Best comic choreography ever

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 5:28pm

With sincere thanks to BrodyFosse for posting... I am so happy to see this again. Here's "On a Sunday By the Sea" (aka the Mack Sennett or Bathing Beauties Ballet) from High Button Shoes, as presented in Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Two con men with a wayward bag of money, five Keystone Kops, seven somewhat grotesque bathing beauties, two sets of identical twins, a lifeguard, a father-mother-daughter family of scam artists, a screaming girl in a towel, a gorilla and lots of cabana doors in about 10 minutes of insanity.

It's in two parts, and part 2 is where things really go nuts. Always keep your eye on the bag of money, although there is so much to take in!

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MauATAIn1oU

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9dBV9GOE-s

Updated On: 12/20/08 at 05:28 PM

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 9:23pm

I saw this last time I was in New York when the Lincoln Center library did their Robbins' exhibit. It really is a gem.

Also, Robbins' "Mistake Waltz" is one of the funniest pieces of ballet I've EVER seen. Oh my, God!!!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 10:54pm

I am tired just WATCHING that number. Thanks for posting it.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:13am

Here too is a wonderful NY Times article that ran shortly after the opening of Jerome Robbins' Broadway about the research and detective work that went into recreating the High Button Shoes ballet. Robbins hadn't kept notes and some of the original performers could only remember bits and pieces of it. A black and white film shot by an audience member had captured the first and last third of the ballet, but the middle third was missing. The search lead to a dance captain for one of the original road companies, who had taken extensive notes on the ballet in order to trach it to replacement actors. Linda Talcott Lee, who plays Baby Crook, is also interviewed.
NY Times - "Recapturing a Vintage Romp"

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:32am

Photos from LIFE from the original production!

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 09:32 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:33am

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:34am

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 09:34 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:35am

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 09:35 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:36am

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:37am

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:22pm

This sequence from HIGH BUTTON SHOES as presented in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY was so much fun to watch, with the dancers aided by Jule Styne's antic score. I loved the whole show so much that I saw it four times. Robbins was a difficult genius.

Bob Fosse created a gem of comic choreography in 1962's LITTLE ME with his "Rich Kids' Rag" in which partygoers danced knock-kneed in classic Fosse style. I believe that number was used in FOSSE, a tribute to the choreographer which somehow didn't have the power of JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:33pm

Unfortunately, they didn't use "Rich Kid's Rag" in Fosse. I wish Fosse had contained more of his early musical comedy work, which would have given that show much more variety. I think it ended up making Fosse's style seem limited and monotonous, which surely wasn't the intent. And it often had dancers clad in black against black backgrounds, which had me squinting to make out what was happening.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 12:54pm

Google suggests that the "Rich Kids'Rag" from LITTLE ME was used in Fosse's 1978 show DANCIN', which I didn't see. I agree with you, Smaxie, that FOSSE was somewhat monotonous, not like the choreographer it was a tribute to.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:04pm

Yup. "Rich Kid's Rag" WAS included in the early workshops of FOSSE, but was eventually not included in the show at any time. FOSSE did contain a few more numbers during its pre-Broadway out-of-town tour/tryout ("The Alley Dance" from MY SISTER EILEEN; "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" from BIG DEAL, and others), but the "Rich Kid's Rag" was never included.

For what its worth... being a huge ardent fan of Bob Fosse and his work since childhood, I was sourly disappointed with FOSSE. Having several friends in the cast since its conception, seems many in the original cast weren't happy with the show, either. During the work-shopping stage of the show, they viewed hours and hours of sensational footage of Bob Fosse's work and many were confused with what was being used and what was not being considered for the show. Also, the show not having any form of narrative or 'host' left many in the audience confused as to what number was from what, etc. I personally would have loved FOSSE to have used the original set and costume design for the numbers represented, ala JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY.

Anyway... back to the topic at hand -- several years later (in 1966), Bob Fosse used elements from the "Rich Kid's Rag" for the "Rich Man's Frug" in SWEET CHARITY.

Here is the original Broadway cast of LITTLE ME performing the "Rich Kid's Rag":

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:47pm

Brody/Fosse, thanks for including the photo of the "Rich Kids' Rag" from LITTLE ME, the funniest musical ever with Sid Caesar.
With regard to the audience's confusion as to what shows the numbers were from in FOSSE, while watching the disappointing show I had the idea of using the technique used in GYPSY, where placards at each side of the stage identified the theatre and city where the action was taking place. Having to refer to the playbill in a darkened theatre was a ridiculous idea.

[Jon]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 1:53pm

Or they could have used an electronic sign board, like in Titanic.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 2:06pm

And-a nope... DANCIN' did NOT include "Rich Kid's Rag". All of the dances/numbers in DANCIN' were all original for the show. DANCIN' did not contain any material from Bob Fosse's earlier work. DANCIN' was a completely original show and featured completely brand-new choreography -- it wasn't a 'greatest hits' revue ala FOSSE.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 2:23pm

BrodyFosse: Thanks for clearing that up. I had no idea that DANCIN' had all original choreography.