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(More customer reviews)Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of the work of Bob Fosse. Let me also say that I saw FOSSE live on Bway a few weeks after it opened, with the wonderful Valarie Pettiford opening the show with "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries" and with a cast that was so precise, so together in their performing of the choreography it really would have been hard to beat that experience.
Unfortunately, this filmed version of the show, filmed towards the end of the show's run, with Ben Vereen and Ann Reinking in the cast, turned out to be a huge disappointment for this fan.
The energy is definitely palpable, and a few numbers like "I Wanna Be A Dancin' Man", "Big Spender", "Cruncy Granola Suite", "Steam Heat" and "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal Mo." work wonderfully on the small screen and display the necessary Fosse flair as well as precision required.
I wish I could say the same about the other numbers. "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a mess, almost unrecognizable from the original version from LIZA WITH A 'Z" (which I have thanks to a friend who taped it many years ago when it aired on PBS.)and I'm afraid to say this was mostly due to Ben Vereen's inability to perform like he used to. Too many changes were made in the original choreography to accomodate his current physical limitations.
I'm not saying a man who has gone through what he has should be expected to perform/dance just like when he was 20. That would be absurd. But at some point, it almost seems best to be clever about how/when you use an ageing star. Vereen does wonderfully with "The Manson Trio" from PIPPIN, and with "Me and My Shadow" and "Razzle Dazzle", where his movements are smaller, more simple and more acting-based. He especially excels in "Mr. Bojangles", where his real life story lends a certain gravitas to a number I must confess I always found a bit maudlin.
But unfortunately, Vereen's dancing in some other places is strained and just really painful to watch. I wish it weren't so, but it's true. It would have been best if he had stepped out for some of the more complex numbers and allowed the younger dancers to display the Fosse steps more accurately. That being said, I think having Vereen open and close the show with "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries" works well and his vocal performance on the song is unique and beautifully delivered.
Reinking, wisely, does not try to recreate her peak dancing years, but instead, acts more as a narrator and conduit for Fosse's specific style, appearing only in "Big Spender" and in the short transitional segment, "Fosse's World".
The other problem with this program is that the dancers that ARE at their peak, and should know better, are often not together and lack precision. Not just individually, but as a group. (This would particularly distress Fosse himself, I'm sure).
Numbers like "The Rich Man's Frug", "I Gotcha" (the two men are particularly unimpressive in this one), "Blackbird" and even the once stunning "Sing, Sing, Sing" that closes the show, lack the luster they once had when coached by Fosse and are several notches below the quality I witnessed when FOSSE had just opened on Broadway.
No one loves Fosse and Reinking and Vereen more than I do, but this video was really just a big disappointment for me. I wish the original cast at its dancing peak had been recorded back in 1998/99, instead of this sort of "last minute" recording of a show that was about to close.
Fosse deseves better and those who follow his work know so. A student of his would do better to watch ALL THAT JAZZ and the several other films and T.V. shows that showcase Fosse's work.
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Fosse (2002)The electricity of one of Broadway's greatest talents springs to life in Fosse, a tribute to the man behind such favorites as Cabaret, Chicago, Sweet Charity, and Pippin. A seductive mixture of physically aggressive dance moves and dazzling visual style, Bob Fosse's approach to theater revolutionized how we experience music and dance, while his mixture of cynicism and sentiment remains timely decades after his death. Join one of Fosse's most gifted collaborators, Ann Reinking, as she and a wild, gyrating cast take you through such memorable standards as "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries," "Steam Heat," "Mein Herr," and the unforgettable "Big Spender." So pull up a seat, put on your dancin' shoes, and get ready for a tune-studded show guaranteed to deliver plenty of "Razzle Dazzle!" Songs: Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, Bye Bye Blackbird, From the Edge, Percussion 4, Big Spender, Crunchy Granola Suite, From This Moment On, Transition/Dance Elements, I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man, Shoeless Joe Ballet, Dancing in the Dark, Steam Heat, I Gotcha, Rich Man's Frug, Silly Thoughts, Cool Hand Luke, Nowadays, The Hot Honey Rag, Glory, Manson Trio, Mein Herr, Take Off with Us/Three Pas de Deux, Razzle Dazzle, Who's Sorry Now, There'll Be Some Changes Made, Mr. Bojangles, Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (reprise), Sing Sing Sing. 118 minutes.
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