Fosse (musical)

''Fosse'' is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. The musical was conceived by Richard Maltby Jr., Chet Walker, and Ann Reinking.

Concept and development

The first idea for ''Fosse'' was conceived by Chet Walker, who was in many of Bob Fosse's shows and served as dance captain. Walker began workshops in New York City, where he hired numerous dancers to begin the process of putting the numerous pieces of choreography on its feet. Livent, a Canadian-based theatrical production company, was the producer of workshops and also the pre-Broadway tour. ''Fosse'' started its tour in Toronto. A two-month rehearsal period was held at The National Ballet of Canada studios and a month of performances were at the North York Performing Arts Theatre, now known as the Toronto Centre for the Arts, in July 1998.Lefkowitz, David, and Mira Friedlander
"Boston Gets Livent's ''Fosse'' Sept. 8; L.A. Next, Then B'way's Broadhurst Dec. 26"
'' Playbill'', September 6, 1998. ''Fosse'' then ran in Boston at the Colonial Theatre, in September 1998. The final leg of the tour before Broadway was at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California, in October and December 1998. In Los Angeles, the show went through many changes. Producers wanted the three-hours and 10 minute show to be cut down to a shorter two-hours and 30 minute show. The producers felt it was too long for a Broadway dance review.

Productions

After 21 previews, the original Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on January 14, 1999, and closed on August 25, 2001, after 1,093 performances. The musical was directed by Richard Maltby Jr. and Ann Reinking, with original choreography by Bob Fosse. The co-choreographer was Ann Reinking, with choreography re-creations by Chet Walker and dance reconstructions by Lainie Sakakura and Brad Musgrove with Gwen Verdon as artistic advisor.

In 2002, ''Fosse'', featuring Reinking and Ben Vereen, was aired as part of the ''Great Performances'' series on PBS television. A London production opened at the West End Prince of Wales Theatre on February 8, 2000, and closed on January 6, 2001.

The musical did not recreate the musical numbers as originally presented but instead had primarily black-and-white costumes (including the all-important hats), set against a simple setting. Reviewer Ben Brantley of ''The New York Times'' describes the show: "The ghost of the man being celebrated -- blurred and fleeting but definitely there -- first shows up when the girl bursts onstage with a scream. That's the signal for a sequence lasting just 45 seconds, and it occurs halfway through the first act of ''Fosse,'' the hard-working but oddly affectless evening of dance by the choreographer Bob Fosse that opened last night at the Broadhurst Theater. At the sound of that scream, which echoes not with terror but with irrepressible energy, a slender, elfin-faced fellow with a goatee shoots into view, sliding on his side like a runaway roller skate. The orchestra is playing Cole Porter's " From This Moment On," as the couple perform an acrobatic, exuberant and exasperated mating dance, an ode to percolating hormones. You've just received, in darkest January, a quick infusion of springtime, and it's impossible not to grin. Those 45 seconds are famous. They had much to do with propelling Bob Fosse's career as a show-business-shaking choreographer and director of musical comedy. The vignette, here vibrantly performed by Andy Blankenbuehler and Lainie Sakakura, is a re-creation of the first sequence Fosse choreographed for film, a scene from the 1953 movie of ''Kiss Me, Kate,'' danced by Fosse and Carol Haney. It was a calling card, of sorts, announcing that an audacious new choreographic talent had arrived, and when you watch the film today, Fosse's pas de deux still seems to tear through the celluloid....There are only a few instances in which an infectious rush in the joy of performing gets past the footlights. You feel it in the athletic pride generated by Desmond Richardson's gymnastic ''Percussion 4'' solo in the first act; in Scott Wise's satisfaction in turning tap steps into a personal stairway to heaven in ''Sing, Sing, Sing,'' and in, of all things, the salacious, watch-me delight that a young woman named Shannon Lewis draws from a 1970's artifact called ''I Gotcha,'' choreographed for Liza Minnelli's 1973 television special."Brantley, Ben
"Theater Review: An Album Of Fosse"
''The New York Times'', January 15, 1999.

Musical numbers

;Act I
* "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (from '' Big Deal'')
* "Fosse's World"
* "Bye Bye Blackbird" (from ''Liza with a Z'')
* "From the Edge" (from ''Dancin''')
* "Percussion 4" (from ''Dancin')
* " Big Spender" (from '' Sweet Charity'')
* "Crunchy Granola Suite" (from ''Dancin'')
* " From This Moment On" (from ''Kiss Me, Kate'')
* "Transition" (inspired by ''Redhead'')
* "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" (from ''Dancin'')

;Act II
* "Shoeless Joe Ballet" (from ''Damn Yankees'')
* "Dancing in the Dark"
* "Steam Heat" (from ''The Pajama Game'')
* " I Gotcha" (from ''Liza with a Z'')
* "Rich Man's Frug" (from ''Sweet Charity'')
* "Transition: Silky Thoughts"
* "Cool Hand Luke" (from a 1968 Bob Hope television)
* "Dancin' Dan (Me and My Shadow)" (from ''Big Deal, also not on the Video of this Musical'')
* "Nowadays/The Hot Honey Rag" (from ''Chicago'')

;Act III
* "Glory" (from ''Pippin'')
* "Manson Trio" (from ''Pippin'')
* "Mein Herr" (from ''Cabaret'')
* "Take Off with Us/Three Pas de Deux" (from '' All That Jazz'')
* "Razzle Dazzle" (from ''Chicago'')
* " Who's Sorry Now?" (from ''All that Jazz'')
* "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (from ''All that Jazz'')
* " Mr. Bojangles" (from ''Dancin'')
* "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (Reprise)
* "Sing, Sing, Sing" (from ''Dancin'')
* Curtain Call: "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" (from ''Big Deal'')

Broadway opening night cast

Valarie Pettiford, Jane Lanier, Eugene Fleming, Desmond Richardson, Sergio Trujillo, Scott Wise, Kim Morgan Greene, Mary Ann Lamb, Dana Moore, Elizabeth Parkinson, Julio Agustin, Brad Anderson, Andy Blankenbuehler, Marc Calamia, Holly Cruikshank, Lisa Gajda, Scott Jovovich, Christopher R. Kirby, Dede LaBarre, Shannon Lewis, Mary MacLeod, Brad Musgrove (Dance Captain), Michael Paternostro, Rachelle Rak, Lainie Sakakura (Dance Captain), Alex Sanchez.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Original London production

References

Further reading

* Wasson, Sam, ''Fosse'' (scholarly biography), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013; 723 pages.

External links

*
''Fosse'' at guidetomusicaltheatre.com

{{Authority control

1999 musicals
Broadway musicals
Tony Award for Best Musical
Revues
Drama Desk Award winners
Tony Award-winning musicals