Will we ever get a Michael Bennett review?

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 5:05pm

We've had Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Fosse, and now this Harold Prince thing coming up. Why no love for Michael Bennett? Surely his staging and choreography warrants a tribute. The mirror number from Follies, "The Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line, "Turkey Lurkey Time" from Promises Promises, scenes from Company, Ballroom, Coco, Seesaw and of course Dreamgirls.

Do people just not know enough about who he is, even though you could market the hell out of Dreamgirls and A Chorus Line? Is there just no interest?

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 5:06pm

Sorry, should have wrote "revue" not "review." I'd go back and edit, but I can't, and Broadwayworld doesn't believe me.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 5:11pm

I would love to see something like that. Especially if they could somehow use some of his work from Scandal which was supposed to be amazing.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 5:13pm

Exactly, Mister Matt. I was going to add Scandal but forgot the name of it. Everything I've read about it sounds like it was damned good. This could be a great opportunity to bring it back.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 5:24pm

I would just LOVE to see a full scale recreation of "Turkey Lurkey Time" and the cut out-of-town "Tick Tock" numbers from PROMISES, PROMISES.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 6:17pm

I admit, I'd lap a show like this up--and that's a great suggestion about including some of Scandal (I can't believe nothing of Webb's score has even really surfaced).

Obviously there would be a number of things they could use to fill gaps--ie some of his routines from Hullaballoo--and Bob Avian and others are still around so could help. Yes, Bennett doesn't have the mainstream name recognition Fosse does, but he probably has as much as Hal Prince, for example, and excerpting his stuff would make a lot more since than Prince. I think one issue maybe that people find Bennett less distinctive--he didn't have his own entire dance vocabulary like Fosse, and of course some of his later major stuff he directed, he only supervised the choreo (according to the Mandelbaum book and other sources, for example, ex Jackson choreographer Michael Peters did the bulk of the actual steps for Dreamgirls). But, regardless...

[jv92]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 7:05pm

At least with Bennet you've got actual numbers to recreate. This Hal Prince project seems ridiculous.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 8:02pm

My thoughts exactly. I mean Hal Prince doesn't even make it a big secret that he often didn't have anything to do with the bulk of the musical numbers' staging.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 8:05pm

I heard something about a robotic Hirschfeld drawing of him giving commentary? Oy!

However, I'd love to see a Bennett revue!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:13pm

Oh dear that sounds... something.

The thing is, for me a big part of the appeal of these revues is to have a recreation--often for posterity--of the original numbers. That's one reason I wish, even keeping in mind the criticism some gave on here, Jerome Robbins' Broadway had been filmed commercially.

So that kinda nixes any point to the Prince one. He's up there in my top directors, absolutely, and I also think that he has often played a very important role in shaping and creating many of his best shows. But they obviously aren't going to be able to even somewhat do the various elaborate designs for each show, they (I assume) will focus on the songs, and Stroman is apparently doing new choreography. Unless they find some really brilliant concept linking them all together (and honestly, it sounds like it's going to be harder to do than with Sondheim on Sondheim, a show I thought was poorly conceived as well), I don't really get it at this point...

I would get a Bennett one (and actually, not to sound too fanboy-ish, I could already see how certain shows anr routines could link to other ones).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:16pm

How about including the Clog Dance from A Joyful Noise?

http://youtu.be/sCNGTQUPIbw

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:18pm

Or "Poor Little Person" from Henry, Sweet Henry

http://youtu.be/6lyv67Peo4w

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:25pm

And a solo staged simply for one very tall, very talented actor and a trenchcoat.
Jerry Orbach 'She Likes Basketball'

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:28pm

And the tragically, woefully, shamefully, criminally NEGLECTED "Bolero D'Amour" from Follies:

http://youtu.be/RfkdFp8dJUM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 9:37pm

Is there a woman alive who could do what Michael has Joey Heatheton do in this number:

http://youtu.be/0p6swrw-4Ew

[bk]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:13pm

And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzU49_IO2o

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:57pm

I wonder what plans he had for Chess...

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 11:59pm

from A Chorus Line
- I Hope I Get It
- At The Ballet
- Music & The Mirror
- One

from Company
- Tick, Tock
- Side By Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You

from Follies
- Who's That Woman
- Bolero D'Amour
- The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues

from Dreamgirls
- Steppin' to the Bad Side
- One Night Only

from Ballroom
- The Dance Montage

from Promises, Promises
- Turkey Lurkey Time

add in a number from Seesaw, plus a few more from Promises, Promises, Ballroom & some of his lesser known shows as well as Hullabaloo and this could fill up a 2 hour show.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:04am

I feel like financial realities would stand in the way more than anything else. Shows like this are expensive, and dancers go down left and right having to do showstopper after showstopper after showstopper. I'd love to see it happen anyway, while there are still dancers out there to recreate his work.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:30am

Thanks PJ and bk. These clips are tremendous.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 12:35am

I actually would really be thrilled to see the "Company" number recreated, but since a lot of it worked around Aronson's set, it would likely be impossible.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 1:33am

Who's gonna direct Bob Avian and Baayork Lee?

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 4:02am

Maybe the problem is there is no one out there really championing Bennet's legacy, in the way Gwen and Anne were there for Fosse?

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 4:04am

Rob Ashford?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/18/12 at 5:18am

Well Avian and Lee have been pretty strong champions of his legacy when it comes to Chorus Line, anyway...

PJ, it's nice to see some of the Ed Sullivan clips show back up, online (I still can't believe what a treasure trove they're sitting on--I have 8 VHSes someone gave me of various Sullivan musical clips, and I know I'm still missing a few--and currently have no VCR, so...). I especially love the Henry Sweet Henry dance, which is mentioned and shown in Part 4 of this lecture with his old dancers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6YqWziXM2E&feature=related Where is the performance you linked to from?

And I'm with you about Bolero D'Amour--I hope the legacy of this revival isn't that people think the dance is extraneous, as I've heard some justify it being cut. In just a few minutes, without one word, it completely sums up the main theme of Follies, and I think it's pretty sad that it was cut.

Besides the numbers mentioned, I'd add the Grapes of Roth from Promises Promises (maybe going into Turkey Lurkey), as that's the other piece of choreography many mention from the show as standing out (Mandelbaum says otherwise Bennett's main contribution was how fluid he made the scene transitions which usually used dancers).

It's long, and A Chorus Line is by far one of his better known pieces thanks to the length of the run and the revival, but I'd definitely add the Montage (if it's to show off Bennett, I suppose they could cut out Nothing from it), which is just one of the most thrillingly staged dances I can think of.

I know he came to Seesaw late and so it seems he never really had one huge stand out number in it, though his choreography got a lot of praise--the most famous dance (which my grandma always talked about seeing)--Tommy Tune's balloon dance for, I believe, It's Not Where You Start was I think mainly choreographed by Tune himself, and much of its appeal seemed to be about Tune's performance, and height, so it may be useless to restage... The opening My City maybe, it seems something should be used.

As TheatreKid said, it would be a daunting, expensive production, but would be worth it while people could still help recreate the numbers.