Thank you, BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS!

"You can do all the meditation, know all the scriptures, but selfless service is the quickest and shortest way to get to Divinity.
Fill the Heart with Love, the Head with Wisdom and engage your Hands in selfless service. When you use your energies in selfless service, the Divine Power in you gets surcharged." ~ Sathya Sai

Happy Beginning of Autumn/End of September
I hope this finds you doing well. It is the first Sunday of autumn and the last Sunday of September. Summer is officially over and The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids Flea Market took place today in New York.

My day started here sipping my coffee and listening to La Cage Aux Folles original cast album. How could this not jump start your day? This gets me every time. It immediately takes me back to 1983 when this show first opened on Broadway. It still holds up! I was 22 years old, had just "come out" if that is the appropriate phrase to describe it.
I think a more apt description would be that I had just become aware of MY sexuality. It was a strange time for this to be happening. The AIDS crisis was front page news almost daily. Perhaps timing is everything. It made me a very cautious person at such a crucial time in my life. It was a scary time as we saw the complacency of our government in even discussing this because it was a gay "cancer". It was also sad to see those around us dying. It still baffles my mind that those born since 1983 have not known a world without AIDS/HIV!

I navigated the waters between 1983 till 1990 (when I met Danny) very carefully.
Im 1988, I was a piano bar junkie. I've written about this in previous blogs. I lived for the weekends where I could sing from Christopher Street (Sheridan Square to 46th Street and back again! It was at that time that I met so many people who are still close and dear to my heart: Mark-Alan, Cayte Thorpe, Steven Lowenthal (I was even his roommate for a brief moment), Karen Miller, Rochelle Seldon, Terri White...I was start out on the Monster on Friday night at 10PM. Stanley Keeler was at the piano upstairs in the wildest drag ever known to man with fruit platters on the piano, balloons everywhere, and a disco downstairs.

It was a party every weekend! With the late Sasha at the door, there was ALWAYS a long line to get in. If Sasha, ever caught me standing in line, he would always come and get me and lead me inside. I felt like Pearl Mesta leading everyone in song around the piano. I met so many friends around that piano.
any are long gone. So young and so sad. But when I think of them, I think of the songs we sang together in unison, not in competition. I would stay at the Monster till about 11 or 12 PM, depending upon the crowd and the fun and then I would go over to Marie's Crisis on Grove Street.

A different vibe from The Monster. A little bit dirtier and grittier than the Monster but just as musical.
Again, everyone standing around the piano spilling out onto Grove Street singing our hearts out. I eventually became a singing waiter there. A job I loved and also where I met Danny. I would stay about an hour there and then basically next door to the ORIGINAL Duplex!
(Might have been 1990 that it became Rose's Turn - that's the year the Phams bought it, I believe. And it was Mark-Alan and Cayte Thorpe
who gave Rosie the idea for the name.)
Spend an hour or two there and then on to The Five Oaks!

Marie Blake sings "Down In The Depths" at The Five Oaks - Feb. 1993
One of Marie Blake's signature songs during her long stint playing the Grove Street piano bars in New York's West Village. Here Marie is at The Five Oaks.(Thank you, Colin Lively for this)



God, do I miss that place! With the late great Marie Blake there the party continued and then on to Eighty-Eights with Karen Miller, Rochelle Seldon, and an incredible line up of singers. You could almost tell the time there by what song Karen was playing. She had it down to a science. If I was very ambitious, I would either cab it up or subway it up to DON'T TELL MAMA. If not, I would simply retrace my steps. No matter, what route I took, I almost always inevitably ended up at Tiffany's Diner at 5AM with friends, either old or ones that I met that night.
There was an excitement in the air that I miss tremendously!

Although I did not go there, I must also include Waverly-Waverly. Jerry Scott played there as well as Houston Allred for Sunday brunches. Scott Barbarino, now of the Duplex, was the manager.
It was located at the corner of Waverly and Waverly, just east of the Monster.


Paul Lucas: No pics, but I remember how we would crowd into the old Duplex, filling up the stairs, but would all fall completely silent when a wonderful or favorite singer got up to sing. I loved those days.

