This documented history reconstructs the song performances of each annual production of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1907 to 1931. In so doing, it demonstrates the important role of song in facilitating the comedy and spectacle for which the Follies are better known.

With their unforgettable melodies, timeless messages, and stylistic indebtedness to both jazz and Broadway, American popular standards have proven to be among the most widely performed and enjoyed songs of the past century. Shaped in many ways by the technological and cultural developments of the early twentieth century, they have also managed to transcend these origins and become an enduring part of the American musical landscape. Ann van der Merwe explores how and why American songbook standards developed in the early twentieth century and how these standards have shaped American--and even...