Fosse television taping of live stage performance

I have to confess, I'm not much into dance. I realize that if I knew the components of the art form better, and understood how they are put together, I would be able to appreciate it more. Sorry, Mr. Fosse, as I understand it, you were a great progenitor of a new style of Broadway dance who created a new language not only in the dance world but also the world of the Broadway musical as a whole. And the 1999 review of your work, Fosse, showcases the wide range of your choreography.

I do know just enough to realize his choreography and direction form a bridge from the so-called "Golden Era" of the Broadway music to more diverse styles of musical which started in the 1960s and continues today.

From the early form comes numbers from Damn Yankees and Pajama Games. Dances from Pippin, Cabaret, Chicago, and Sweet Charity make up much of the new style. Also included are numbers from a television special, Liza with a Z, the film All That Jazz, and a strictly dance concert, Dancing, each which Fosse created and/or choreographed.

The show was put together and the choreography re-created by Ann Reinking, one of the final dancers to work heavily with Mr. Fosse. The former Mrs. Fosse (Gwen Verdon) served as artistic supervisor to the show, forming the link to Fosse's early work. Ms. Verdon died before the taping of the performance near the end of the show's run.

For me the most interesting parts were seeing the similarities in numbers. Often three dancers were used. Movement is often presented in profile. Hats form a big bit in many pieces. And of course, the iconic isolation moves of arms and legs.

There is some singing included in the show, and the best of it is done by Ben Vereen, whose voice sounds surprisingly fresh considering he had made his Broadway debut more than 30 years earlier.

Fosse
Music by many composers
Lyrics by many lyricists
No book
Original choreography Bob Fosse
Presented as a show in 1999
Cast: Ben Vereen, Dana Moore, Ann Reinking, and a bunch of other incredibly limber and energetic dancers.

Pippin stage production on DVD

I have a long and sorted history with this show. I may have gone to about the only high school in America that would have risked staging Pippin. It was also about the last time I would have dared wear a unitard, which the entire cast wore, making the sexually charged nature of the show even more potent. It was 1983 and the show was, if not still cutting edge, at least a lot more edgy than your average high school musical. This also a time before things like parents' advisory groups, which now would surely squelch any director who wanted to use high schoolers to tell this story.

This show suffers a bit from age, not only in the "finding one's self" story, but also from it's circus-infused story-telling techniques, its strong theatricalities, and it's blatant anti-war theme. Actually, the anti-war theme may still be potent. The music remains likable, particularly Pippin's solo numbers.

William Katt is a pleasant Pippin, with the right pop-twinged voice for Stephen Schwartz's score. He spends a goodly amount of time without a shirt on, and it's, well, goodly. The cast is generally all good. Ben Vereen reprises his leading player role from the Broadway cast, for which he had won a Tony Award in 1973. Chita Rivera is Pippin's mother; Martha Raye is Pippin's grandmother. The vocal standout in the cast is Benjamin Rayson as Charlemagne. He displays a strong full-throated baritone befitting the King that united an Empire. Is this the touring company? It's nearly a decade after the show opened on Broadway.

Sorry to drop so many unknown names, but really all I can think of when writing about Pippin is Teri and Adam (who split the Leading Player role), and Drew(Pippin), and Anna (Berthe), and Paul (Charlemagne), and Jamie (the brother whats-his-name), and Melissa (Catherine), and Carrie (Fastrada), from"my" production. I should get points for remembering those names after 25 years. I've only seen two of them in the last 10.

Pippin
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Roger O. Hirson and Bob Fosse
Original production directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse
Filmed in Hamilton, Ontario in 1981
Cast: William Katt, Martha Raye, Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Benjamin Rayson, Leslie Denniston