(Sybil photographed by Francesco Scavullo in Harry Winston and Chanel (1985).)

Sybil Bruncheon opened CAFE BERLIN at 88's in 1988 (how appropriate!), and then moved it to the DUPLEX where it ran for two more years.....I remember when the casts of Broadway shows started showing up in the clubs and would sing a few songs and pass around cans requesting money for people living with AIDS. This was the beginning of BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the theatre community’s response to the AIDS crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the theatre community, on Broadway, Off-Broadway and across the country, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States.

Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $175 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV, or HIV-related illnesses.

BC/EFA's grantmaking has two emphases.

The first is The Actors' Fund of America. BC/EFA currently supports five major social service programs at The Fund, each of which provides direct assistance to entertainment industry professionals and performing artists who are dealing with a variety of problems, including AIDS, HIV, and HIV-related issues. The second major grantmaking effort is the National Grants Program, through which BC/EFA makes grants twice a year to hundreds of community-based AIDS Service organizations across the country.

(Photo credit: James Sims from today's Flea Market)

In October, 1987, the Actors' Equity union founded Equity Fights AIDS, and in February, 1988, The Producers' Group founded Broadway Cares, both in response to the growing AIDS epidemic. The groups merged in May 1992 to form Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Between 1988 and 2006, the groups have granted over 77 million dollars to The Actor's Fund of America and various community-based AIDS Service organizations.

It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1993.

Broadway Cares has two major fundraising periods, The Easter Bonnet Competition (in the spring) and The Gypsy of the Year Competition (in the Fall).
Over six weeks of fund-raising shows on and Off-Broadway engage in a friendly competition to see which show can raise the most money for BC/EFA. Awards are presented to the shows raising the most money and to the winning presentation.

The 2010 Easter Bonnet Competition raised $3,265,700.

The 2010 Gypsy of the Year raised $3,776,720, the third-highest gross in the history of the event.

During this fundraising period, actors return to the stage after bows and ask patrons to donate as they leave the theater.

Some actors have objected to this, because they oppose asking patrons for more money, or because they do not wish to break character. The shows are in competition to raise funds, and use various approaches, such as auctioning signed memorabilia, to raise more than other shows.


The 2007 Broadway stagehand strike slowed donations to a near halt. BC/EFA started an online campaign called "Team Raiser" in order to continue the competition for "Gypsy of the Year". Through the "Team Raiser" program, Second Life residents opened a virtual office for in-world volunteers, located on Broadway Live Island.

Broadway Bares is an annual burlesque show fundraiser for BC/EFA, founded by Jerry Mitchell in 1992.

Broadway dancers and actors perform strip tease dances for the audience at Roseland Ballroom in New York City for two shows only in June. It combines the naughtiness of burlesque and the razzle-dazzle of Broadway. The Broadway Bares events have raised $5.5 million as of 2010.

Broadway Bears is a charity auction for BC/EFA, where teddy bears, each outfitted in original, handmade costumes by Broadway’s leading costume designers and representing memorable characters from plays and musicals, past and present. are auctioned to the highest bidder. The 2009 auction raised $152,116.

(Photo credit: Karen Seiger, www.marketsofnewyork.com)

Another major event that Broadway Cares sponsors is the Annual Flea Market and Grand Auction in Shubert Alley each September. The theatre community sells props, costumes and autographed memorabilia to raise money for Broadway Cares. The second part of the day features a live auction where bidders can win anything from a walk-on in a Broadway show, to lunch with a star, to a visit to the set of their favorite TV show.

The event raised $7,758,752 from its inception in 1987 through 2008. This is going on today. Many of the photos in today's blog are from today's event. For many years, I used to host The Wheel of Divas on behalf of The Actors Fund.

(Photo credit: Gino Hawley)
The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market and Grand Auction celebrates its 25th year with a new footprint today. Theatre lovers will now be able to treasure hunt into Times Square as the market wends its way into the pedestrian plaza and down 44th Street. One of the fall's most anticipated events, the flea market and auction offers tons of memorabilia donated by the theatrical community as well ample opportunity to meet and greet with Broadway's biggest celebs.

