Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical(Broadway Legacies)

Bob Fosse (1927-1987) is recognized as one of the most significant figures in post-World War II American musical theater. With his first Broadway musical, The Pajama Game in 1954, the "Fosse style" was already fully developed, with its trademark hunched shoulders, turned-in stance, and stuttering, staccato jazz movements. Fosse moved decisively into the role of director with Redhead in 1959 and was a key figure in the rise of the director-choreographer in the Broadway musical. He also became the only star director of musicals of his era--a group that included Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Michael Kidd, and Harold Prince--to equal his Broadway success in films. Following his unprecedented triple crown of show business awards in 1973 (an Oscar for Cabaret, Emmy for Liza with a Z, and Tony for Pippin), Fosse assumed complete control of virtually every element of his projects. But when at last he had achieved complete autonomy, his final efforts, the film Star 80 and the musical Big Deal, written and directed by Fosse, were rejected by audiences and critics. A fascinating look at the evolution of Fosse as choreographer and director, Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical considers Fosse's career in the context of changes in the Broadway musical theater over four decades. It traces his early dance years and the importance of mentors George Abbott and Jerome Robbins on his work. It examines how each of the important women in his adult life--all dancers--impacted his career and influenced his dance aesthetic. Finally, the book investigates how his evolution as both artist and individual mirrored the social and political climate of his era and allowed him to comfortably ride a wave of cultural changes.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Geoffrey Block Acknowledgements Glossary of dance terms Introduction Chapter 1: Boy Dancer Chapter 2: Apprenticeship Chapter 3: Uncle Sam Rag Chapter 4: Comic Relief Chapter 5: Rhythm of Life Chapter 6: Wilkommen Chapter 7: An Anecdotic Revue Chapter 8: Keep It Hot Chapter 9: Dancin' Solo Chapter 10: Dance of Death Chapter 11: Control Fosseville Notes Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Kevin Winkler enjoyed a career of more than twenty years as a curator, archivist, and library administrator at the New York Public Library, prior to which he was a professional dancer. He has published articles and contributed to books on performing arts libraries and archives, LGBTQ performance, films, and dance. He blogs for the Huffington Post and is a MacDowell Colony fellow.

Review :
"A fascinating and well-researched book...Essential." -- CHOICE "This book will be helpful to students, researchers, and educators seeking to trace the historical chronology of choreographers into director-choreographers." -- Phoebe Rumsey, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre "This is the real deal. An impeccably researched, thoroughly entertaining examination of Fosse's life, legacy, and all that jazz." --James F. Wilson, City University of New York "Having worked with and been fortunate to be trained by some truly great choreographers/directors-Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, Peter Gennaro, Gower Champion-I could not have been luckier to learn yet another great style, Bob Fosse's. A style never explored before: sex appeal, innocence and humor in minimal movements. He himself was a great dancer, one who could dance all styles. In Sweet Charity his choreography ranged from explosive to controlled, precise, focused, tiny movements. People have a tendency to speak of the 'Fosse Style' as only small movements, but he had a wide range that fit his directorial talents. It has been rewarding to learn from Bobby through the years. He is one of a kind, and this book says it all." --Chita Rivera "A model for how to approach a biography-history of a dancemaker. Patiently, without edge or vulgarity or hype of any sort, the book focuses on Fosse's career-technical details, influences, process, and ideals intact-and it relates Fosse's life honestly yet with full relevance to the work. Furthermore, the larger context of the subtitle is honored as well, in full. It reads as if written with the collaboration of everyone in Fosse's world, including his critics, historians, and audiences. Kevin Winkler's achievement is a Big Deal, indeed." --Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance "There are many backstage tidbits sprinkled throughout the entire book, but Winkler is at his best when exploring Fosse's choreographic process through descriptions of the body in motion." -- The Journal of American Drama and Theatre