DANCIN' Previews

This calls for jazz hands.

The first Broadway revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ takes to the floor tomorrow (March 2) at the Music Box Theatre before a March 19 opening night. The full-bodied ensemble piece features Ioana Alfonso, Yeman Brown, Peter Chursin, Dylis Croman, Jōvan Dansberry, Karli Dinardo, Tony d’Alelio, Aydin Eyikan, Pedro Garza, Jacob Guzman, Manuel Herrera, Afra Hines, Gabriel Hyman, Kolton Krouse, Mattie Love, Krystal Mackie, Yani Marin, Nando Morland, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Ida Saki, Ron Todorowski, and Neka Zang. Direction and musical staging is by Wayne Cilento, with choreography by the late Fosse himself.

“Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ is Fosse’s full-throated, full-bodied celebration of the art form he loved and perfected… and then changed forever. Utterly reimagined for the 21st century by director Wayne Cilento — who starred in the original Broadway production — this Dancin’ brims with a level of warmth, emotion, and color rarely seen in modern interpretations of Fosse’s influential style, and features some of his most sensitive and seldom performed choreography. With a cast of New York’s hottest dancers and an eclectic score of songs selected by Fosse, Dancin’ delivers the quintessential Broadway experience for Fosse fans and first-timers alike. You think you’ve seen dancing, but you’ve never seen Dancin’ like this!”

Who’s boogying on over?

Updated On: 3/1/23 at 12:00 AM

I'm hoping for the best for this revival, and I'm certainly crossing my fingers that they have improved things since it's San Diego production. But I'm not holding my breath.

quizking101 said: "The link for the digital rush isn't even on the Telecharge Rush website. Is it not starting today?"

Rush opens at 11am, so I see it now

I ended up getting a digital rush for tonight - Mezz D16 (after much grappling and multiple devices using Telecharge’s downright craptacular rush platform)

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "quizking101 said: "I ended up getting a digital rush for tonight - Mezz D16 (after much grappling and multiple devices using Telecharge’s downright craptacular rush platform)"

It may be craptacular, but I like that it shows approx where the seat is located so I know to expect orch or mezz."

Oh, me too - but it has zero bandwidth to deal with any influx of customers. I literally had a rush ticket in my cart (Orchestra) and was in the process of purchasing and the screen was buffering for five minutes after I hit purchase, only to turn up with “The Window To Purchase This Tickets Closed At <Insert Time After I Had Hit Purchase> - Call a Manager”

Any first preview reports?

Tonight was…definitely a mixed bag for me. Everyone on the stage is undeniably talented, but aside from a few gems (more on that in a moment), the whole show couldn’t decide if it was a revival of “Dancin” or “Fosse” with the amount of Easter eggs from throughout his career thrown in (some, like a remixed “Big Spender”, excited the audience for about 30 seconds until it abruptly ended, as well as fragments of “Rich Man’s Frug”, “Mein Herr”, and “Manson Trio&rdquo. Also, though it got better throughout the night, the big group numbers were sometimes ROUGH. Many dropped hats, missed steps, and lacking synchronization - NONE of which Fosse would’ve tolerated to the extent that Cilento has done here. Sometimes it felt less like a full Broadway production and more like a college senior showcase. (“Big Noise From Winnetka” was a mess best left forgotten)

HOWEVER, there are many highlights to be had.

- Manuel Herrera and Jacob Guzman’s “Mr. Bojangles” was a MAJOR highlight of Act I. Herrera’s voice was marvelously soulful and paired well with Guzman’s fluidity of movement and command of the Fosse vocabulary.

- Jovan Dansberry is EASILY one of the best dancers in the company. He’s no small guy and yet his movements were so crisp, clean, and sharp that he seemed to be where my eyes went most and set the bar for the rest of the performers. His Pas De Deux (which had a nice pansexual twist to it) with Kolton Krouse was undeniably sexy but also had an effortless strength.

- Kolton Krouse played with gender fluidity to their benefit, with highlights including some of the “Mein Herr” choreography and their Trumpet Solo section of “Sing, Sing, Sing”

Unfortunately, although the girls were talented, none of them truly stood out for me as breakouts.

It definitely needs A LOT of tuning up because, although good, DEFINITELY does not meet Fosse standards. I say give it a few weeks and grab a cheap ticket - there are worse things you could see. I sat in the mezzanine and could see EVERYTHING (which unfortunately included the mistakes)

Updated On: 3/2/23 at 11:26 PM

In terms of merch, they have everything (multiple shirts, water bottle, pins, magnets - the works), EXCEPT the windowcard - which is usually the one thing I want, although I got the shirt that says “Some Styles Never Go Out Of Style” ($40)

At the Stage Door, some left quickly or met up with friends, but many stayed and signed for a surprisingly decent sized crowd. They were all truly thankful for the support and cheers and were imploring us to come back and bring friends (which…in my experience…is never a good sign)

I agree - there is probably some first preview jitters, but I did see enough blips (for lack of a better term) that took me out of it at times and that made it hard knowing Fosse’s demanding high standards.

It takes a load of chutzpah to do a revival of Dancin' and throw in all this extraneous stuff - that's not what Dancin' was and I believe Mr. Fosse would not have wanted that. As to jitters, haven't most of these people done the show at the Old Globe?

bk said: "It takes a load of chutzpah to do a revival of Dancin' and throw in all this extraneous stuff - that's not what Dancin' was and I believe Mr. Fosse would not have wanted that. As to jitters, haven't most of these people done the show at the Old Globe?"

I believe there are a fair number of new cast members and the Old Globe production closed almost 9 months ago. Didn't they also make some changes?

The 'dancing' in San Diego was excellent in the solo or small ensemble numbers. It was the large cast numbers where I don't think the dancing would have lived up to Fosse's expectations.  The biggest problem in San Diego was the dreadful dialogue stretches.  Can anyone comment on whether the dialogue has now been pared to a minimum or isn't embarrassing?

Dollypop said: "Does this version include "Mr Monotony"?"

I should hope not, as that was a Jerome Robbins number.