In anticipation of inclement weather, BC/EFA's exec. director Tom Viola says: "Come sunshine or drizzle the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction will go on. Only heavy rains in the morning would knock us out. Please check the website, Facebook and Twitter for an update."(10AM-7PM, Times Square and W. 44th St., info)



Again, Equity Fights AIDS was founded in October 1987 by the Council of Actors' Equity Association. Money raised through the efforts of Equity theatre companies across the country was specifically earmarked for The Actors Fund's AIDS Initiative.

Broadway Cares was founded in February 1988 by members of The Producers' Group. Money raised was earmarked to be awarded to AIDS service organizations nationwide, including Equity Fights AIDS.
In May 1992, Equity Fights AIDS and Broadway Cares merged to become Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
The Board of Trustees of this newly established not-for-profit fundraising organization assumed the missions of the previously separate organizations and continues to fund the social service work of The Actors Fund and to award grants three times a year to AIDS service organizations nationwide.

My friend, Louise Dirkson became a nun today:

Unlike most other nonprofit, grant-making organizations, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS must raise every single dollar of our philanthropic budget every year in order to fulfill their mission. In turn, BC/EFA works hard to ensure that the money they raise is spent carefully and wisely on programs where these hard-earned funds can have the maximum possible impact.

Are you on Richard Skipper Events? If not, please sign up today on Facebook to get announcements of what I am doing and to get my blog brought to you every day.

As usual, when I started this blog today, I had no idea where it would take me!

Thank you for joining me on these nostalgic journeys! I've added a new aspect to my blog.. Every five days, I answer a question on video that YOU send to me. You can ask me ANYTHING and I will answer your question on video within my blog. Send your questions to
Richard@RichardSkipper.com
Next question will be I receive it.

"Richard, for supporting the ARTS and calling attention to the STARS of yesterday. You are a STAR in your own right!! With admiration and friendship"
Arlene Dahl

Thank you to all who have encouraged me! Thanks to all who have tried to stifle my art. I have learned from ALL of you!
Here's to an INCREDIBLE day for ALL!


PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS TODAY
They are a Great Organization who were one of the First to address the AIDS situation with Love and Charity.
Thanks to Sybil Bruncheon, Colin Lively, Angela Dirkson, Gino Hawley, Ron Tunning, Markets of New York and all others who contributed to this blog today. Thanks to all who have contributed to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids over the years. I own no images and/or videos in this blog.
No copywrite infringement needed. The historical content of BC/EFA was lifted verbatim from Wikipedia. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve this blog, please contact me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com.

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Tomorrow's blog will be Peter Neufeld's new book, For The Good of The Show and a very special Actors Fund Event taking place on October 6th! You need to tune in tomorrow to see what it is!

Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS





TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

The Cinematic Florenz Ziegfeld

Beauty, of course, is the most important requirement and the paramount asset of the applicant.
Florenz Ziegfeld


Happy Saturday!
Nice pseudo rainy day in New York. Sipping my coffee, listening to Klea Blackhurst (if she doesn't jump start your day, you're dead!) and thinking about today's blog. This afternoon, I'm joining The Ziegfeld Society and The Paley Center for a rare showing of a 1978 tele-movie entitled Ziegfeld And His Women.
And it got me to thinking is there another historical figure that has been the subject of as many films as Ziegfeld? Do many people know very much about Ziegfeld beyond The Follies and the way he is depicted in film?

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932), (sometimes also called "Flo" Ziegfeld), was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, The Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris.

He also produced the musical Show Boat.

Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, from 1880 to 1927. The show's dominant themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love.

Ziegfeld was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1867. (Some sources, including his obituary, give the year of birth as 1869.) His mother, Rosalie (née de Hez), who was born in Belgium, was the grand niece of General Count Étienne Maurice Gérard. His father, Florenz Ziegfeld, Sr., was a German immigrant whose father was the mayor of Jever in Friesland. Ziegfeld, Jr., was Christened in his mother's Catholic church (his father was Lutheran).

