Doc Corner: 'On Broadway'

By Glenn Dunks

They say the neon lights are bright,
on Broadway.
They say there’s always magic in the air…

Let's be thankful that On Broadway doesn’t open with those famous lyrics from the song of the same name. Bob Fosse already did that, using George Benson’s funk-inspired 1978 rendition to launch All That Jazz over images of a throng of auditioning theatre wannabes. It’s showtime, folks, and that song is a hell of an introduction, but it's been done.

The release of Oren Jacoby’s doc feels perfectly timed, having been completed and screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival back in 2019 but delayed for general release until now as the city is on the verge of re-opening to crowds...

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Breakfast with... Joe Gideon

September is "Better Breakfast Month" -we're celebrating because we ❤️ food and movies. 

Alka Seltzer, Dexedrine, eyedrops... a cigarette in the shower. You're ready to go!

It's showtime, folks.

This is not a healthy breakfast. Where does Bob Fosse /Joe Gideon get all that energy? Man cannot live on sex, drugs and jazz hands alone. But at least try the "it's showtime, folks" this morning in the mirror and see if that's like adding another cup of joe, fuel-wise. I will be doing the same on my first day in VENICE. ohmygod. More soon.

Fosse/Verdon - EP 2: "Who's Got the Pain?"

Previously Ep 1 - "Life is a Cabaret"

No, no, I know who he is. The one with the hats.

by Nathaniel R

The premiere episode of Fosse/Verdon took place (mostly) in 1971 when Fosse was rehearsing Cabaret but linear storytelling isnt remotely 'on trend' in TV miniseries right now, so we're hopping backward for Episode 2 to 1955 when Gwen Verdon was flush from her breakout Tony-winning turn in "Can-Can" and cast in "Damn Yankees". At a lunch meeting Hal Prince (Evan Handler) tries to sell Broadway it girl Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams) on his choice of choreographer. Gwen isn't sold, wiggling her hand dismissively for Fosse's most famous recurring choreographic accessory, the hat. It's but one of many fine gestural moments from a truly inspired Michelle Williams. Though it's too soon to know, she may well be giving us the performance of her career...

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Soundtracking: "All That Jazz"

by Chris Feil

These days we don’t get many musicals brave enough to buck genre comforts and form as Bob Fosse’s autobiographical All That Jazz. The director/choreographer transplants himself onto Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider), a highly regarded and sexually cruel master of the stage on his way to untimely demise. It’s a masterpiece to shame other masterpieces.

There’s a reason that the film isn’t remembered for its songs - musical pleasantry is low on his priorities, as the film is an uncompromising character study of the visionary creator’s weakest impulses...

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The Furniture: All That Jazz and the Creative Erotics of Scaffolding

"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail. Here's Daniel Walber ...

All That Jazz (1979) is the only Palme d’Or winner to have won the Oscar for Best Production Design. I do not have an explanation for that. Luck of the draw, really. But, as we await the prizes at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this odd piece of trivia is an excellent excuse to take a closer look at Bob Fosse’s masterpiece.

There are actually a few odd things about the film’s Oscar record. It’s not only a rare Oscar-winning remake, but a remake of another production design nominee: Federico Fellini’s 8½. The four designers who took home the prize for All That Jazz include not only production designer Philip Rosenberg and art directors Gary Brink and Edward Stewart but also Tony Walton, who was credited as “fantasy designer.”

The “fantasies” in question are a big part of what connects All That Jazz with its predecessor...

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