IN 1978, WAYNE CILENTO, THEN A rising young Broadway performer, got the chance to try to impress Bob Fosse. Fosse, who died in 1987, was at the time a firmly established legend, best known for his distinctive jazzy choreography for musicals like The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity and Chicago. In a 40-year career, he won nine Tony Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards and an Academy Award for directing the film version of Cabaret.
"I was in The Act with Liza Minnelli," Cilento says. "We were rehearsing on one end of the hall and Bob was at the other end doing pre-production." Fosse was working on a new show called Dancin' and although it had already been cast, Cilento managed to secure an audition with Fosse and his muse and lead dancer, Ann Reinking.
"They started teaching me stuff and he danced with us, and I had a ball," Cilento remembers. "He looked at me and he shook my hand and he said, 'Thank you very much. I appreciate you coming in."" Cilento says he left thinking that was as close as he'd ever getting to being in a Fosse show, but nonetheless "flying with excitement." On the opening night of The Act, though, Cilento thought he was going to faint when he spotted Fosse in a center orchestra seat. At a party after the premiere, Fosse told him, "I want you in the show." Cilento stayed with The Act at night while joining Dancin' rehearsals during the day.
"It was number after number after number in all different styles," he said. "Bob at the time was free and he wanted to experiment with dancers. It was like a breath of fresh air." The show was not a play, but not quite a traditional musical, either. It was really Fosse's personal love letter to his art, a unique multi-act combination of music, dance and sketches that is a tribute to and celebration of dance.
Denne historien er fra March 17, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 17, 2023-utgaven av Newsweek US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
