The heart, soul, and irrepressible spirit of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, which just opened in a burst of sparkle and joy at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre, is best embodied in the curtain call. One by one, each dancer glides out from the wings and to the front of the stage performing a different combo—wearing the costume from their biggest moment in the show, adding a few steps, spins, or flourishes from said moment. All the while, the dancer’s name appears in blazing blue neon letters on the back wall of the stage. Every one of them is given star billing, and it would be unfair not to name the full company here: Ioana Alfonso, Yeman Brown, Peter John Chursin, Dylis Croman, Tony d’Alelio, Jōvan Dansberry, Karli Dinardo, Aydin Eyikan, Pedro Garza, Jacob Guzman, Manuel Herrera, Afra Hines, Gabriel Hyman, Kolton Krouse, Mattie Love, Krystal Mackie, Yani Marin, Nando Morland, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Ida Saki, Ron Todorowski, and Neka Zang.
You might have heard some theatergoers complain about the storyline in Dancin’—mainly, there isn’t one. This show (rightly) makes no apologies for that. “The CDC, the AMA, the FDA, the World Health Organization, and the Surgeon General have determined that the viewing of too many musical comedies with sentimental and over romantic plots may cause serious and sometimes incurable damage to the playgoer and the critics’ standards. Therefore, what you are about to see is an almost plotless musical,” says Herrera in an introduction. “What you will see is dancin’…dancin’…some singin’…and more dancin’.” Dancin’, a celebration of everything Fosse, is a love letter to the makers and performers, and clearly pitched to the people who appreciate the artistry in every pointed toe and crescent jump. (“Almost plotless” because there is text, including a couple Fosse voice-overs, most of which is brief and innocuous.)
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
Also note that the full title of the revival is Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Tony-winning choreographer (The Who’s Tommy) Wayne Cilento—who appeared in, and received a Tony nom for, the original 1978 Dancin’—directs, but the choreography is all Fosse’s. (Christine Colby Jacques is credited with the reproduction of Fosse’s choreography, and Corinne McFadden Herrera with additional reproduction.) Still, Cilento isn’t simply restaging the 1978 version; he’s made cuts and additions, working as much as historian and archaeologist as director. So even if you saw the show 45 years ago, you didn’t see the Big City Mime section, which was axed before opening. And you definitely didn’t see the Big Deal numbers, since the musical premiered (and quickly flopped) in 1986.
The Big City Mime sequence might be overwhelming for some viewers, but it’s a fascinating stew of chaos—snippets from hits such as Sweet Charity (“Big Spender,” “Rich Man’s Frug”) and Liza With a “Z” (“I Gotcha”) and obscurities such as the alley dance from My Sister Eileen. In the 1955 film, Fosse performed it alongside Tommy Rall; here, it’s a fabulous fedora-topped display of pirouettes and one-upmanship for Herrera and Chursin. As for Big Deal, it’s less successfully woven in; it’s the only section, featuring actual characters such as Lilly and Kokomo, that feels more suited to a revue. Yet it gives us the chance to hear Petinaud croon “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” and to see the jailhouse dance “Ain’t We Got Fun”—not to mention the swingy spectacular “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar.”
Everyone will have their favorite numbers, but two had me on the edge of my seat; they were also the ones that truly displayed Fosse’s range—the man was about more than shuffle steps and hip pops, after all. The four-part Percussion, which utilizes the dancers as instruments (not the first time we’ll see that) beautifully demonstrates his appreciation of long lines and traditional ballet movement; Dinardo, Love, and Saki are perfection, intertwined as they change positions to the ping of a triangle. And the showstopping “Sing, Sing, Sing,” which opens Act 2, blends explosive stage-sweeping leaps—Krouse hits almost unbelievable heights in the trumpet solo—with intimate Astaire-and-Kelly-esque tap (Guzman and Herrera are a dynamic duo). It also features Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung’s most stunning costumes, an array of 1920s-style embellished gauzy dresses, baggy jackets, and high-waisted trousers in shades of blush, beige, and peach. But was anyone else distracted by the mannequins in the background? Dancin’ is dedicated to movement; faceless, frozen bodies only detract from the living, breathing, high-kicking humans in front of us.
Dancin’ opened March 19, 2023, at the Music Box. Tickets and information: dancinbway.com
