"Whos That Woman"/Mirror number...

[bobbystrong]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:14pm

For anyone that saw the original Broadway production of FOLLIES, could you describe Michael Bennett's staging of "Whos That Woman"...Everyone talks about how amazing it was - what exactly took place on stage during this number?

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:18pm

Everyone getting cut and bleeding from the costumes.

[magruder]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:27pm

Where to begin?

The song is both a follies number, and an ironic commentary on a follies number as you watch a bunch of older women trying to recapture their youth, while trying to recreate the choreography they dimly remember.

They launch into the dance, and there are some different sections that are enjoyably hokey: a "peel-off," a dixieland section, and they seem to be having a hell of a good time.

About midway through the number, where the tempo slows and the tapping begins, the ghosts of their former younger selves appear, mirrored behind them, in black and white costumes, outfitted with glittering mirror pieces. You are then watching the younger and older versions of the same characters and seeing the ravages of time in front of your eyes.

For the final section, where the vocals return, Bennett had a choreographed circle, where the older and younger selves are side by side, and the circle goes back and forth, with choreographed hand movements. Simple, but it makes you go out of your mind with excitement.

There's that final tap section, and then the younger and older selves finish the number side by side, with their hands up "mirroring" their counterpart.

In concept, writing, staging and choreography, costuming and performance, it's just a complete package, and a summation of everything that Follies is about.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:39pm

Well put magruder. Don't forget the bleeding part though! LOL