#midnight frolic

[thegloriousolivethomas]

Olive Thomas wearing her “Central Park” costume for Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic in February, 1916. With its towering plumes, floral trim, and sheer layers, this look blends whimsy with showgirl elegance. The costume made such an impression it was sketched and featured in the New York Tribune.

[ziegfeldfolliescoffeetablebook]

Jean Ackerman, [ACJ] performed for Ziegfeld in the 1927 Follies, “Rosalie” and “Whoopee!” in 1928, “Midnight Frolic” in 1929 and “Smiles” in 1930. At some point during this time, she married Richard “Dick” Ackerman. Little is known about this marriage or the groom. Jean divorced him in January of 1930.

Although her run with the Follies only spanned four years, Jean always looked back on them as the best years of her life. Jean left New York and spent the final years of her life in Florida. She passed away from cancer on November 26, 1960 in Miami-Beach, just two weeks shy of her 57th birthday.

#JeanAckerman #ZiegfeldFollies #ACJ #Whoopee! #MidnightFrolic #FricPic #Clolrized #CoffeeTableBook

[redhairclara]

Ziegfeld girl Allyn King photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnston, 1919

[redhairclara]

Illustration entitled "On the Ziegfeld Roof" featured in Shadowland Magazine, c. early 1920s

[ziegfeldfolliescoffeetablebook]

Bert Williams, (1874-1922) - Ziegfeld Follies of 1910 - Celebrating Black History Month

Pioneer of the Stage W. C. Fields, star of the silent screen, called Bert Williams “the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest.” As a central figure on America’s vaudeville circuit, Williams sang, danced, and pantomimed in clubs, cabarets, and theaters across the country. Williams was one of, if not the most, famous African-American performers in the 1900s. In an age when the “white vaudeville stage did not welcome black performers,” Williams pioneered an important role for black performers who had so profoundly shaped the genre. With unfortunate regularity, he was often the only African American on stage. In the 1900s Williams was the toast of the cities he toured, and in 1904 he played a command performance in England for King Edward VII.

Facing Racism. Racial prejudice shaped Williams’ career. Unlike many other blackface performers, Williams did not play for laughs at the expense of other African Americans or black culture. Instead, he based his humor on universal situations in which any members of his audience might find themselves. In the style of vaudeville, Williams performed in blackface makeup like his white counterparts. Blackface worked like a double mask for him. It emphasized the difference between Williams, his fellow vaudevillians, and his white audiences.

Many white vaudevillians refused to appear on the same bill with Williams, and others complained that his material, which he wrote himself, was better than theirs. Williams, like many black performers, faced discrimination from the hotels and restaurants in which he often performed. Hotels routinely refused to let Williams ride in the same elevators used by their white patrons. He once told a friend how much such seemingly petty discrimination hurt. “It wouldn’t be so bad. … if I didn’t hear the applause [from his performance] still ringing in my ears.” EDIT: PBS.

#BertWilliams #WhiteStudio #ZiegfeldFollies #MidnightFrolic #FricPic #Colorized #CoffeeTableBook

[travsd]

Ranty Rant, Part Three

Ranty Rant, Part Three

To follow up some on the rant that began here and continued here…because we just can’t let go. First I realize I need to apologize to the nice lady who invited me to see the show in the first place. I know she felt sucker-punched and I’m sure I got her in trouble with her boss. She is just an innocent by-stander in this drive-by. She was a friend, and now we’ll be dead-eyeing each other at…

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[mudwerks]

(via CurtisBell-KatherineFrey-ZFollies | Historical Ziegfeld Group)

Katherine Perry - Midnight Frolic, Alfred Cheney Johnston portraits

[mudwerks]

Katharine/Katherine Perry Midnight Frolic-Alfred Cheney Johnston portraits