If variety shows hadn't gone the way of the dinosaur, somebody would have staged this number with Chita Rivera and it would have been electric. Link
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I'll never be a big Jerry Herman fan, but I agree that the staging is magnificent. As for any criticism of Something Better than This--I'll just echo everyone else's "WTF" reaction. It's one of my fave dance numbers ever--and setting aside, the film pretty faithfully replicates the original choreography.
Gotham, such great clip. Larry Fuller never got the credit he deserved for Evita, IMHO. I remember when the current production opened in London critics went on about how now it was a full on dance musical--they seemed to have forgotten how wonderful the stylized movement was in the original.
Those clips from Dolly are textbook examples of how to stage numbers. Today, people like Rob Ashford would have everyone doing back flips, as if that is dancing and musical staging. This tells a story, like all great musical staging. In the Dolly number, Gower has everyone just stand there while Carol sings. Today, buff chorus boys would be flipping and falling to the floor and doing push-ups.
I agree bk! Rob Ashford needs to take a choreographic valium. When the curtain rose on HOW TO SUCCEED... and all of the office employees were gyrating in that beehive set, I was beyond mortified. I'm sure he's a lovely guy and very talented, but sometimes, less is more.
Was Gower Champion an innovative stylist like Fosse? No. Was he a brilliant manipulator like Michael Bennett? Sort of. Was he a genius like Jerry Robbins? No sir. But he knew how to build a number without backflips, pushups and all that crap. He understood musical comedies. He was a brilliant guy in that sense.
Larry Fuller never got the credit he deserved for Evita, IMHO. I remember when the current production opened in London critics went on about how now it was a full on dance musical--they seemed to have forgotten how wonderful the stylized movement was in the original.
You're probably right, Eric. But at the time, Fuller was seen to be filling the shoes of Michael Bennett in terms of working for Prince. Almost anyone would have suffered by comparison.
I love love LOVE King of New York on the Newsies CD, but if the choreography hasn't changed since the Thanksgiving Day Parade, it's bitterly disappointing.
I used to look forward to watching the Kennedy Center tributes. Now I dread what mess Ashford will create next. (Example: Chita singing "I Don't Want to Know." Just let her sing the damned song! She doesn't need to be thrown around by overbuilt chorus boys like a rag doll.)
I admit I did like the tap number he did for Cry baby as performed on the Tonys--but in general have to agree. And he needs to drop the 60s TV variety show style he falls back on, like on this year's past Kennedy Honour Awards (I think the men doing jazz pops was to some Anyone Can Whistle song but it just did not work).