Earl Carroll Vanities

A major rival to the Ziegfeld Follies and the George White’s Scandals series was the Earl Carroll Vanities, which Carroll introduced in 1923. He staged 11 editions of a revue featuring girls even less modestly garbed and production numbers even more overblown than found in similar entertainments then being offered to keep the tired businessman awake. The 1931 edition was the first attraction at the newly built Earl Carroll Theatre at 50th Street and 7th Avenue, situated on the site of the previous theatre of the same name. No longer in existence, the playhouse was as much attraction as the show. Because of its 3,000-seat size, it enabled Carroll to sell orchestra seats at a top price of $3.30, for which theatregoers could enjoy such gaudy delights as a massive “Bolero” ballet accompanied by tom-toms and a “living curtain” of undraped showgirls posing as allegorical figures.

"Meeting America": the show's own period marketing line.

Music

Burton Lane, etc.

Lyrics

Harold Adamson, etc.