Jerome Robbins/Succeed in 2005's Broadway?

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:25pm

Jerome Robbins was a sadistic, vile, low life of a man. On the day he died, the phone calls shared among me and theater friends, many of us who had worked with him, or knew him, well--most everyone hoped his death was as PAINFUL as possible. However, even a painful death would never been punishment enough for what this creep did to people in his lifetime.

Would his behavior be tolerated in today's highly sophisticated and "lawsuit happy" world? Would the vicious cruelty and truly unbelievable acts of sadism that were part of his everyday life, be tolerated by today's Equity?

REmember, we are not simply talking about an "evil genius" here. Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, Michael Bennett and many others were task masters and on occasion the term of evil genius would be appropriately applied to them.

Robbins was different. This excuse for a human certainly took part in legendary theater works such as FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, GYPSY, WEST SIDE STORY, CALL ME MADAM, PETER PAN, HIGH BUTTON SHOES, many others.

But, his legacy for anyone that I know who worked with him is one of lasting hatred. This IS NOT even taking into account his TESTIFYING before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and NAMING NAMES. This gave his sickness the opportunity to destroy lives and careers in a swift easy manner.

Although, those who worked with him, know that he preferred to apply his twisted sadism more directly and in a more vicious manner. He often seemed to select "chosen" people in different shows and he proceeded to torture them.

His cruelty to Bea Arthur in FIDDLER was beyond anything I will write about here. I suspect Ms. Arthur will write about this herself someday. I still cannot believe the things he did to her.

Kaye Ballard has written simply that "his sadism destroyed my Broadway career."

The psycho sexually sick things he forced his young male dancers through were the workings of a much hated piece of garbage.

Would today's theater professionals allow his behavior?

Anyone else on this Board who worked with this creep of choreography think he would be able to "keep his job" with his behavior in today's theater world?

He was unquestionably brilliant in many of his theater works. It is indeed a shame that this brilliance was put into the body of a man who was indeed miserable, but never as miserable as he deserved to be.

Updated On: 2/25/05 at 01:25 PM

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:45pm

He was worse than David Merrick?

Someone needs to write a book.

[timote316]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:47pm

I don't know about his attitude or personality, but his choreography is excellent. I think producers would deal with him for that reason.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 1:59pm

Wow, those are some things I've never heard about him. I've heard mostly about David Merrick being a prick, but not much about Jerome Robbins. Interesting...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:02pm

Robbins was definitely an unpleasant, mean man, bjivie.

I think the original question was whether or not performers would put up with him these days. I'm sure there would be many a grievance filed against him, and perhaps lawsuits as well. The producers would most likely be named in both. All that could keep him from having much of a career, genius though he was.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:04pm

That's too bad that geniuses can be so crazy sometimes.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:06pm

Joekv99, THERE ARE books about Jerome Robbin's career and cruelty....Off the top of my head, you might want to read DANCE WITH DEMONS by Greg Lawrence. It is a "great read."

David Merrick did not come even close to being the vile creature that Jerome Robbins was. David Merrick was brisk, to the point, sometimes loud. He also knew how to charm. All of Broadway's Dollys were treated very wisely by David Merrick.

Ask some folks you might know who worked with Robbins. He was very very sick.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:10pm

Rathnait62, once again you are ONE hundred percent on point! I suspect you are right, but I am not positive.

I know some of the things I witnessed and the things others have witnessed and lived through and others that have indeed been written about. I think Robbins' sadistic vile acts would prohibit his career now. It would be much too great a risk for most producers to deal with the lawsuits that would derive from his behavior in the world of 2005.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:15pm

bjivie2, geniuses can indeed be crazy. As has been said, "there is a fine line between genius and insanity."

There are many example of this in the world of the arts, of course. Perhaps the woman many consider the greatest singer/actress/perfomer whoever lived, Judy Garland, is a fine example. She was certainly a genius and certainly emotionally and mentally "disturbed," to say the least.

[ElTico68]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:16pm

Wow... I'm sitting here, reading this... totally slackjawed... I know there's a fine line between genius and madness, but evil? I'm a HUGE Bennett and Fosse fan, and know how hard they were on their dancers, but also know that when all was said and done, they were loved and admired by most people that worked with them. I had never heard any of this about Jereme Robbins... will have to get that book.

*wow, still in shock*

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:36pm

ElTico, I am surprised you are shocked. I suspect you may be very young. Anyone in the theater community who is, shall we say past the age of 40, Certainly knows about Robbins' legendary sadism.

It has been talked about often in interviews, is discussed in numerous books about theater, and stories of hatred towards him appear in virtually EVERY biography or autobiography of those who worked with him.

Cast members DID INDEED LOVE Gower Champion and Bob Fosse(are there any straight female dancers out there who worked with Mr. Fosse and did not sleep with him?--there may be one or two, but I doubt it.)

Michael Bennett? EVERYONE fell in love with Michael Bennett. Even those who only knew him for five minutes or perhaps overnight. His dancers worshipped him--they still do. Bennett had a quality about him that put you in a trance, even when you were just watching him across "a crowded room." Dancers wanted to give blood to Michael Bennett--sadly, too many of his male dancers freely gave of their bodies to him. EVERYONE, men and women alike, Wanted Michael Bennett. It was unreal. Most of us still don't know what the heck the story was with his very brief marriage to his "muse," Donna McKechnie(did I spell her name wrong?) I am still shocked about that(Mr. Bennett was not only a gay man--he taught lots of gay men many things they had never thought of, and not just onstage.) I hope it gives Donna comfort and joy that she can say she was Mrs. Michael Bennett for a while. She truly loved him very very much. There were many of us who did.

