''Dancin'' is a musical revue created, directed, and choreographed by Bob Fosse and originally produced on Broadway in 1978. The plotless, dance-driven revue is a tribute to the art of dance, and the music is a collection of mostly American songs, many with a dance theme, from a wide variety of styles, from

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

to classical to marches to pop. The original production received seven 1978

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nominations, with Fosse winning for best choreography. The show will receive its first-ever Broadway revival in 2023, under the helm of original cast member

Wayne Cilento Wayne Louis Cilento (born August 28, 1949) is an American director and choreographer. He is best known for originating the role of Mike in the Broadway show ''A Chorus Line'', and later becoming one of Broadway's most prolific choreographers. B ...

Concept and Development

In summer 1977, with the development of his film '' All That Jazz'' on hold, Fosse decided to eschew collaborators and create a new musical without a story or script, constructed entirely from pre-existing songs, using his choreography as the "words". Fosse witnessed Michael Bennett's tremendous success with the dance-focused musical '' A Chorus Line'', but observed that it actually featured very little dancing in proportion to its talking and singing. For many years Fosse had been working toward choreographing a full ballet, first for the Harkness Ballet in New York, and later, for the

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...

, most likely out of a desire to achieve the same status as ballet-turned-Broadway choreographers

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

and

Agnes DeMille Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille ...

, thinking a ballet would "legitimize" him because it was considered a "serious art form" compared to musical theatre dance. However, despite negotiating for a decade with Robert Joffrey, Fosse's ballet never moved beyond the idea stage. Instead, Fosse's concept for this new show was to use classical and show music,

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, Bach,

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

, and contemporary music by

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

and Melissa Manchester, anything ''except'' a new score written by a collaborator. He stated publicly that the project would free him from the burden of an artistic partnership: "When you have collaborators, you have all those midnight meetings. I'm tired of those... So I just decided to meet myself at midnight.""Fosse, 'Dancin'"
PBS.orgGottfried, Martin. ''All His Jazz'', Da Capo Press, 1990, p. 359. In a contemporaneous interview, Fosse told the ''Bulletin'': “With a heart attack behind me, I just didn’t feel I could spend time on a book musical ... that kind of show takes about three years to do. I didn’t have those years to sit with a composer and to evolve a book. So I went with music that was already published and forgot about story.” Later, on the opening night of ''Dancin’'', famed librettist Alan Jay Lerner sent Fosse a telegram that said: “You finally did it. You got rid of the author”. Fosse started working on the show in August 1977; intimidated by the idea of having to choreograph two hours worth of material, he asked dancer and choreographer Graciela Daniele to contribute a few numbers to the show, but she declined, saying: "When you are out of ideas, call me. I have the feeling that once you get into it, you're going to want to do it all." He didn't call, eventually devising choreography for the entire show, except for the finale, "Yankee Doodle Disco", which was choreographed by cast member Christopher Chadman. That month, ''Variety'' reported that Fosse’s all new dance revue would be called ''Dancers''– the title eventually changed to ''Dancin’'', with the subtitle “A New Musical Entertainment”. For his cast, Fosse saw over 1,000 dancers during auditions, settling on 16, including his muse,

Ann Reinking Ann Reinking (November 10, 1949December 12, 2020) was an American dancer, actress, choreographer and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway (theatre), Broadway productions such as ''Coco (musical), Coco'' (1969) ...

; Charles Ward, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre; Edward Love, who had danced with Alvin Ailey; Fosse stalwarts Christopher Chadman, John Mineo, and Richard Korthaze; and new members of the Fosse family like

. Three months of rehearsal (instead of the usual eight weeks) began at the end of 1977: on the first day, Fosse told the assembled cast: “This is a show about dancing. You have to love to dance, or you should not be in this show. If you do not love it, get out, please. It’s going to be hard work for the next three months. You’re going to be exhausted, but that’s what this show is about.” Despite the lack of creative partners, Fosse still had to negotiate with his co-producer Bernard Jacobs, the president of The Shubert Organization. While the show was out of town in Boston, Jacobs objected to the old-fashioned, literal minded Broadway-style ballet “Big City Mime”, which depicted a tourist in Time Square coming in contact with prostitutes, massage parlors, and dance halls. Jacobs also objected to “The Dream Barre”, another more risqué number featuring

and Charles Ward. Fosse bowed to Jacobs on "Big City Mime", cutting the number, but stood his ground on "The Dream Barre", which would remain in the show until being cut years later on tour. The rest of the show's numbers impressed audiences, and because Fosse co-produced the show, it became his biggest financial success in the theatre.Kenrick, Joh
"History of The Musical Stage, 1970s II: Concept Musicals, Fosse"
musicals101.comGottfried, p. 366

