Liza with a z question

[Ben_Platt_Out]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 12:24pm

Who are the two male dancers in Liza with a Z? They have a mustache and look like twins. They are cool as sh&t! Just awesome dancing! Do yourself a favor and watch I gotcha while on your lunch break today. These two dancers need recognition.

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 4:23pm

Ben_Platt_Out said: "These two dancers need recognition."

Especially after waiting 47 years for someone to acknowledge them online! Although to be fair, they knew they had to wait 20 of those years for there to be a public Internet first...

[devonian.t]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 4:42pm

It's odd that there are no credits for any of the dancers.

I'm sure they were all Fosse regulars but odd there were no details even in the transmission.

[Ben_Platt_Out]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 7:55pm

Yeah, I was hoping someone on here knew them or perhaps connected to the production. I never knew Liza was such a smoke bomb.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 11:41pm

Sorry. I agree the number (my least favorite song from the special) is beautifully staged. (Duh!) But I can't see either dancer well enough or long enough to identify him.

LIZA WITH A Z remains my favorite single variety hour ever broadcast on TV.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 11:52pm

Trying to locate a full name list on the dancers for LIZA WITH A Z. I had it ages ago and it’s baffling how their names are nowhere listed on the internet. I only remember Candy Brown as she was a regular Bob Fosse dancer back then.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 12:01am

If I'm not mistaken you get slightly better views of the two male dancers in question in "Ring Those Bells" (also on YouTube). They are not dancing as a pair, however.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 12:37am

I’d always thought it was Spencer Henderson and Jimmy (James) Roddy. But as said above, I’m not sure how to support that claim!

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 1:37am

If you google Spencer Henderson the picture of Liza with a Z comes up so I believe he is one of the two men. He died in 1993 at the age of 44 from complications from AIDS. He was in the Broadway cast of Promises Promises, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Zorba and danced on many television shows. He choreographed as well, most notably for the film Steel Magnolias (my fave of all time). 

A google search of Jimmy (James) Roddy also brings up the same picture... further searches show that James Roddy died in 1987 also from AIDS complications at the age of 38. Sadly almost an entire generation of dancers, actors, designers, directors, and other artists died from AIDS. We lost so many greats. 

I remember watching Liza with a Z for the first time when it was re-released on HBO about ten years ago and being mesmerized. I remember seeing the dancers and being awe-struck and also saddened because my first thought was that so many of them probably died from AIDS. It really sucks to find out that that initial thought was true. Okay bummed now - but at least they are immortalized in that video!

Updated On: 2/19/19 at 01:37 AM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 2:57am

Such an incredible show from a golden age, and then a very stark reminder of the very darkest of ages that I'd almost managed to put out of mind.

(For those who bitch about recording live theatre, this show proves why such performers simply must be captured for later generations: Liza with a Z is a masterclass)

[Ben_Platt_Out]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 7:56am

Very sad and heartbreaking. I wish I could tell them how amazing they are!

[Robbie2]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 2:12pm

They also did LIZA at the Winter Garden in '74

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 3:24pm

Do you think the unique look designed for the Eunuchs in "The Visit" was a tip of the hat to those dancers and their look in the Liza shows?

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:42pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:43pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:43pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:44pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:45pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:46pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:46pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:46pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:47pm

 

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:47pm

 

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[johnnyj]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 12:48pm

One was a friend Neil Jones who grew up in Neponset, MA He has since died. He retired here as well. 

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 3:58pm

KJisgroovy said: "I’d always thought it was Spencer Henderson and Jimmy (James) Roddy. But as said above, I’m not sure how to support that claim!"

IMDb has him listed as appearing on the special as an uncredited dancer, so you're probably right.