Ziegfeld, Jr.'s father ran the Chicago Musical College and later opened a nightclub, the Trocadero, to obtain business from the 1893 World's Fair.
To help his father's unsuccessful nightclub, Ziegfeld, Jr., hired and managed the strongman, Eugen Sandow.

How little the public realizes what a girl must go through before she finally appears before the spotlight that is thrown upon the stage.
Florenz Ziegfeld

I don't have a very quick sense of humor.
Florenz Ziegfeld

But it is only through constant, faithful endeavor by the girl herself that the goal eventually is reached.
Florenz Ziegfeld

Curtain! Fast music! Light! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good, the show looks good!
Florenz Ziegfeld

Half of the great comedians I've had in my shows and that I paid a lot of money to and who made my customers shriek were not only not funny to me, but I couldn't understand why they were funny to anybody.
Florenz Ziegfeld

Ziegfeld was known as the "glorifier of the American girl".

The Ziegfeld Follies were elaborate theatrical productions that took place in New York from 1907 through 1931. Taking a cue from the Folies Bergères of Paris, Florenz Ziegfeld conceptualized the idea for his own lavish revues. The Ziegfield girls were chorus singers and the toast of Broadway.
Their always talked about, often risque costumes were designed by Erté, Lady Duff Gordon or Ali Ben Hagan.

One of my favorite historians is John Kenrick. Luckily for me and the purposes of this blog, he has written a lot about Ziegfeld over the years. With the utmost respect for John, most of this blog has been lifted from his site, Musicals 101.


No Ziegfeld production was ever filmed in performance. However, Ziegfeld did make a film involving the Follies. Other movies attempted to invoke the great showman's legacy.


Glorifying the American Girl (1929)

This early Paramount talkie was a hopeless failure, ruined in part by the limitations of primitive sound film techniques. Although Ziegfeld is credited as producer, his actual involvement was limited – and it shows. We get fascinating appearances by Eddie Cantor, Helen Morgan, New York's Mayor Jimmy Walker, Adolph Zukor and even Ziegfeld himself. However, the story of a small town girl (played by Mary Eaton) who comes to New York and rises to stardom in the Follies is so dull that it rates as celluloid Sominex. Even the Follies production numbers come across as feeble. Realizing they had a dud on their hands, the studio heads delayed releasing this one for months. It was panned when it came out in 1930, and is rarely shown today.

"A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" opens the show with badly staged fashion show representing the March of Time from 1919 to 1928. We're tossed right into the main theme of Glorifying the American Girl (1928), that being the glorification of beauty.

Sally (1929)
Marilyn Miller recreated her most popular stage performance in this early sound film. Originally filmed in Technicolor, only black and white prints survive with less than optimal picture quality. (A single surviving color scene gives us some idea of what we are missing.) This film gives a limited sense of Miller's stage presence. Although a limited actress and singer, she radiates star quality when she dances.

Newsreels
Ever mindful of publicity, Ziegfeld appeared in several newsreels and short subjects, either discussing the Follies or promoting one of his few films projects. Some of these little treasures have show up on TCM, AMC or PBS. Ziegfeld always appears stiff -- his "spontaneous remarks" are obviously scripted.

Broadway Melody (1929)
This was the first "all talking, all singing, all dancing" film, and the first sound film – let alone musical – to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The mother of all MGM musicals, it involves two sisters struggling in show biz who fall in love with the same guy. They all land in "Mr. Zanfield's" newest Broadway revue, but the clumsy numbers don't bear even a feint resemblance to anything Ziegfeld would have presented.

It is the task of several months and it is a fact that a girl, either while rehearsing or actually playing, may be training for some character or feature in some future production not yet definitely fixed even in my own mind.
Florenz Ziegfeld

Whoopee (1930)
Eddie Cantor's stage vehicle made it to the big screen in "glorious Technicolor" with several of the original cast members intact, including Ethel Shutta (who would introduce "Broadway Baby" in Sondheim's Follies four decades later).
Credited as the film's co-producer, a disappointed Ziegfeld soon realized he had no real power over the project.

