Above: the sheet music for Shakin' the Blues Away. Photo: ebay
The Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 was the first Follies to feature a star performer--Eddie Cantor--and the first to have all its songs written by a single composer--Irving Berlin. Although it received tepid reviews ("His formula has never failed," wrote Time magazine. "But as nothing subscribes more unreservedly to the law of diminishing returns than [a] succession of splendors, this last superbly heralded Follies achieves only another anticlimax."), it was a hit, running for 167 performances from 1927-28.
In addition to Cantor (who appeared in nearly half the numbers), the show featured Claire Luce, Cliff Edwards (aka Ukelele Ike; 13 years later he was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinocchio), Ruth Etting, and the Brox Sisters.
"Shakin' the Blues Away" was the show's big number, and Etting made her breakout appearance leading it.
Above: Shakin' the Blues Away, led by Ruth Etting. Photo: Songbook
There was also a jungle scene with live animals, in which Luce entered riding an ostrich. One night the bird left the stage in a flurry and, instead of depositing Luce in the wings, kept on walking, out the stage door and onto West 43rd St.
Below is the first page of the program for the October 17, 1927 performance. Note the sententious legend, "He who glorifies beauty glorifies truth." Would Keats have approved?
Above: the first page of the program for Oct. 17, 1927. Photo: Playbill
The 1927 Follies was the last of 21 annual shows. It was revived briefly in 1931, but didn't continue. The Follies were essentially vaudeville, only much more sumptuous. Later in 1927, Ziegfeld produced Show Boat at his own theater, and it heralded a change in Broadway musicals.
