Jerome Robbins/Succeed in 2005's Broadway?- Page 4

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:30pm

Spooky, Robbins' choreography did not come easily. He almost always devised several routines for the same sequences.......the dancers had to learn all the routines.....He would often literally choreograph entire numbers 3 different ways requiring the company to learn all 3, sometimes more. As time went on he would become more decisive, of course. But, this was brutal on the performers.

[Spooky]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:51pm

If he could choreograph 3 different things for the same sequence...isn't that more than most people can do??
Well his final product made a heck of a lot more sense that most of the stuff out there (ballet wise)

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:57pm

Beaverhausen, many folks from the upper west side of the village got to know Mr. S in the bibilical sense, shall we say. Many years ago I dated the actor Peter Burnell(he played Mike Powers on THE DOCTORS soap opera and appeared on Broadway with Rex Harrison and Julie Harris in IN PRAISE OF LOVE--sadly Peter died of AIDS many years after "we were together")
who had previously been in a very brief relationship with Sondheim (I don't think Sondheim had a real relationship until he was over 60.) Burnell (Peter Burnell's real name was Burnell Strumley) told me that the judge's "self whipping" number from SWEENEY TODD was "where Steve was at sexually."

My only FIRSTHAND experience with a star director/choreographer was with Michael Bennett. He was with Bob Avian at Liza's opening night the first time she played Carnegie Hall. I was there too, along with my "other half Barry," at the time(by the way, we had better seats--row eight on the aisle!)

During intermission in the lobby, Michael literally kept looking in my eyes and up and down me.....When Barry went to the mens' room, Michael Bennett rushed over to me and said "I want you to call me, I'm Michael Bennett. My phone number is-- then he repeated his phone number four times--Then he said to me "You got it?" I said yes. He said, "you'll call me?" I said yes. Then he repeated his phone number again. And I said yes I got it. He then returned to standing with Mr. Avian while my heart was racing. When Barry returned from the mens' room, I quickly went there and hurriedly wrote down Michael's phone number. We were "alone" for the first time three days later.

Sadly, I wish I were unique. But, I have heard and read similar stories from dozens and dozens of young men around the New York theater scene at the time. And just to let you know, Michael Bennett created magic in any room he was in. I think I fell in love with him in the lobby of Carnegie Hall.

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:03pm

All this sexual talk is frightening me. And to think I was a recluse!

Getting back to Robbins, choreography was a difficult process for him. I can only speak from my experience with balanchine, where choreography just flowed. Working with Balanchine on Broadway was as close to perfection as it ever came. No screaming, no scenes, if the dance music had not been writteb Balanchine would write it, thank you. What a gift!

Miriam

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:08pm

This thread officially belongs in Datalounge now...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:15pm

And yet..and yet...it doesn't, 'Quise. The Datalounge threads always have the wild air of drug-induced fantasy fiction.

WishIHadaTony's memories are too spiky and filled with detail to be fiction.

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:20pm

"spiky". . ..

i'm so not going there...LMAO

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 3:14pm

Miriam, I know you are a lady who is not easily frightened:) The world has always been interested in the personal lives of those artists who bring us joy and magic!

Balanchine and Robbins were unique in their ballet/musical theater careers, weren't they? I guess now we could add Twyla Tharpe.

Miriam, were there others who went back and forth between the worlds of ballet and musical theater I am not remembering?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 6:45pm

I can personally attest that John Phillip Sousa was a wild man in the sack. The things he could do with brass cymbals!

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 9:56am

Master you make me blush. What would Edna May Oliver and Marjorie Main have said!

There have been a few who shuttled back and forth between Broadway and the ballet world. There was Herbert Ross, who choreographed for ABT and also did HOUSE OF FLOWERS and TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Michael Kidd choreographed the charming ON STAGE for ABT and did a lot of Broadway work. Then we had the Littlefield Sisters, who were primarily based in Philadelphia but did Broadway work, most notably the laugh riot of WWII, FOLLOW THE GIRLS. And lately Chris Wheeldon and Susan Stroman have been doing both Broadway and ballet.