Young choreographer Busby Berkley gave the dances some redeeming sense of style – a mere hint of what he would do in years to come. It is interesting to see Cantor in what many considered his greatest stage role.

Ziegfeld's stage spectaculars, known as the Ziegfeld Follies, began with Follies of 1907, which opened on July 7, 1907,[5] and were produced annually until 1931.[6] These extravaganzas, with elaborate costumes and sets, featured beauties chosen personally by Ziegfeld in production numbers choreographed to the works of prominent composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.[1] The Follies featured many performers who, though well-known from previous work in other theatrical genres, achieved unique financial success and publicity with Ziegfeld. Included among these are Nora Bayes, Fanny Brice, W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Bert Williams and Ann Pennington.

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
One of the all-time great MGM musicals, this won well-deserved Academy Awards for Best Picture and Luise Rainer's heartbreaking performance as Anna Held.
While Rainer is superb, the real Held was a sensible professional, not the tantrum-throwing emotional quagmire seen here.

(Her famous telephone scene is still a knockout.)
William Powell is magnificent in the title role, and his Thin Man co-star Myrna Loy is perfect as Billie Burke.
"A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" is one of the most spectacular Hollywood ever filmed, so who cares that its massive turntable set and endless cast couldn't possibly fit on a real Broadway stage?

As with most screen bios, The Great Ziegfeld gets only a few basic facts straight, relying on creative fiction most of the way. The chorus numbers do give a sense of the extravagance Ziegfeld was noted for. For legal reasons, Lillian Lorraine and Marilyn Miller were represented by fictional characters. The befuddled producer played by Frank Morgan is a composite stand-in for Charles Dillingham, Jacob Shubert and several others. While Ray Bolger plays himself, he never worked asa stage hand and never appeared in a Ziegfeld production. Fanny Brice's rendition of "My Man" is pointlessly cut short, even though they found ample time for mere impersonators of other Ziegfeld stars to do their bits. Quibbles aside, this is still a very entertaining – if overly long – film.

Ziegfeld's promotion of the Polish-French Anna Held, including press releases about her milk baths, brought her fame.
Ziegfeld helped oversee her meteoric rise to national fame. It was Held who first suggested an American imitation of the Parisian Follies to Ziegfeld.
Her success in a series of his Broadway shows, especially The Parisian Model,was a major reason for his starting the "series of lavish revues in 1907", the Ziegfeld Follies.

Ziegfeld married Held in 1897, but she divorced him in 1913, according to her obituary in The New York Times dated August 13, 1918.

However, according to Eve Golden, Held and Ziegfeld had never actually married, but had an "informal" wedding in 1897, and they had lived together long enough to "qualify as legal man and wife". Held's divorce from Ziegfeld became final on January 9, 1913. Held had submitted testimony about Ziegfeld's relationship with another woman.

It is impossible to discuss Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.'s development as a showman without considering Anna Held's contribution to his life and career.
Ziegfeld got his taste in clothes, knowledge of stage presentation, and even the idea for his Follies from her.
She was one of the first celebrities to win transatlantic fame, and a leading musical stage star for more than two decades. It is no exaggeration to say that she was one of the most remarkable women of her time.

They all hope I will go broke and I wouldn't like to cause them displeasure.
Florenz Ziegfeld

The year after Held divorced Ziegfeld, he married actress Billie Burke,[who in 1939 would go on to play Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.
They had one child, Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson (1916 — 2008).
The family lived on his estate in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.

After Ziegfeld's death in 1932, Billie Burke,was consumed by the debt he left behind. In an effort to settle her money troubles she turned towards acting and authorizing the use of the name Ziegfeld Follies.

Let us hope that for many it does mean the end of trouble so far as earning a livelihood is concerned, that it means happy and comfortable home living honestly earned. But there are other troubles ahead for her, and plenty of hard work.
Florenz Ziegfeld

Show Boat (1936)
Original cast members Charles Winninger (Captain Andy), Helen Morgan (Julie), Sammy White (Frank) and Queenie Smith (Ellie) star in the best screen version of Ziegfeld's greatest show.
London and Ziegfeld revival star Paul Robeson is on hand as Joe to deliver a memorable "Old Man River."

