![]() It underlines that the show is many things: a celebration, education, memoir, and manifesto of what Fosse believed dance was and what his intentions were as its all-conquering avatar.īy the time of Dancin’ in 1978, Fosse had directed and choreographed on stage The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sweet Charity, Pippin, and Chicago-up to that date winning seven Tony Awards for choreography and direction (he would win another for Best Choreography for Dancin’). “Recollection of an Old Dancer” is a potted history of Black dance, featuring Jacob Guzman, Yeman Brown, and Manuel Herrera. Occasionally we hear Fosse’s voice (either his own or channeled through the performers). The dancers are of different ages (from 19 to 45), and have different kinds of bodies. The dancers are laser-focused, the material is more randomized. Like many revues, it is good and bad, a little all over the place. The difference in energy, not just on stage but in the theater, was stark it was as if someone had stuck a pin in a balloon.ĭancin’ is a revue, a kind of dance pick ‘n’ mix, some elements of which are conventionally spectacular firework displays in human form, and others short and sharp. And then their whoops hushed as the show dialed itself down. An audience member behind me whooped through the first act and into the bravura first number of the second. Cilento danced in the original production, and is aided in his efforts to hew close to, and respectfully tweak, Fosse’s choreographic and creative template by Christine Colby Jacques.ĭancin’ is mostly spectacular, until it suddenly isn’t-before ramping itself up again for the finale. Wayne Cilento’s direction and staging throbs with razzmatazz, but also mischief and subtlety. There is, principally, the mesmerizing dancing of the 16-strong cast (one was absent from the performance this critic attended), and around them all that accentuates their physicality: Robert Brill’s simple design of scaffolds and descending curtains, Reid Bartleme and Harriet Jung’s sexy, playful costuming, David Grill’s lighting (bulbs of all colors flashing, spotlight beams, bright color baths for backgrounds), and Finn Ross’ video design. The thrills of the revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway (Music Box Theatre, booking to September 17) are many, and pulsatingly beautiful to behold. ![]()
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