DVD/150: LIZA WITH A 'Z' (Bob Fosse, 1972, tv)

Three months after CABARET was released,  director Bob Fosse reunited with Liza Minnelli and composers John Kander and Fred Ebb for LIZA WITH A 'Z', "A Concert for Television".

Fosse refused to shoot on videotape, as was usual with TV specials, and used eight 16mm cameras to give it a filmic gloss.

Wearing designs by Halston with music co-ordinated by Marvin Hamlisch, Liza explodes with energy and is rarely offstage, usually surrounded by a chorus of Fosse's favourite dancers.

I was reminded of Pauline Kael's critique that it was hard to accuse Liza of going over-the-top as that was her default position and here she is pure showbiz electricity but the setlist allows her to show her vocal and dramatic range.

This setlist includes comedy, pop and easy listening numbers as well as a sizzling CABARET medley.

And of course, Fosse's distilled, sexy, magnificent choreography still dazzles.

Shelf or charity shop?  Shelf!  My brother had seen CABARET first and was so knocked out he bought the soundtrack of LIZA WITH A 'Z' which I soon appropriated.  The show is still a great achievement, Fosse managed to capture the pure essence of his star.  Remarkably after winning four Emmy Awards, the programme vanished from view after two repeats.  Liza owned the rights to it but assumed it was lost until she heard from Michael Arick, a film restoration expert, that he had found a print and after a lengthy restoration period, it was re-released in 2005 - he even found the deleted "Mein Herr" number from the CABARET medley.  Liza and Fosse's  Emmy Awards joined their Academy Awards  for CABARET; Fosse's Tony awards for PIPPIN in the same year made him the only director to win the Best Director awards in theatre, film and television in a single year.

50 Favourite Musicals: 6: CHICAGO (1975) (John Kander / Fred Ebb)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life.

First performed: 1975, 46th Street Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 1997, Adelphi Theatre, London

Productions seen: one

Score: John Kander / Fred Ebb

Book: Fred Ebb / Bob Fosse

Plot: Showgirl Roxie Hart shoots her lover when he says it's over and when her husband Amos refuses to back up her alibi, she is charged with murder.  In prison awaiting trial, Roxie realizes she is just one of the "merry murderesses" and, needing to get the public on her side, hires hot-shot - and corrupt - lawyer Billy Flynn who manipulates the press to say she's innocent.  However Billy's other killer client Velma Kelly wants some fame and press headlines too...

Five memorable numbers: ALL THAT JAZZ, NOWADAYS, THE CELL BLOCK TANGO, WHEN VELMA TAKES THE STAND, CLASS

Back-to-back Kander & Ebb musicals but why does CHICAGO rate higher than CABARET?  The 2002 film?  Hell no, it left me very under-whelmed.  The record-breaking revivals in the West End and Broadway?  Not particularly, with it's grating stunt-casting of washed-up pop singers and tv personalities...  No, CHICAGO is #6 on my list for Kander and Ebb's magnificent score, it's songs ripping through the show like Roxie's deadly bullets, as well as the hard-boiled book by Ebb and Bob Fosse.  CHICAGO was Gwen Verdon's baby; in the 1960s she saw the musical potential in the 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a Chicago Tribune reporter who based her two lead roles on two actual acquitted murderesses, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. CHICAGO had already been turned into two films: a 1927 silent and William Wellman's 1942 ROXIE HART.  The latter is utterly fabulous - hard-boiled, funny, and cynical until the tacked-on happy ending - with fantastic performances from Ginger Rogers as Roxie and Adolphe Menjou as Billy Flynn.  Verdon's problem was that Watkins had become a born-again Christian and refused to issue the rights as she felt her work glorified sin!  But her death in 1969 gave Gwen her chance and she naturally turned to ex-husband and collaborator Bob Fosse to direct the Broadway premiere.  CABARET composers John Kander and Fred Ebb were chosen for the score which was a risk as they were currently on a one-in one-out run: since CABARET their shows were THE HAPPY TIME (flop), ZORBA! (hit) and 70 GIRLS 70 (flop).