Irene Dunne is Magnolia, a role Ziegfeld cast her in for the national tour, so the great showman's tastes in casting and performance style are very much a part of this classic film.
Both Kern and Hammerstein were on hand to keep things in tune, and director James Whale (best remembered for Frankenstein) did a smashing job bringing everything together.
If you haven't seen this Show Boat, you haven't seen Show Boat.

Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Judy Garland, Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr play three girls whose loves are forever changed when they are cast in the Follies.
Garland's "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and Busby Berkeley's dazzling "You Stepped Out of a Dream" sequence are pure MGM magic. Ziegfeld alumni Al Shean and Charles Winninger are also featured.





The Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
Ziegfeld Follies (MGM) is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters. It stars many of MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams. It also featured Fanny Brice, the only cast member to have actually starred in the original Ziegfeld Follies.

Producer Arthur Freed wanted to create a film along the lines of the Ziegfeld Follies Broadway shows and so the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches. Although produced in 1944-45, it was released in 1946, to considerable critical and box-office success.

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
A 1946 American musical film made by MGM.

The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed.

Robert Walker portrays Kern.

SHOW BOAT (1951)

Show Boat was filmed three times. The first version, a part-talkie released in 1929 while the stage show was still playing, "is more closely based on the source novel than the stage play." It did keep one song from the stage musical, "Ol' Man River".
Nevertheless, Ziegfeld appeared in a sound prologue made to be shown before the actual film.

Deep in My Heart (1954)
Deep in My Heart is a 1954 MGM biographical musical film about the life of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg, who wrote the music for The Student Prince, The Desert Song, and The New Moon, among others.

Leonard Spigelgass adapted the film from Elliott Arnold's 1949 biography of the same name.
Roger Edens produced, Stanley Donen directed and Eugene Loring choreographed.
José Ferrer played Romberg, with support from soprano Helen Traubel as a fictional character and Merle Oberon as lyricist Dorothy Donnelly.

Not only may she unconsciously register a favorable impression with my associates and me, but she may also suggest something by her work that will lead to some new and novel feature in a forthcoming production.
Florenz Ziegfeld

Funny Girl (1969)


Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women - TV (1978)

You will most certainly enjoy the lavish musical numbers featuring Barbara Parkins as Anna Held, Valerie Perrine as Lillian Lorraine, Inga Swenson as Nora Bayes, Pamela Peadon as Marilyn Miller and our Catherine Jacoby (aka Loria Parker) as Fanny Brice! All of Ziegfeld's women are brought to life in this colorful theatrical movie. With Paul Shenar as Ziegfeld, you will get to see Walter Willison as Frank Carter beautifully singing "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" and Richard Shea as Eddie Cantor.

Thank you ALL who contributed to this blog: John Kenrick, Musicals 101, COME SPY WITH ME BLOG, YouTube, And Wikipedia. I own nothing here! No copywrite infringement intended. This is strictly for entertainment purposes)

Mr. Ziegfeld and every entertainer and/or person depicted and/or mentioned in this blog, thank you all for the gifts you have given me over the years!


To read more, Go to WIKIPEDIA, A Main Source of this blog!

Thank you for joining me on these nostalgic journeys! Remember, every five days, I'm going to answer a question on video that YOU send to me. You can ask me ANYTHING and I will answer your question on video within my blog. Send your questions to Richard@RichardSkipper.com Next question will be answered when I receive it.



Here's to an INCREDIBLE Autumn for ALL!


PLEASE JOIN ME FOR ZIEGFELD: A MAN AND HIS WOMEN THIS AFTERNOON!

Don't forget to contribute to The Dr. Carol Channing-Harry Kullijian Foundation Of The Arts

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Tomorrow's blog will be a celebration of BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS in honor of tomorrow's BROADWAY/CARES EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS FLEA MARKET



TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com