And oh yes, he also gave us A CHORUS LINE and DREAMGIRLS, after some minor works such as PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW, and FOLLIES

[GirlfriendFromCanada]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:37pm

Would it be possible to provide some examples of how horribly Robbins treated others for those of us who aren't so well-versed in theatre history? Reading your initial post made me very curious.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:39pm

I've heard many a horror story about Robbins. None of this surprises me one bit.

[ElTico68]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:45pm

Wish,

I'm actually not THAT young at all, just a touch under 40. I just had never met anyone who's worked with him before, and for some odd reason I never was interested in finding out about his person, even though I do love his choreography. I find this topic very intersting, and now definitely will try to read up on him.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:17pm

melissa errico fan, I am not surprised that you are not surprised:) and GirlfriendfromCanada, someone PMd me and asked me to share a Robbins story that I personally witnessed. Here is one of many:
during rehearsals for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, he was giving Bea Arthur a very hard time one day...she asked him why he was picking on her...he replied, "You wanna know what it really is? It is genuinely and I mean this with all respect, it is genuinely hard to work with you because you are really a very ugly woman. And I'm a Jew here directing a show about Jews and your face is repulsive. People are gonna think we cast this ugly woman to represent what Jewish women look like. The audience certainly isn't going to think you got this job for your performing abilities Bea. You know you are not doing very well." I will tell u one more personal story for now:

during the "gypsy" performance of WEST SIDE STORY(that is what we called in the old days, the tech dress performance where others in shows and friends were allowed to attend) before its New York opening, (I won't mention the dancers involved on this Board)---it was during the "Officer Krupke" number...in the middle of the number.......Robbins walked ONTO the stage from the wings (remember the theater was filled with family, friends, etc.) He yelled stop, Stop, STOP. to the orchestra leader and the person controlling the followspot. Obviously to the cast and audience as well. It was amazing. Jerome Robbins walked over to one of the Jets and yanked this boy by his arm out of the position of repose this performer had been in as part of the choreographed movement in the number. He yanked him to his feet and he LITERALLY HURLED him towards the wings, stage left. I remember it like it was five minutes ago. During this he was yelling into the wings "get this schmuck's understudy out here!(remember the year this was--the use of the word schmuck in public was shocking in itself.) Robbins continued........"You're acting like a queer! A Jet can't be a queer! You wanna be Marilyn Monroe! You think you're Carol Haney! Get off!!----------At this point Mr. Robbins led the understudy outta the wings by his hand and actually put him in place, it was very odd, as though he were finishing a painting. As he was putting him in place he said to the audience "Excuse us, we will resume in just a moment, Right where we Left Off."

Robbins existed stage left. The spotlight hit the Jets and they began the song where they had left off with the understudy doing the remainder of the "gypsy" performance.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:19pm

How did Ms. Arthur react? That's pretty damn cruel.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:21pm

Oh my god. What an asshole.

Re: Bea, Jerome was no prize, either.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:38pm

Robbins' evilness is legend. I've read story after story about how horrible a human being he was in bios of Laurents, Sondheim, Mostel, Bernstein et al. Other than Chita Rivera (whom I suspect was treated very well by him since she was such an extraordinary dancer), very few have anything nice to say about the man personally. Some never forgave him for willingly naming names for HUAC (including Mostel who had been blacklisted). He was a miserable little man who hated that he was Jewish (and routinely made anti-Semitic comments) and hated that he was gay and took all of that self-hate and inflicted it upon the world.

Yet and still, he was the greatest directing and choreographic genius in the history of musical theatre (in addition to the greatest show doctor -- he saved many many shows out of town). He was so brilliant that people who truly loathed and detested him were usually willing to work with him again if the opportunity arose.

Updated On: 2/26/05 at 03:38 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:38pm

"I've read story after story about how horrible a human being he was in bios of Laurents,"

The irony.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:40pm

rathnait62, after Robbins was done yelling at her, everything he said to her that day seemed to be yelled........

Bea Arthur continued to stand in spot and look at him..

He sat down at a folding table that was set up over the covered orchestra pit..........and yelled to the rehearsal pianist "Let's DO IT YET! AGAIN." The pianist played the note and Bea Arthur, concentrating and perfectly in charachter, sang the lyric "a piece of cloth." and the rehearsal continued as though nothing had happened(later in rehearsals, Mr. Robbins had Ms. Arthur speak the lyric "a piece of cloth.") But everyone was shaken. Zero Mostel was not at this rehearsal. Mr. Mostel certainly would have done or said something on the spot. Robbins was a bit more contained when he was in the prescence of a huge star like Mostel or Ethel Merman. Although they certainly witnessed his sick behavior on way too many occasions.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:57pm

MaRGo, Absolutely........the highest profile examples I can think off the top of my head are:

Zero Mostel with whom Robbins did FORUM and a few years later FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

and Ethel Merman, with whom Robbins did CALL ME MADAM and a few years later GYPSY.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:03pm

"after some minor works such as PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW, and FOLLIES"

Is it wrong that the thing on this thread that shocked me the most was your calling Follies a minor work?

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:05pm

sticktopriest, I was using the term "minor works" sarcastically. :)

[robbiej]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:12pm

I actually know three ladies who worked with him (two different FIDDLERS and JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY) who all adored the man and who never felt abused by him.

That's not to say the man wasn't a complete tyrant and an a$$hole for the HUAC situation. But it's not just Chita and Ethel and Zero who adored him.

I'm usually someone who believes, no matter how talented someone is, if they treat people badly, they are worth nothing. But I have a hard time completely discounting Robbins, simply because he was THE BEST at what he did. He changed the artform I love so much forever.

[magruder]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 4:22pm

Hate the artist, love the art, in situations like this. It's how I've learned to appreciate Wagner.