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John Lennox
Theater History
26 November, 2017
Bob Fosse
Chicago native, Bob Fosse, defined musical theater as it stands today. With his
impressive and unprecedented eight Tony awards, he is the only person to have earned a Tony,
Oscar and Emmy in the same year. Fosses style of dance and direction revolutionized not just
theater but movement throughout all medias with his uncompromised style characterized by
props, signature steps and provocative moves has influenced actors, dancers and directors.
Bob Fosse, born Robert Louis Fosse, was born June 23, 1927 the fifth of six children at
the height of the Roaring Twenties. Both parents had a knack for music so it was no surprise that
Bob Fosse found the stage. Fosse found early inspiration in Fred Astaire and was said to have
danced the entire way home after seeing one of his films. This lead a young Fosse to start taking
dance classes at an early age. He was the only male in the dance school which led him to being
bullied and be whistled at and was quoted saying, I got a lot of jokes and got whistled at a lot.
But I beat up a couple of the whistlers and the rest sort of tapered off after a while. By the time
Bob Fosse reached his early teens he was dancing professionally at local clubs helping his
parents pay the bills. At the young age of fifteen, Bob Fosse was already emceeing at local
Burlesque houses and was given his first chance a bit of choreograph. Dancing at these clubs was
where the young Bob Fosse was introduced to the burlesque style of dancing which influenced
young American men were helping their country fight in the war. Though Fosse loved dance he
also felt that needed to help serve his country. Keeping his epilepsy a secret, he went through
bootcamp just as the war was coming to a close. Though still eager to serve his country, Fosse
was assigned to serve in the Navys entertainment division for soldiers waiting to come home.
After two years of service, he was discharged and moved to New York City in 1947 in hopes of
By 1950, he booked Broadway! He was in the musical revue Dance Me a Song and in
1952 he understudied for Harold Lang in the title role of Joey Evans in Pal Joey. Before
booking Broadway, Fosse formed a dance team with his first wife Mary Ann Niles and
performed in variety shows for television and on stage. In 1953, Bob Fosse traveled to
Hollywood and earned himself a contract with MGM. At MGM, he made three movies including
Kiss Me, Kate. In that film, he was uncredited with choreography and danced a short but
exciting sequence with Carol Haney which took the attention of George Abbott and Jerome
Robbins -- two very powerful Broadway producers. After he choreographed MGMs movie
musical My Sister Eileen he moved back to New York City with his new wife Joan
Bob Fosse went on to choreograph and director for the stage and screen earning acclaim
in both mediums. Starting with The Pajama Game, Fosse earned his first Tony award for his
use of his signature style that incorporated intricate movement and imagery drawn from Fosses
performed in half-darkness and for his choreography for Steam Heat which director Abbot
almost cut because it was too hot. Can you imagine dancing almost in the dark? Fosse then went
on to work on the musical Damn Yankees and earned another Tony. After Damn Yankees
came Bells Are Ringing which he co-choreographed with George Abbott; then after that came
New Girl in Town which was quite pivotal moment in Bob Fosses life.
New Girl in Town reunited Fosse with George Abbott and actress Gwen Verdon -- who
starred in Damn Yankees -- again in 1957. The show was quite dramatic but left not much room
for movement so Fosse embellished. He embellished the walk of the performers who were
playing prostitutes and even added the infamous Red Light Ballet which was so shocking and
dirty that the out-of-town tryout in New Haven, Coneticut was padlocked by the police until the
production was cleaned. Fosse then restaged the number at the directors request but soon
restored the number into the production after opening in New York City. This led Bob Fosse to
realize that he no longer wanted to make changes to his choreography on the sake of propriety.