The 1920s suggested to Fosse giving the show a vaudeville theme, with the songs presented as out-front numbers and choreographed some of his most iconic numbers.  Although estranged, Fosse and Verdon worked closely together during the rehearsal period although he became more and more demanding, seemingly trying to undermine her, no doubt due to her controlling stake in the production.  Inspired casting matched Verdon's daffy Roxie with the hard-edged sass of Chita Rivera's Velma and they were both matched against the abrasive Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn.  The original 1975 Broadway production faced obstacles: a so-so reception from the critics undermined the box-office and with business touch-and-go, Gwen Verdon had to pull out for a nodes operation when her voice failed her - it turned out she swallowed a feather during the show's finale. While she recuperated, Fosse hit on the idea of replacing her with Liza Minnelli in her first stage work since winning the Oscar for CABARET.  She stayed with the show for over a month and the box office took off, although the situation grated on Verdon.  She returned to the role and the show ended it's run after two years.  In 1979 it opened at London's Cambridge Theatre with Jenny Logan, Antonia Ellis and Ben Cross which had a shorter run.  No Tony Awards despite 11 nominations and no SWET Awards despite 3 nominations left the impression that CHICAGO was a failed show.

In early 1990 I was given a tape of the original Broadway cast and became obsessed with the glorious score and vocal performances of Verdon, Rivera, Orbach and Barney Martin as hapless Amos Hart; I remember one night playing it over and over again until the songs were memorized, and could not understand how the show was not revived.  In December of that year, I got a further taste of it's greatness at an AIDS Benefit concert performance with the reuniting of Kander & Ebb's THE RINK stars Diane Langton as Roxie and Josephine Blake as Velma with Dave Willetts as Billy Flynn and Teddy Kempner as Amos Hart.  But it was in 1996 that CHICAGO's time arrived.  It was selected for the NY Encores! series of semi-staged versions of under-appreciated musicals.  In the post-OJ Simpson America, CHICAGO was seen to be horribly prescient in it's portrayal of corrupt justice and showbiz and was an instant success.  Producers Fran and Barry Weisler mounted a slightly revised version of Walter Bobbie's Encores! production, keeping the minimalist design which was mirrored in the stripped-down advertising design of black & white photographs with black & red text.  The revival starred Fosse muse Ann Reinking as Roxie (who also choreographed the show in Fosse's style), Bebe Neuwirth as Velma, Joel Grey as Amos Hart and James Naughton as Billy Flynn.  Winning 6 Tony Awards, the show is still running on Broadway where it is now the longest-ever running American musical on Broadway.  I saw this revival in 1997 when it opened at the Adelphi and loved it; Ruthie Henshall as Roxie, Ute Lemper (inspired casting) as Velma, Henry Goodman as Billy Flynn and Nigel Planer as Amos set the show running in London, eventually closing nearly 15 years later.  A further 21st Anniversary London production hung around longer than expected.  I saw it a few times but tired of the Weissler shtick of casting under-performing pop stars and tv celebrities in certain roles however it did mean I got to see the delicious Susannah Fellows as Mama Morton, a nice touch as her father Don Fellows had played Amos in the 1979 London production.  The stunt-castings of the revival did nothing to stop my love of the show which continues thanks to both the Broadway original and revival cast recordings - both of which capture the score's genius to perfection. 

I cannot decide between these so you are getting them both: The glorious original pairing of Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera ripping up the HOT HONEY RAG on the Mike Wallace tv show in 1975...



...and the 1997 Tony Awards broadcast with Bebe Neuwirth singing ALL THAT JAZZ and joined by Ann Reinking for the HOT HONEY RAG.  It's interesting to see where the choreography was tweaked for the revival.

SWEET CHARITY at the Donmar - The Thin and Thick Of It...

They say you should never judge a book by it's cover - but sometimes it saves an awful lot of time.  My issues with Josie Rourke's production of SWEET CHARITY began right at the top of the show and fluctuated throughout the evening.  I suppose any show is open to be re-imagined but when the production constantly gets in the way of the material then you know the director probably has no understanding of the original's worth.

Musicals don't have a continuous life for over 50 years because of the concepts visited on it, and while I am sure SWEET CHARITY will survive Rourke's attempts to make it 'relevant', she might walk with a limp for a while.

