses and babysitting at the age of eight often being mistreated. At the age of 13 she ran away from home, found work as a waitress at a club where she met her first husband

Black Venus in Her Beauty Wearing enough feathers to barely cover herself, Josephine Baker won over French audiences with not only her lack of clothes, but with her utmost acting, dancing, and signing. Baker spent most of her life amassing the recognition of audiences all around the world. Wistfully, the United States hated her because she was a black American and they did not see the talent she held. In spite of her home country disdaining her, Josephine Baker embodied the freedom and expressiveness

How was Irving Berlin impactful? Many of Broadway composers or lyricists have changed and made musicals that became famous because of their own unique style of work. Irving Berlin was one of the most popular composers and lyricists throughout the 1900s and still known for his impact on people and musicals that still resonates throughout America. Either known for his unique style of how he played the piano (only in black keys), how his music in theater translated to the people during times of war

April 1 Fool me once, and . . . . April Fools’ Day April 1st, odd years only. April Fools! On April 1, 1950, the sleepy town of Hot Springs, New Mexico officially changed its name to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Here’s how it happened. In March of 1950, and to promote the tenth anniversary of the popular radio game show, Truth or Consequences, host Ralph Edwards promised to broadcast an episode of the program from the first town in America that would rename itself after the show. The