He realized that he needed to become the director of his own shows to have complete creative
Redhead starred Gwen Verdon -- later to be Fosses third and final wife -- was Bob
Fosses directorial debut. Gwen Verdon was the queen of Broadway at the time and helped Bob
Fosse and starred in his big debut which led to Tony awards for both Verdon and Fosse. This
added responsibility of not just choreography but direction heavily weighed upon Fosse. Many
believe that this added stress negatively affected his health for he suffered an epileptic seizure
during the rehearsal of his next show The Conquering Hero which debuted in 1961. The
producers of the show felt that with Fosses health that they need to replace him and brought in
Todd Bolender which led to epic flop that was The Conquering Hero which funny enough did
Meanwhile, the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was
struggling with choreographer Hugh Lambert so they offered Fosse the job who only accepted
the position out of sheer pity and would only come on as musical staging manager if Lambert
stayed on as choreographer so not to step on anyones toes. Fosse reshaped numbers Coffee
Break and A Secretary Is Not a Toy which helped the show win seven Tonys. In 1962, Fosse
choreographed and co-directed Little Me with Dy Feuer which garnered multiple awards but
the only Tony went to Fosse. He briefly returned to acting and reprised his role in Pal Joey and
earned yet another Tony nomination but then soon returned to directing and choreography for
Sweet Charity in 1966 a project that he helped conceive and write for himself. The show
featured two very big very Fosse numbers Big Spender and Rich Mans Frug and earned
seven Tony nominations and yet another win for Fosse. Next came Pippin, one of Broadways
highest-earning shows, which was nominated for six Tony nominations and won five where
Fosse took two home -- one for directing and one for choreography.
Next Fosse directed his second movie, Sweet Charity, for film starring Shirley
MacLaine in Gwen Verdons role; then Cabaret starring Liza Minnelli and Michael York which
took eight Academy Awards in 1973, one of them being Best Director. Plus, Fosse directed and
choreographed the 1972 television concert Liza with a Z earning him two Emmy awards and a
Tony award for Pippin. This leaves Fosse with a Tony, an Emmy and an Oscar all in Best
Prince. That year he also returned to Broadway with Chicago where he served as book writer,
director and choreographer. Though with Chicagos 1996 revival being a huge hit and being
one of the longest running shows in musical theater history its original production was a bit
ahead of its time. The show was nominated for an impressive eleven Tony nominations but took
home nothing. Next came Dancin a revue in which directed and choreographed and won his
seventh Tony for choreography in 1978. Then Fosse returned to film and directed his extremely
flashy autobiographical film All That Jazz. The film centered around his heart attack in the
early rehearsals of Chicago and nearly every character in the film represented real people from
his life such has as wife Gwen Verdon who he had separated with. The film starred Roy Scheider
as Fosse and John Lithgow represented his real life rival Michael Bennett. All That Jazz took
home four Academy Awards including best director for Fosse. His next and final film was the
controversial movie Star 80 in 1983 about the life and murder of Playboy Playmate Dorothy
Stratten. Though it did have international acclaim its subject matter did read well with American
viewers. His final Broadway production Big Deal in 1986 was not much of a success running
for only 69 performances he won his eighth Tony for best choreography and earned four more
nominations.
Bob Fosse died in September 1987 in Washington D.C. before the opening of Sweet
Charity revival. In 1999, a three-act musical revue called Fosse was brought to Broadway by
Richard Maltby Jr. and Ann Reinking. Fosse was later inducted posthumously into the National
Museum of Dance in Saratoga April 2007. Fosses legacy will not just live on stage and on
screen but in the hearts of those who got to experience him. His colleagues described him as a
driven, tireless and hard-working with an addictive personality but overall genius. His ability to
string together a light comedic story with dark plots such as Cabaret is simply remarkable.
Fosse created an unapologetic style of dance of his own style that was characterized by finger
snapping, tilted bowler hats, net stockings, splayed gloved fingers, turned-in knees and toes (ew)
and shoulders. In musical theatre and even dance today, to see choreography such as this --
which is quite difficult to do right -- will be undeniable Fosse which to him was just jazz (insert
Works Cited
www.biography.com/people/bob-fosse-9299517.
masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-fosse/.