As I said the sinking feeling started before a note was sung.  For some reason Rourke and designer Robert Jones have decided that the defining stage image for their SWEET CHARITY is the silver and metallic world of Andy Warhol's Factory.  Showing crashing obviousness they must have surmised that as SWEET CHARITY premiered in 1966 they should look for images of New York in the mid-1960s and the first thing they found was The Factory.

The production starts with the cast all in black on black outfits, sitting around in icy hauteur while a film of the Empire State Building is projected on the back wall and The Velvet Underground's whacked-out VENUS IN FURS blares out.  I would dearly love to know what this has to do with SWEET CHARITY and it's sleazy world of neon-lit dance halls, blaring car horns along 42nd Street, and shadowy men smelling of cheap after-shave?  This world is wonderfully conjured up in Cy Coleman's exciting Overture - which, of course, Rourke dropped.

As I said any production where the Concept takes precedence over the material's internal logic is bound to fail - with Rourke it reaches the height of stupidity when Helene and Nicky, Charity's fellow-dancehall hostesses, sing BABY DREAM YOUR DREAM after Charity quits the business to seek happiness with boyfriend Oscar.  They sing cynically about Charity's future, but ultimately it dawns on them that her hopes will probably never happen to them and the song ends on a sad, wistful note.  So what does Rourke have them doing while they sing it?  Walk on with large Brillo boxes - a la Warhol - and unpack smaller Brillo boxes from inside, Russian doll style... which end up all over the stage... and which are swept away in the scene change.  So a nothing idea meaning nothing which results in... nothing.

The always wobbly end to the show again plays right into Rourke's cack-handed Concept. The original production has Charity alone again, her happy dreams collapsed, but she admits that at least he didn't steal her purse like the guy before did so picks herself up and heads off as titles appear saying "And she lived - hopefully - ever after".  Bob Fosse shot two endings to the film version - one truthful, one happy - but went with the truthful version.  But Rourke isn't dealing with characters, she is dealing in Concepts and worse, an Agenda.  So she ends with Charity and the Fandango Dance-Hall girls lined up reprising THERE'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN THIS like so many Times Square Miserables.  Needless to say, Rourke's attempt to claim Charity for the #MeToo movement just comes across as crashingly Obvious.  Hamlet famously says "The play's the thing.." but sadly thanks to the oppressive Director Theatre climate of today, the Agenda's the thing.. no matter whether it serves the material.

One of the disappointments of the show was Wayne McGregor's choreography.  In a show so famous for it's dance numbers - especially Fosse's moves - McGregor's choreography is either remarkably basic or remarkably absurd: HEY BIG SPENDER is choreographed with about six step-ladders for the Dance-Hall divas to clamber up or lounge on then descend to move somewhere else on a revolve.  Because they are not busy enough singing one of the show's great standards.  The RICH MAN'S FRUG number was more successful with a stage full of quaking Andy Warhols look-a-likes.

So where do we find the positives?  Anne-Marie Duff can certainly act the role - and her honeyed rasp of a voice did finally grow on me - but something seemed off about the performance, as if she didn't really commit to the wide-eyed optimism of Charity.  Whether the fact that she is the oldest actress to play Charity in London or New York has anything to do with that is open to conjecture.  She is always likeable however.

It's an odd CHARITY where the most memorable performance is from the actor playing Oscar but Arthur Darvill was excellent in the role.  He gave us a totally believable character who was ready to commit to Charity but ultimately unable to leave her past behind.  The Donmar has hit on the odd idea of having a regular guest performer play Daddy Brubeck for short periods - we got Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, fresh from his Olivier Award-winning Ike Turner in TINA.  His sparkly silver shirt made the biggest impression sadly.

Lizzy Connolly and Debbie Kurup were ok as Nickie and Helene but - along with Martin Marquez as Italian matinee idol Vittorio Vidal and Stephen Kennedy as Herman the grouchy manager of the Fandango club - everyone seemed to be acting on a fairly low-light.  It's almost like they are all using 40w bulbs instead of iridescent neon.

SWEET CHARITY currently sits on my list of favourite musicals and there was still enjoyment to be had thanks to the combined excellence of Cy Coleman's music, Neil Simon's book and Dorothy Fields' lyrics but they had to fight hard to get through the vacuous trappings of Josie Rourke's Concept.  Oh I didn't mention the lifesize plastic-ball pit that doubles as Central Park lake...