Miriam

Updated On: 3/5/05 at 09:56 AM

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:20am

Miriam Thank you!!! I knew there were others but my brain was lapsing. How could I forget Herbert Ross? Especially with his lovely direction of the ballet oriented film THE TURNING POINT.

thanks again:) soooo glad you are here.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 5:17pm

All the best people are into a little slap every now and then...Didn't Bea tell a Robbins story in her Bway show about Swen Swenson's dog? Or was that Stritchie?

And I doubt Jerry would be so uptight these days...we'd just pitch in and get him a manhunt membership and he'd be fine!

[Lorelai]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 7:08pm

Wow, WISHIHADATONY. Thanks for sharing all of that. Amazing how sick people can be. Up until now, the sickest story I could recall was the Bob Fosse auditioning Ann Reinking for the film version of "All That Jazz". This one definitely knocks that one out of first place.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 9:47pm

Hmm...don't know how I missed this thread back in February...very interesting stories, I knew he was "difficult" to work w/, I didn't know the extent of it.

Someone mentioned wonderful things Chita said about him, Rita Moreno additionally on the WSS bonus DVD praised him and said great things too.

But I've been thinking about another question...suppose for some reason he could not choreograph w/ the attitude he had and act the way he did...do you think his choreography and work would have been so amazing? Sometimes I feel whatever your personality aspects are they contribute to your genius, and by losing any part of you, a part of the genius goes. Not that I'm saying he should act that way b/c it made him a great choreographer, just something to ponder.

And I personally think he was the best and most influential choreographer in Broadway history. A shame to realize he wasn't as wonderful a person.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:21pm

I arrived pretty late to this baord, I don't think I could have contributed much given that I'm only 19, but reading your stories it's a lot more interesting than reading a book, books tend to be biased and detached, while first hand stories reveal the passion and the truth. WISHIHADATONY, you definitely should write mroe posts about the incredible stories you have, I mean it's funny how people wish they were younger and when I read your stories I wish I was older so I could have met all those great legends and live the real thing instead of reading it in biographies.
I am taking a Queer Theory class about the 1950s and I have pretty much learned that self-loathing people like Jerome Robbins were simply victims of their times. In the 1950s homosexuals were persecuted as much as Communists which some people don't know, so in a way I understand Robbins self-loathing and I guess he criticized in everyone else what he despised so much about himself.
Also, the Sondheim stories are so...disappointing. I read Sondheim's biography and he talks about how he didn't grow up sexually till very late in his life, and so I had this romanticized idea of Sondheim as the type of man who would cuddle me and just stay there, maybe recite a poem while making love, and now I find out he used to go to leather bars! And the self-flagellation image was very disturbing as well.
Well, I just wanted to tell you guys that your stories are simply amazing, and don't let that history die. Keep them coming because history should be told by the people who were actually affected by it.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:19pm

WISHIHADATONY and everyone else who shared their stories, that was very educational. Thanks so much for sharing your experience, while not necessarily good, I learned a lot. As usual, I'm in awe of some of the experiences that you have all had. I second what ray says, I'm 18, so I have nothing to really contribute either. Keep the stories coming, its really interesting to hear about all of this, and I know I'll never hear about this in any course I'm taking in college.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 11:40pm

That was Bea's show with the Swen Swenson saying "Oh God here comes Jerry Robbin's and the little dog would fling itself against the door!" Funny, I also like how she gets into that bit saying she worked with him and he was dead, But he really wasn't a nice man.
I also used to love the choreography section in Shirley MacLaine's concert when she got to the "Can-Can" and the last thing she would say about Michael Kidd and taking a BIG gasp of air was -
"YOU HAD TO BE A GYMNAST TO WORK WITH KIDD- HE KILLED YA!"