Original Broadway production

Following its out of town tryout in Boston, ''Dancin opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 27, 1978. It later transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, and closed on June 27, 1982 after 1,774 performances (including previews). ''Dancin’'' was a milestone musical for dancers, both artistically and financially; for the first time ever, the entire company of a Broadway show was given principal contracts under Equity, which meant higher salaries. It was a very strenuous show; injuries were common, and the dancers were asked to do more than had ever been asked of dancers on Broadway before or since. ''Dancin’'' was nominated for seven and won two

s. Fosse won for his choreography, and Jules Fisher won for his lighting design. Fisher said that sound designer

Abe Jacob Abe John Jacob (born October 7, 1944) is an American sound designer and audio engineer. Called the "Godfather of Sound", Jacob greatly influenced the design of sound reinforcement in modern musical theatre, and was one of the first persons credi ...

should have won a Tony Award, but there was no category for sound design until three decades later. ''Dancin’'' received two national tours, the first from April 16, 1979 to May 18, 1980, and the second from July 29, 1980 to October 9, 1983. Dancin' also ran for a limited season in 1983 at

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

in Westminster, London. Previews began on November 11 1983, with the official opening on 14 November 1983, and closing on 28 January 1984. The revue was once again directed by Fosse. At the time of his death in 1987, Fosse was said to be working on ''Dancin’ Too'', his proposed followup to ''Dancin’''. Following Broadway, national tours, and London, the show was not performed or revived because the choreography is so demanding. However, several numbers from ''Dancin’'' were recreated for the 1999 dance review '' Fosse'', including: "Crunchy Granola Suite", "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man", "Percussion V", "Mr. Bojangles", and "Sing Sing Sing". A revival of ''Dancin’'' was scheduled to be produced by the

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

for 2009, but it was postponed until the 2009–10 season, and then postponed indefinitely.

2023 Broadway revival

It was announced on November 11, 2022 that a revival of the show, styled as ''Bob Fosse's Dancin and directed by original cast member

and produced by Joey Parnes by special arrangement with

Nicole Fosse Nicole Providence Fosse (born March 24, 1963) is an American actress and dancer. She is the only daughter of Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse. Career Fosse appeared in ''Miami Vice'' in the role of Lani Mueller and played Kristine in the film versi ...

, would play at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, with opening night scheduled for March 19, 2023. The new staging played a pre-Broadway try-out run at San Diego's

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

in the summer of 2022, and featured new material, including songs from Fosse's final Broadway musical '' Big Deal'' (1986) and restoration of the "Big City Mime" sequence that had been cut from the original production out of town in Boston. The new production also makes a nod to the film universe of Fosse, with a set design featuring scaffolding reminiscent of his film '' All That Jazz'', and the inclusion of short dances from Fosse's early career in Hollywood, like "From This Moment On" from the film of '' Kiss Me, Kate'' (Fosse's first on-film choreography), and the "Alley Dance" from the film ''

My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (a ...

'' (originally danced by Fosse himself).

