Reliving Follies’ good old days

She made everyone’s head turn when she asked Katherine Hepburn, "If you were a tree, what kind would you be?" My favorite TV host Barbara Walters has interviewed almost everyone from kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, celebrity superstars, drug lords, mobsters, etc.

Barbara was the unlikely TV interviewer — she had the lisp, she was tiny and she came at a time when women in media were second class. But she didn’t waver, she didn’t hesitate. She fought a fierce battle against the machos of the news world and she made it and how!

Barbara is the daughter of Lou Walters, owner of the famed nightclub The Latin Quarter in New York. Lou was a Broadway producer, director and writer. He produced Ziegfeld Follies in 1943 staged at the Winter Garden Theater and Imperial Theater. He also produced Take a Bow and Artists and Models which were both original musical revues. Lou Walters’ production of Ziegfeld Follies opened on April 1, 1943. It had a total of 553 performances. Among those in the cast were Milton Berle, Arthur Treacher, Ilona Massey, Dean Murphy, Jack Cole, Jack Allen, Ray Arnett, Carolyn Ayres, Bea Bailey, Bil Baird, Cora Baird, Jim Barron.

The Ziegfeld Follies was a series of elaborate theatrical productions inspired by the Folies Bergères of Paris. The Ziegfeld Follies was conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld, at the suggestion of his then-wife, the entertainer Anna Held. Top entertainers of the period like Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Will Rogers, Ruth Etting, Helen Morgan, Marilyn Miller, W.C. Fields, Ed Wynn and Nora Bayes, appeared in the shows. Fanny Brice was one of the most celebrated Ziegfeld Girls whose life story was made into a movie entitled Funny Girl that starred Barbra Streisand.

Ziegfeld Follies was such a big hit that many future movie stars of the era once enlisted themselves as Ziegfeld Girls. The list includes Marilyn Miller, Marion Davies, Mae Murray, Paulette Goddard, Joan Blondell, Nita Naldi, Dorothy Mackaill, Eve Arden, Billie Dove, Gilda Gray, Barbara Stanwyck and Louise Brooks. Norma Shearer who became a Hollywood superstar was turned down by Ziegfeld for being "not up to standards." Ziegfeld Girls were usually decked in the most elaborate costumes. Ziegfeld hired the best designers like Erte, Lady Duff and Ali Ben Hagan.

So popular were the Ziegfeld Follies that several movies were inspired by the revue. The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell as the master showman, Myrna Loy as Ziegfeld’s second wife Billie Burke, Luise Rainer as Anna Held, (which won her an Academy Award for Best Actress), and Frank Morgan (as a rival showman) won the 1936 Oscar Best Picture. The 1946 feature motion picture entitled Ziegfeld Follies starred Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, William Powell, Gene Kelly, Fanny Brice, Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, Lucille Ball and Kathryn Grayson.

In the local club scene, Club Mwah continues to relive the good old days of the Follies through its dazzling and head turning productions. Club Mwah presents Bedazzled 7 every Friday and Saturday nights. (Bedazzled 6 can still be seen every Wednesday and Thursday). Bedazzled 7 opens with an imposing set of a raging volcano where a goddess appears from behind ala Show Girls. And as quickly as the volcano disappears on stage, a bevy of damsels catwalks on the ramp to the tune of Feel Like A Woman. As the curtain closes and the front stage is converted into a park, four ladies with their dogs in tow, take a leisurely walk and lip-synch Doris Day’s How Much is That Doggie in the Window. The hit Broadway musical Cats is also given life in a special number where 15 cats take center stage.

Bedazzled 7 has a Samba suite, a reminder of the Mardi Gras festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Egyptian Tableau is another number that should not be missed. Here, Queen Nefertiti is brought back to life. The Queen and her phalanx of slaves and soldiers do their extraordinary number against a backdrop of a giant pyramid and sphinx. The Queen and her slaves, go belly dancing. Or do you imagine a dozen Tina Turner look-a-like doing a rolling rendition of Proud Mary? Only Club Mwah can do it.

Part 2 of Bedazzled 7 consists of an Under The Sea spoof of Titanic done to the famous tune of My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion and a reprise of the Samba suite. A Bedazzled 7 piece de resistance is the spoof of Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly. Another hot number is Jazz Hot, where performers change into silver bathing suits and mint coats.

Club Mwah continues to live up to its reputation as an upscale venue doubling as party place. It has also become a favorite place for launching new products and services, debuts, fashion shows, awards night and as location shoot for TV and movie productions. Club Mwah has been accredited by the Department of Tourism as a must see tourist stop-over. It is a recipient of five international awards and most recently, Club Mwah was given the Global Award of Excellence by the Asia Pacific Awards Council.

Club Mwah’s president, choreographer and director is Cris Nicolas; administrative officer and vice president is Pocholo Malillin. It is located along Boni Ave., Mandaluyong City.

For details, call 535-7943, 532-2826 or log on to http://www.clubmwah.com.