The Ziegfeld Theater is named for the famed Broadway Impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who built it with financial backing from William Randolph Hearst. Designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb, it opened on February 2, 1927 with the Musical Rio Rita. The Ziegfeld's second show is also its most famous, Jerome Kern's landmark Musical Show Boat which opened on December 27, 1927.