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.

Damn Yankees film on DVD

My second Adler and Ross show this Year is Damn Yankees. Since George Abbott produced and directed both the stage versions and screen versions, I have to assume that the film is fairly true to the original, although I've never seen it on stage. Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon reprise their stage roles for the film. Jean Stapleton, in a small role, was also in both. Ms. Verdon's husband, Bob Fosse, choreographed both versions and appears in the film.

Ray Walston won the Tony for this role, and I have to say Applegate seems like a fun role, but I don't see Walston really savoring it much. Perhaps the very two-dimensional staging and camera angles are partially to blame. This seems like a role where you should chew the scenery.

Gwen Verdon as Lola proves herself the perfect embodiment of Bob Fosse's choreography, especially in the "fan club" dance they perform together toward the end of the film. I wonder if there are other examples of the two of them dancing together.

Tab Hunter is sweet as Joe Hardy and seems appropriately stymied by the more polished performances of Walston and Verdon--perhaps part of the point of casting him.

After enjoying Adler and Ross's Pajama Game so much, I was a bit disappointed in the music in this show. "You Gotta Have Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants Lola Gets" were the only songs I had heard before. The rest of it didn't really do it for me.

A new production of Damn Yankees opens for a short run at City Center today, coincidentally. It stars Jane Krakowski as Lola, Sean Hayes as Applegate and Cheyenne Jackson as Joe Hardy. Seems like a good cast. I won't be able to get to New York to see it, but if you do, give a report.

Damn Yankees
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler
Book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop
1958 film directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen
Cast: Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Tab Hunter, Jean Stapleton, Rae Allen, Robert Shafer, Shannon Bolin