Never mind Charity, you will survive till the next time we meet...

50 Favourite Musicals: 27: PIPPIN (1972) (Stephen Schwartz)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

  

First performed: 1972, Imperial Theater, NY

First seen by me: 1998, Bridewell, London

Productions seen: Three

Score: Stephen Schwartz
Book: Roger O. Hirson / Bob Fosse

Plot: A strolling band of players invite us to watch them perform their show about Pippin, the restless son of King Charlemagne.  Pippin is unloved at court with his distant father and scheming stepmother Fastrada who is pushing her clueless son to become heir.  Pippin is caught in an existential quandary - where can he find a purpose?  War, sex, revolution, the simple life...  Pippin tries them all, but The Leading Player seems to know exactly what Pippin is there for...

Five memorable numbers: MAGIC TO DO, CORNER OF THE SKY, NO TIME AT ALL, SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE, KIND OF WOMAN

Stephen Schwartz had written PIPPIN in the late 1960s while at university so with the success of 1971's GODSPELL, producers asked if he had any other shows.  PIPPIN was dusted off and rewritten but the 1960s echoes through the plot - a young man's existential crisis - but it's the ghost of Bob Fosse, the original director/choreographer, that haunts subsequent productions. Fosse threw Schwartz and Hirson's concept out and gave it what is now recognized as the Fosse style - needless to say, the rehearsal period was marked with frequent spats between director and composer.  1972 was the year Fosse won the three main Director showbiz awards: Academy Award (CABARET), Emmy Award (LIZA WITH A Z) and the Tony Award for PIPPIN.  He even directed a revolutionary TV ad for PIPPIN - a whole minute of star Ben Vereen as The Leading Player and two chorus girls doing a quintessential Fosse number 'The Manson Trio' - the voice-over then announced you could see the other 119 minutes of PIPPIN at the Imperial Theater; a simple idea but it was the first theatre ad to focus on just one song; the show ran for four and a half years!  In London, it famously flopped despite Fosse recreating his production.  That slinky, sexy Fosse style has been lurking in all three productions I have seen - with directors adding their own spin on top of it, throwing concepts on it to divert attention from the skimpy-but-bizarre book.  Although amusing enough, it cannot really contain the weighty themes it raises.  The eventual collapse of the players' make-believe world which leaves Pippin and his lover Catherine facing life with no coloured lights or music feels more like it just ran out of steam - the idea was better realized in INTO THE WOODS with fairy-tale characters, having sacrificed their Narrator, suddenly faced with having to create their own ending.  I don't think I have seen a fully successful production but what always has me returning to the show is Schwartz's score - his finest - which, although sometimes at odds with the book, features some dazzling Broadway show tunes: the wonderful seductive opening number "Magic To Do", Pippin's 'I Want' number "Corner Of The Sky", Berthe's infectious, sing-a-long "No Time At All", Fastrada's dissembling "Spread A Little Sunshine", the choral loveliness of "Morning Glow", Catherine's pop-infused "Kind of Woman" and her break-up ballad "I Guess I'll Miss The Man" are enough to make me overlook any other flaws - oddly enough the 1972 cast recording was on Motown Records, which explains why Michael Jackson and The Supremes covered songs from the score.

There is plenty of video representation of PIPPIN but you cannot improve on the best... here is Ben Vereen in his Tony Award-winning role as the Leading Player seductively enticing us to enter the unsettling word of his troupe of players with MAGIC TO DO, truly one of the best opening numbers ever.  This was taken from a 1981 performance that was recorded for Canadian Television but what it does is immortalize Vereen's magnetism and Fosse's choreography, directed here by his PIPPIN dance captain Kathryn Doby who - among other Fosse credits - was one of the Kit Kat girls in his film of CABARET.

50 Favourite Musicals: 33: SWEET CHARITY (1966) (Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1966, Palace Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 2009, Menier Chocolate Factory, London

Productions seen: one

Score: Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields
Book: Neil Simon

Plot:  Charity Hope Valentine is an unlucky-in-love but ever-optimistic taxi dancer in a run-down Manhattan dance hall. One day she gets trapped in a stalled lift with a shy but panicky tax advisor called Oscar.  Slowly a romance blossoms... is this Charity's moment?   

