Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
#1Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/5/12 at 5:34am
PalJoey's Henry Sweet Henry post reminded me of these clips from the youtube video of the Dancers Over 40 Michael Bennett presentation posted a couple of years back, that I don't believe were mentioned in any of the long Follies, or Company threads. I posted them in his thread, but thought I'd bring it out to its own for anyone who missed it. The entire presentation is on Youtube and worth watching (it's disheartening that for clips, they seemed to have to use what was on youtube, but the stories are great).
I'll just post the chunks that are relevant to these two shows, but for any Bennett, or dance on Broadway fan the whole thing is worth watching sometime you have a few hours to kill. (Thanks PJ for making me think of them! And I had no idea Margot Sappington left Promises Promises, before she could be one of the three Turkey Lurkey girls at the Tonys because she went to choreograph Oh! Calcutta! and dance the nude pas de deux in it, after Bennett recommended her when he finally decided to turn down choreographing it.)
This is from part 8 which is largely about Coco (some good stories about Hepburn)--note that the man on the left--beside Bob Avian and Baayork Lee is Evita, etc, choreography Larry Fuller who Bennett persuaded to move onto choreography. At the 5 minute mark Carolyn Hirsh talks about learning Tick Tock for the national tour of Company and taking over from Donna McKechnie and just how difficult and great the number was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOFytXEiCeA
which continues here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpXJDrhd-mg where she shows her original costume.
(McKechnie did some of the choreography for the Company anniversary concert which was after her health issues so obviously it's not danced full out--and has no swinging down poles--but you do see some of Music and the Mirror in it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzU49_IO2o )
The Follies stuff starts here with much praise for Bolero D'Amour (I still think it should never be cut), and working on the show. Everyone seems to think the staging was the best they've ever seen or been in, and the score brilliant (Avian calls Sondheim the modern Mozart), but everyone seems to side with Bennett that the libretto was just too depressing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfwRR61UO2A
and continues here (I didn't know it was Michael's idea to join the three numbers at the end of the montage) ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdjrYD1o-a0
(It goes on from there to Seesaw, Chorus Line, etc)
#2Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/7/12 at 9:24pm*bump*
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#2Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/7/12 at 9:29pmNo need to g bumping your own thread...
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#3Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/7/12 at 9:30pm
I had never seen this Diva. Sometimes one just needs a good bump. 
#4Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/7/12 at 9:35pm
The brief Seesaw bit fascinates me (because that show has an odd fascination over me). I had always read that Bennett, out of kindness, kept Grover's name on as co-choreographer when he replaced him, but Grover left, but the cast says he remained on and did some of the numbers himself (I guess because of the rush, they had a lot of people choreographing different numbers)
#5Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/7/12 at 11:37pmI just love how complicated his relationships were.
#6Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/9/12 at 7:37pmRight wasn't Fuller actually his boyfriend and not just roomate as mentioned? I'm sure they didn't wanna get too into all of that out of respect, but...
#7Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/9/12 at 9:30pmOh Eric, thank you!
#8Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 12/9/12 at 9:35pm
You're welcome! I know it's been online for a while, but it seems to have flown under the radar, and I think is pretty fascinating (I've watched some of the other videos from the same source--on the men of Fosse and the Peter Gennaro and they are worth checking out, but I think this is the one I found the most fascinating--it's too bad they didn't ask Avian about Scandal! though).
It's interesting that they put so much emphasis on Tick Tock, and Bolero D'Amour--two moments that are so often cut from their respective shows and I think are all too often now considered as being somehow redundant, or at least not important, to the shows, when I think here they make a strong case for, at least in Bennett's choreography, being so integral to the show (as one of the dancers says, Tick Tock basically sums up Company completely in under five minutes). Also had no idea Avian did the original Losing My Mind staging (they probably mention that in Everything Was Possible, and I've forgotten).
#9Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:09am
I just "discovered" the DancersOver40 videos this weekend. What an amazing resource. It's so wonderful to see these great gypsies discussing their careers.
I just watched the Peter Gennaro series tonight and was shocked to learn how much of the choreography from West Side Story was his. They even read aloud the contract he signed with Jerome Robbins, effectively agreeing that any choreographic work that Gennaro did during the rehearsal/development process for WSS, would be Jerome Robbins' property. Really appalling. I guess Laurents wasn't the only asshole on that creative team.
#10Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/22/14 at 6:36amHorseTears can you provide a link the Peter Gennaro series. Is it online? I learned about Gennaro's involvement with WSS through PalJoey. Like most people I thought Robbins did it all and was quite impressed that a white Jewish man really got those latin dances down pat!
#11Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/22/14 at 7:21amI posted Peter Gennaro's contract with Jerry Robbins in one of the long West Side Story threads.
#12Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:36pm
CARLOSALBERTO: Here's the playlist for the "The Unsinkable Peter Gennaro!": http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF8498114DE0C38EC
It gets really good after part 12 when Carol Lawrence and Chita Rivera start discussing WSS.
You can see all of Dancers Over 40 playlists here: http://www.youtube.com/user/dancersover40/playlists. I subscribed right after watching that great tribute to Michael Bennett.
PALJOEY: I think I found the thread you're referring to. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your first-hand view of theatrical history there. It was truly fascinating to read. I skipped lunch just to read through the whole thing! Loved hearing about how dedicated, passionate and respectful Debbie Allen was. Oh, to have been in the room when Chita coached her! Seriously, though, thank you so much for contributing.
#12Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:37pm
ignore. double-post.
Updated On: 1/23/14 at 04:37 PM
#13Original dancers talk about Follies and Company, and Bennett clips
Posted: 1/23/14 at 8:41pmI read that one of the reasons why Grover was kept on was that Bennett saw Anita Morris (Grover's girlfriend who was assisting him with the show) and wanted her for the show and she might not have stayed if her boyfriend just got canned.
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