Dancin' - Broadway

Let me start off by stating what the revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin' is not.  The show is not a retrospective of the multi-Tony Award winning choreographer/director’s career a la Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.  Fosse created iconic dance numbers for The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity, Pippin and the movie version of Cabaret.  In the revival, directed and musically staged by Wayne Cilento, who was Tony nominated in the original 1978 production of the show, the routines occasionally pay homage to some of these shows, but that is the extent of any connection to his previous works.

As with the original production, the revival has no plot.  There is no thread connecting one dance number to the next.  Instead of original music, there are songs touching on a variety of styles including jazz, pop, Americana, and classical.  Many of the production numbers feature notable Fosse dance styles such as the use of turned-in knees, sideways shuffling, rolled shoulders and jazz hands.  Hats, a Fosse trademark, are incorporated throughout the production.

The large company of dancers, well-chiseled, athletic and full of vitality, are a talented group, who can sing and have the opportunity to show off their acting prowess.  In addition to the large-scale numbers, a few of the performers get to shine individually, others in various pairings.  Standouts include Peter John Chursin, Manuel Herrera, and Kolton Krouse.

The problem with the revue is after a while the show becomes somewhat tiresome and unexciting.  Visually Dancin’ works, abetted by Scenic Designer Robert Brill’s twin towering scaffold sets, David Grills’s vibrant Lighting Design, and Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung’s exhaustive number of form-fitting and eye-catching costumes.  Wayne Cilento strives to bring an authentic vision to the production, but unless you are a die hard fan of Bob Fosse or dance aficionado, the end result is a show that lags.  The original production of Dancin’ played for years on Broadway, running for over 1,700 performances.  This version will most likely have a much shorter lifespan.