Five memorable numbers: BIG SPENDER, RHYTHM OF LIFE, THERE'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN THIS, I LOVE TO CRY AT WEDDINGS, IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW

Two female characters dominated the 1965/66 Broadway season, Auntie Mame Dennis and Charity Hope Valentine, two indomitable survivors of life's vicissitudes, but neither MAME or SWEET CHARITY ultimately claimed the Best Musical award which went to doughty old MAN OF LA MANCHA; a decision that in retrospect seems odd.  Indeed out of it's nine Tony nominations it only won Best Choreography for Bob Fosse's memorable work.  Going by the film versions alone - I've not seen MAME OF LA MANCHA on stage! - SWEET CHARITY wins hands down.  It's Overture blares out like a traffic jam of NY cabs, showcasing the contemporary and brassy feel of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' score with it's remarkable collection of songs: cynical and hard-edged numbers that cover the heroine's sadness with a noisy bravado.  Blessed with a wisecracking but sympathetic book by the then-King of Broadway comedy Neil Simon, the story is based on Federico Fellini's NIGHTS OF CABIRIA - the first of three musicals based on his films, the others being Lionel Bart's flop LA STRADA and Maury Yeston's hit NINE.  Simon also creates great supporting characters like Nickie and Helene, Charity's comrades in the dance hall, Herman the grouchy manager and Oscar, Charity's latest chance at happiness.  Bob Fosse - who conceived the show for his muse Gwen Verdon as well as directing it - choreographed memorable routines and these moments stud the plot like zircon buttons.  With it's glorious score and memorable characters, SWEET CHARITY has been regularly revived and, although it flopped on release, Fosse's film version keeps delivering down the years.

There are plenty of videos of SWEET CHARITY but I thought I'd stick with the trailer for the Menier production - it's a nice reminder of the winning performances of Tamzin Outhwaite, Marc Umbers and Josefina Gabrielle, as well as the excellent pairing of Ebony Molina and Paul J Medford who made THE RICH MAN'S FRUG such a thrilling experience.

PIPPIN at the Southwark Playhouse - Magic to do...

Stephen Schwartz first wrote PIPPIN in the late 1960s while at university.  With the success of his musical GODSPELL in 1971, it was natural that he was asked if he had anything else in the trunk...  The concept of PIPPIN was dusted off although none of the original songs survived.  The 1960s still hangs over the show's plot - a young man's search for the meaning of his life - but oddly enough it's the spirit of the original director/choreographer that tends to hang over it's revivals.

He was Bob Fosse and he continues to shape revivals in almost the same way as Pippin's nemesis, The Leading Player, shapes the show.  It really is quite fascinating... When presented with Roger O. Herson's book and Schwartz' score, Fosse threw their whole concept out and gave it what is now recognized as the Fosse style - helped immeasurably by Tony Walton's stylized sets, Patricia Zipprodt's playful Commedia dell' Arte costumes and Jules Fisher's imaginative lighting design.

The rehearsal period was marked with frequent spats between Fosse and Schwartz, who at one point tried to pull rank by reminding him he *was* the composer of GODSPELL.  Fosse threw him out of the rehearsal room.  This was to be the year when Fosse did the unique trick of winning the three main Director awards across the showbiz board: Academy Award (CABARET), Emmy Award (LIZA WITH A Z) and the Tony Award for PIPPIN.

Although it didn't receive the best reviews, Fosse had an idea how to perk up the box office; he filmed a television ad which consisted of a whole minute of star Ben Vereen as The Leading Player and two chorus girls doing a quintessential Fosse number 'The Manson Trio' - how did he get away with that?? - strutting and primping against a backdrop of the show's logo.  The voice-over said you could see the other 119 minutes of PIPPIN at the Imperial Theater; a simple idea to us now but then it was revolutionary and the show ran for four and a half years!  In London, it famously flopped, lasting only 85 performances despite Fosse directing a cast of Paul Jones, Elisabeth Welch, John Turner, Diane Langton and Patricia Hodge.

