George White's Scandals
The George White's Scandals were annual revue productions on Broadway that were released from 1919 to 1931, excluding 1927 and 1930. The 1932 edition was entitled George White's Music Hall Varieties ; In 1936 again under the old title and for the last time in 1939.
The revues were created under the business management of George White , who also worked as an author, choreographer and director, but also as an actor and dancer. White, who had previously appeared as a dancer in several Ziegfeld Follies revues, designed the “Scandals” based on the model of the “Follies”, for which they soon developed into competition.
The founding of the "Scandals" coincided with the beginning of the "Jazz Age". The revues were known for their fast-paced and jazzy music and dance numbers; the skits for their topicality. The revue of 1926 was the most successful edition with 432 performances; it ran until the beginning of June of the following year.
White's first star was Ann Pennington , who had also moved over from the Ziegfeld Follies in 1919. From 1920 to 1925 White engaged George Gershwin as a resident composer - Gershwin worked there with the lyricists Arthur Jackson , BG DeSylva and Lew Brown . Paul Whiteman and his big band gave musical accompaniment to the shows from 1920 to 1928. Ray Henderson composed for the "Scandals" of 1925, 1926, 1928 with the lyricists DeSylva and Brown; for the 1931 edition again with Brown and with the copywriter Jack Yellen for the 1936s. For the last revue in 1939, Sammy Fain composed with Yellen.
The costume and stage designs by the Art Deco artist Erté , which the Russian designed for the "Scandals" from 1922 to 1929, are famous .
For many well-known entertainers, the "Scandals" were at the beginning of their careers: Helen Morgan , Alice Faye , Rudy Vallee , Louise Brooks , Sally Starr , Alice White , Dolores Costello , The Three Stooges , Ray Bolger , WC Fields , Ethel Merman , Eleanor Powell , Bert Lahr , Ann Miller .
Well-known music numbers
- 1921 " Drifting Along with the Tide ", George Gershwin (music), Arthur Jackson (text)
- 1922
- " I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise ", George Gershwin (music), BG DeSylva and Arthur Francis alias Ira Gershwin (text)
- " Blue Monday (Blues) ", George Gershwin (music), BG DeSylva (libretto) - the opera was canceled as inter-act music after only one performance
- 1924 " Somebody Loves Me ", George Gershwin (music), Ballard MacDonald and BG DeSylva (text)
- 1926
- " Black Bottom ", Ray Henderson (music), BG DeSylva and Lew Brown (text)
- " Birth of the Blues ", Ray Henderson (music), BG DeSylva and Lew Brown (text)
- 1931
- " Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries ", Ray Henderson (music), Lew Brown (text)
- " The Thrill Is Gone ", Ray Henderson (music), Lew Brown (lyrics)
Film adaptations
George White brought the name of his successful annual revue to Hollywood in the 1930s. White produced two films, which he also participated in writing, directing and acting: George White's Scandals in 1934 and George White's 1935 Scandals . RKO Pictures brought out another music film under the title George White's Scandals in 1945.
literature
- Ken Bloom: Broadway: An Encyclopedia . Taylor & Francis, 2004, ISBN 0-415-93704-3 .
- Gerald Bordman: The Oxford Companion to American Theater. 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-516986-7 .