A Tribute to Peter Gennaro

by Dancers Over 40--Part One includes a wonderful dance duet that Carol Lawrence did with Peter on an Ed Sullivan Show:



PART ONE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVTlDrlq09U


PART ONE, cont'd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4_irWK16o


PART TWO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4pm-8z19vg


PART THREE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7N-_nChd04

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Updated On: 11/22/09 at 02:23 PM

It's just you and me. If I move it, will erase your comment here?

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Updated On: 11/23/09 at 02:55 PM

I suspect so, but I can easily add another useless "thanks!" comment It's a great link and might get lost in the shuffle here...

Oh keep it here. Nobody on the main board (sadly) cares. Ty for posting!

Hahah it's a good thing I "discovered" the OT board last week then :P

* 1997 Annie (revival) (Choregraphy)
* 1989 Threepenny Opera (Musical Staging)
* 1983 Singin' In the Rain (London) (Choreography)
* 1982 Little Me (revival) (Choreography)
* 1980 West Side Story (revival) (Co-Choreography)
* 1980 One Night Stand (Choreography)
* 1979 Carmelina (Choreography)
* 1978 Bar Mitzvah Boy (London) (Choreography)
* 1977 Annie (Choreography)
* 1973 Irene (Choreography)
* 1969 Jimmy (Choreography)
* 1964 Bajour (Choreography)
* 1964 West Side Story (revival) (Co-Choreographer)
* 1962 Mr. President (Choreography)
* 1960 The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Choreography)
* 1959 Fiorello! (Choreography)
* 1957 West Side Story (Co-Choreography)
* 1956 Bells Are Ringing (Performer)
* 1954 The Pajama Game (Performer)
* 1950 Guys and Dolls (Performer)
* 1950 Arms and the Girl (Performer)
* 1948 Kiss Me Kate (Performer)
* 1948 Make Mine Manhattan (Performer)

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I didn't realize Gennaro had choreographed so many major shows on his own, I'm ashamed to admit--I knew that both Robbins and Fosse loved using him as a dancer, and he was one of the Steam Heat boys along with Buzz.

BobbyBubby--yeah, well to be fair I sorta come and go in spurts of a few weeks on the main board, until I get fed up and don't come back for a few months. It was just on a whim, when completely bored, a bit back I decided to check out the OT. :P I think I'll stay

Interesting note about this 1956 special. It was Judy's second foray into television, after the 1955 Ford Star Jubilee, a 90-minute version of her Palace act that wasn't completely effective on television, although the ratings were spectacular.

This show was originally conceived to be a 30-minute concert sung by Judy and conducted by her good friend Leonard Bernstein, conducting the New York Philharmonic. Judy and Lenny had performed at parties and were eager to do so for the public, but CBS said no.

The concept for the show changed to a surrealistic set designed by another friend, photographer Richard Avedon, with choreography by Gennaro and arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.

It was part of the General Electric Theatre series, which was hosted by not-yet-politician Ronald Reagan, which is pretty surrealistic in itself when you watch the DVD nowadays.

The show was pretty much a debacle. She broke her ankle and danced in a cast for rehearsals, lost her voice before the broadcast, and between her nerves and some lingering medication for her nerves, the show is fabulous only in bits and pieces.

Nevertheless, the ratings again were sky high.

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Updated On: 11/24/09 at 09:59 PM

Seven years later, in 1963, Judy was doing her TV series and she chose Peter as the choreographer. He worked on the show until it moved from NY to LA, and he performed this number on Episode 16, the now famous episode with Ethel Merman, taped a few weeks after JFK's assassination. Judy wanted to sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as a tribute to her friend, the late president. Again Jim Aubrey of CBS refused, saying that "in a few weeks, the nation will have forgotten about JFK."

As we all know, she did it anyway. As we all know, the nation didn't forget.

In this number from that show, Peter Gennaro and his dancers perform "I Love a Parade":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA1VwGtnglo

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Updated On: 11/24/09 at 10:07 PM

I'm really glad his film and television work remain. Unsinkable Molly Brown soars with his work.

And the original stage production of Annie was a big, fun rousing Broadway musical at a moment in time when there was precious little of that to be seen. He deserved the Tony and the Drama Desk for that.

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Chuck Walters deserves his own thread. I'm posting another Peter Gennaro clip--his "Making Whoopee" with Judy Garland.

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And this is the aforementioned "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Just Judy, no Peter, but one of the most extraordinary performances ever given on television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Xz7WV_qJs

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He's wonderful....PJ, Did he ever dance with Chita?