Song list

Act 1

Opening *''Prologue (Hot August Night)'' - Music and Lyrics by

, as adapted by Lee Holdridge *'' Crunchy Granola Suite'' - Music and Lyrics by

Recollections of an Old Dancer *''Mr. Bojangles'' - Music and Lyrics by Jerry Jeff Walker The Dream Barre *''Chaconne'' - Music by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Percussion *''Part I'' *''Part II'' *''Part III'' *''Part IV - Ionisation'' - Music by

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

Act 2

Dancin' Man *''I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man'' (from the film '' The Belle of New York'' - Music by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

, Music by

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

Three In One *''Big Noise from Winnetka'' - Music by Bob Haggart, Ray Bauduc, Gil Rodin, and Bob Crosby Joint Endeavor *''If It Feels Good, Let It Ride'' - Music and Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and Melissa Manchester *''Easy'' - Music and Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and Melissa Manchester A Manic Depressive's Lament *''I've Got Them Feelin' Too Good Today Blues'' - Music and Lyrics by

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

and

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

Fourteen Feet *''Was Dog a Doughnut'' - Music by

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

and an uncredited

Bruce Lynch Bruce Lynch (born 1 June 1948, in New Zealand) is an electric and acoustic bassist, producer and arranger. Music career Arriving in the UK in the mid-1970s, Lynch became a commercially successful session musician, touring extensively with C ...

and Jean Rouselle

Act 3

Benny's Number *''Sing Sing Sing'' - Music by Louis Prima The Female Star Spot *''Here You Come Again'' - Music and Lyrics by

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

and

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

America *''Gary Owen'' *''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' - Music and Lyrics by

*''Stout Hearted Men'' (from ''

The New Moon ''The New Moon'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg (after ''The Student Prince'' (1924) and ...

)'' - Lyrics by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

, Music by Sigmund Romberg *''Under the Double Eagle'' *''Dixie'' *''When Johnny Comes Marching Home'' *''Rally Round the Flag'' *''Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile'' - Lyrics by George Asaf, Music by

Felix Powell Felix Lloyd Powell (23 May 1878 – 10 February 1942) was a Welsh British Army Staff Sergeant most famous for writing the music for marching song " Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile", in 1915, during World Wa ...

*''The Stars and Stripes Forever'' - Music by John Philip Sousa *''Yankee Doodle Disco'' Improvisation *''Dancin - Music by

Ralph Burns Ralph Joseph P. Burns (June 29, 1922 – November 21, 2001) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Early life Burns was born in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, where he began playing the piano as a child. In 1938, he attend ...

Broadway cast members

1978 original Broadway cast

*Gail Benedict * Sandahl Bergman *Karen G. Burke *René Ceballos *

Christopher Chadman Christopher Chadman (born circa 1948 – April 30, 1995) was an American dancer and choreographer who was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards and was the winner of the Fred Astaire Award for his choreography for the 1 ...

*Christine Colby *Jill Cook *Gregory B. Drotar *

Vicki Frederick Vicki Frederick (born January 2, 1949) is an American actress and dancer who has appeared in a number of musicals on Broadway plays, in films, and on popular TV shows such as ''Mork and Mindy'' and ''Happy Days'' in 1979, and ''Murder She Wrote'' i ...

*Linda Haberman *Richard Korthaze *Edward Love *John Mineo *

*Blane Savage *Charles Ward *William Whitener

2023 Broadway revival cast

*Ioana Alfonso *Yeman Brown *Peter John Chursin *Dylis Croman *Jovan Dansberry *Karli Dinardo *Tony d’Alelio *Aydin Eyikan *Pedro Garza *Jacob Guzman *Manuel Herrera *Afra Hines *Gabriel Hyman *Kolton Krouse *Mattie Love *Krystal Mackie *Yani Marin *Nando Morland *Khori Michelle Petinaud *Ida Saki *Ron Todorowski *Neka Zang

Critical reception

In his ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review, Richard Eder writes the show is designed to be a musical show — there is no story line. He states that Ann Reinking is clearly the star and she is at her best in the high point of the evening, "Benny's Number", which recreates

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

and his band using "Sing, Sing, Sing". He also mentions several other dances, such as "Dancin' Man", with the entire cast dressed in "ice-cream" suits and lavender shirts; and "Fourteen Feet", where the shoes are nailed to the floor, and the dancers proceed to move within those confines. He sums up by writing "precision and style mark the evening at its best", but they serve very little. Clive Barnes, newly moved to the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', told Fosse that he thought the show was "tremendous" and "fantastic". The 2022 pre-Broadway production was praised in

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

, which called it “a spectacular production of sight and sound. And most of all, dancin’.”

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Dancin
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

PBS article
Broadway musicals 1978 musicals Revues Tony Award-winning musicals