After all
but completing a second chapter in my ongoing nonfiction project (more on that
later, surely), I’ve returned my attention to my Ziegfeld Follies poems. I’ll be doing a presentation of what I have
so far at the Omega Institute on the
evening of August 20th. Hopefully, I’ll also have a Power Point
presentation, and brief bios for each of the subjects of
the poems. I know it’s been a while, so some memories might need a bit of refreshing
(ahem).
My focus
with this project has been the 1919 edition of the Follies, although for
reasons of interest and coherence, the poems have strayed a bit here and there.
By 1919, Anna Held, Ziegfeld’s first
wife and part of the inspiration for the Follies in the first place, had
already passed. Yet, because she is such an integral part of Ziegfeld’s
personal and professional life, I’ve included a couple of poems about her and
expect to add more. Olive Thomas, by
1919, had long before left Ziegfeld’s show, and side, to become a silent film
star, but her enduring presence at the New
Amsterdam Theater in the form of a ghost (even to this day) means that a
poem or two is required about her as well.
Two Ziegfeld
stars were missing from the 1919 edition, otherwise considered the pinnacle of
the series. Humorist Will Rogers had
also been lured out West to try his luck in films. Silent though they were,
Rogers made his presence felt on the big screen, supplementing his appearances
eventually with a widely read newspaper column and an easy transition into
talkies. If not for his sudden death in 1935, who knows what other razor-sharp
insights Rogers might have gifted us with, especially in the War years.
In August of
1919, Fanny Brice gave birth to her
first child, a daughter. Obviously this put her out of work for that season,
but knowing Brice’s position as a major star in the Ziegfeld universe, this
must have been a frustration for both the comedienne and the producer. I knew she
and her then-husband Nick Arnstein
owned a home on Long Island during those years. I made the leap of assuming
that it had been located on the North Shore, where many of the wealthy lived in
those days. Thank goodness for Google and my ability to follow a thread! I was
even able to obtain a street address, as well as some modern-day photos of the
interior and exterior. It is still a private home, well kept and renovated with
an eye towards maintains its Victorian charm.
I imagined
two scenarios, one of Ziegfeld showing off his new theater to Rogers on a trip
back East, and Brice rehearsing on her patio overlooking the Long Island Sound.
Both seemed plausible to me, and yet I took a few liberties. I looked up the,
and concluded that Rogers certainly could have seen the Ziegfeld Theater close
to its opening date. As well, Brice’s home seems to be near enough to the water
for her to smell it on a September breeze.
I’ve been a
Ziegfeld and vaudeville buff for many years now, but for a while I’d stalled on
doing anything creative with the knowledge I’d accumulated. So deep is my awe
and respect for these theatrical pioneers that I hesitated, afraid to get the
facts wrong, wary of the presumptive tone that dominates so many biographies.
Finally, without cracking another book, I leaped in, starting with the stories
most repeated. I probably began with Thomas at the New Amsterdam, a hard one to
get wrong, but steering clear of the condescending word stuffing that I found
in a recent fictionalized account of her life. I’ve got twenty-five pages or so
of poems now, and my next step is to comb through the work, making better
poetry out of it, and tweaking what facts I can.
I’m not sure
how finished any of the poems will be by the time my evening rolls around, but
I’ll do my best. My goal is to honor the legend, perpetuate the memories of
these remarkable characters, all the while trying to explore their humanity.
For many years there was a gap for me. They were old photos, almost always
black and white, seemingly from another planet and not just another era. Lately
I’ve broken through. This might be where art, the art I can live with, begins.