Fosse's sexy, dangerously slinky style has been in evidence in the two previous productions I have seen and the last Broadway revival dropped the Commedia idea for a circus troupe... it's almost like all is thrown at a production to divert attention from the skimpy-but-bizarre book...

A bunch of strolling artists, under the direction of the Leading Player, present the story of Pippin, the eldest son of King Charlemagne, who struggles to understand his place in the world and how he can possibly be a credible successor to his war-mongering - and distant - father.  He isn't helped by his scheming stepmother Fastrada who is ever watchful for her own son's advancement.  He goes to war with his father but finds it an ugly business, he visits his exiled grandmother Berthe and follows her advice to live for the moment but finds hedonism an empty experience too.  

Pippin then is led to believe that revolution is the way forward and is tricked into murdering Charlemagne, but the compromises he has to make in politics make him flee.  Eventually he finds a home with Catherine, a young widow and her son on her farm... but again, he leaves her, still unconvinced that is his lot in life.  Through all of this The Leading Player has been initiating the action so reveals to Pippin (and the young strolling player who is pretending to be the character) that his purpose in life is to provide a Grand Finale... to jump into a ball of fire.  Will The Leading Player get the Finale to their show... or does Pippin finally come to his senses?

For all the nods to Alienation and Meta-staging, by the time the show-within-a-show goes off the rails thanks to the young player not wanting to die for Art, I for one am fed-up with Pippin, who has been fairly tiresome all the way through it... I usually side with The Leading Player... anything for a Grand Finale and give the punters some bang for their buck.

Herson's book, although at times amusing enough, cannot really contain the weightier themes it raises or more importantly, use it's characters, in particular Fastrada, Charlemagne and Berthe, all of whom are more interesting than drippy Pippin.  The eventual collapse of the make-believe world when the Leading Player closes down the show and leaves Pippin and Catherine to face life with no coloured lights or music feels like it ran out of steam rather than pose any major break in the story-telling; this was accomplished much more successfully in INTO THE WOODS when the fairy-tale characters sacrifice their Narrator to the murdering Giant, only to find themselves lost in the story with no idea how to end it.

What always has me returning to the show is Schwartz's score - his finest - which again doesn't quite fit within the meta-world of the book, but features some dazzling Broadway show tunes: it's wonderfully seductive opening number "Magic To Do", Pippin's 'I Want' number "Corner Of The Sky", Berthe's infectious, sing-a-long "No Time At All", Fastrada's dissembling "Spread A Little Sunshine", the choral loveliness of "Morning Glow", Catherine's pop-infused "Kind of Woman" and her break-up ballad "I Guess I'll Miss The Man" are enough to make me overlook any other flaws in the show - oddly enough the original cast recording was on Motown Records, which explains why Michael Jackson and The Supremes covered songs from the score.

This production started life at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre and it filled the Southwark Playhouse space well with Maeve Black's design of the faded glamour of the touring troupe's Victorian music-hall proscenium and thrust stage.  It was directed in a no-nonsense style by Jonathan O'Boyle which certainly played to the show's strengths: my only issue with his direction is that he really should have toned down his two leading ladies - Genevieve Nicole's Leading Player was overstated and too obvious while Mairi Barclay, in the twin roles of Fastrada and Berthe, seemed to be channeling Janette Krankie for the former and Su Pollard for the latter.

I did enjoy Jonathan Carlton's questing Pippin - although Maeve Black's costumes just seemed to accentuate both his and Ms Nicole's chunky backsides - Rhidian Marc was good fun as Charlemagne, Tessa Kadler gave Catherine a winning naturalness and I also liked Scott Hayward as Theo, Catherine's stroppy son; he also features in the show's coda which was added in 1998, Catherine and Pippin leave the dark stage to start life without coloured lights or music only for Theo to walk onto it and be immediately confronted by The Leading Player and the troupe... life (and death) begin again...  

A special mention for Aaron J. Dootson's impressive lighting and the equally impressive choreography by William Whelton - and to Bob Fosse for his original choreography for 'The Manson Trio' routine, you cannot improve on the best.

I last saw PIPPIN seven years ago in a not-very-good production at the Menier... I hope it's not another seven until I can see it again.