Bob Fosse: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Bob Fosse forged his angular, hip-thrusting vocabulary out of vaudeville hoofing, burlesque runways, and his own physical limitations — hat over the balding head, turned-in toes, gloved hands. This mix traces the Chicago nightclub circuit and Broadway lineage that shaped him, the Astaire dream he chased, and the dancers and directors who carried his style forward.

The Kynda mix for Bob Fosse

• Key Influence · The Band Wagon by Fred Astaire (1953). Fosse arrived at MGM in the early 1950s openly hoping to become the next Fred Astaire, and his early screen work was measured against Astaire's elegance. The Band Wagon, directed by Vincente Minnelli — who also directed Fosse in Kiss Me Kate's studio era — shows the top-hat-and-cane idiom Fosse absorbed then subverted, replacing Astaire's expansive lift with hunched shoulders, isolated hips and sardonic cool.{}
• Influencia Obscura · Pal Joey by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (1940). Fosse played the heel Joey Evans in a 1952 touring production, and the show's world — a cynical Chicago nightclub hustler, tawdry glamour, sleaze rendered as showbiz — is the template for nearly everything he later staged, from Sweet Charity's dance hall to Chicago's vaudeville murderesses. The Rodgers and Hart source shaped his taste for characters who charm while corroding.{}
• Local Roots · On the Town by Jerome Robbins (1944). Robbins was the choreographer-director Fosse most measured himself against; both moved from dancer to auteur, and Robbins was famously brought in to doctor Fosse's 1966 Broadway hit-in-trouble era shows. On the Town established the dancer-as-director model on Broadway that Fosse later pushed toward the darker, more cynical concept musical with Chicago and Dancin'.{}
• Beyond the Medium · The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman (1957). Fosse's All That Jazz stages death as a courting white-veiled woman and a bargaining artist — a structure steeped in Bergman's medieval allegory of the man negotiating with Death. Fosse, who had open-heart surgery in 1974, turned his own mortality into an autobiographical film that intercuts hospital comedy with an afterlife revue, borrowing European art cinema's freedom with time and dream.{}
• Peer · West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (1957). The defining Broadway dance musical of Fosse's rise, choreographed by Robbins with Bernstein's score, it set the standard for narrative dance that Fosse answered with a wholly opposite aesthetic: contained rather than soaring, ironic rather than tragic. Fosse worked the same Broadway blocks, casting from the same pool of dancers, through the late 1950s and 1960s.{}
• From the Canon · All That Jazz by Bob Fosse (1979). Fosse's autobiographical film centers Joe Gideon, a chain-smoking, pill-popping director-choreographer staging a show while flirting with Death — drawn from Fosse's own 1974 heart surgery during Chicago and Dancin'. It contains his signature 'Take Off with Us' and 'Bye Bye Life' numbers, won four Academy Awards, and shared the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1980.{}
• Key Collaborator · Sweet Charity by Cy Coleman (1966). Gwen Verdon, Fosse's wife and muse, starred as Charity Hope Valentine in this Coleman and Dorothy Fields score that Fosse conceived, directed and choreographed from Fellini. Verdon danced Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town, Redhead and Chicago for him, coached the Chicago revival, and shaped the style as much as she executed it — much of the vocabulary was built on her body.{}
• Legacy · Chicago by Rob Marshall (2002). Marshall's Oscar-winning film descends from the 1996 Broadway revival staged 'in the style of Bob Fosse' by Ann Reinking, Fosse's partner and leading dancer. The revival and film carried the isolations, splayed hands and bowler hats to a mass audience two decades after his death, and Marshall's cross-cut fantasy structure follows Fosse's own editing logic from Cabaret and All That Jazz.{}

What influenced Bob Fosse

• Jerome Robbins (1918). Fosse credits Jerome Robbins with giving him his first choreography job. (also via Sweet Charity, On the Town) “Jerry [ Jerome Robbins ] started me doing choreography. He gave me my first job as a choreographer [Pajama Game] and I'm grateful for that.” (Wikipedia)
• Federico Fellini (1920). All That Jazz (Bob Fosse) — legacy for Federico Fellini (via All That Jazz, 81/2, 8½) “Nights of Cabiria was adapted as the Broadway musical Sweet Charity and the movie Sweet Charity (1969) by Bob Fosse starring Shirley MacLaine.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Fred Astaire (1899). Fosse's use of props was influenced by Fred Astaire. (also via The Band Wagon) “Fosse moved to New York City in 1947 with the ambition of being the new Fred Astaire” (Wikipedia)
• 8½ by Federico Fellini (1963). Critic Vincent Canby compares All That Jazz to Fellini's 8½ as its cinematic answer. (via All That Jazz) “Mr. Fosse's answer to 8½ in which Federico Fellini wittily examined his own life at a point when he feared his creativity was at an end” (Wikipedia)
• Sanford Meisner. Fosse and Verdon studied acting technique under Sanford Meisner. “In 1957 Verdon and Fosse studied with Sanford Meisner to develop a better acting technique.” (Wikipedia)
• Marguerite Comerford. Fosse trained under Marguerite Comerford at the Chicago Academy of Theatre Arts. “enrolling him in formal dance lessons at the age of eight at the Chicago Academy of Theatre Arts, where he trained under Marguerite Comerford” (Wikipedia)
• Jack Cole. Fosse was inspired by Jack Cole for his choreography on Damn Yankees. “For Damn Yankees , Fosse was inspired by the "father of theatrical jazz dance", Jack Cole.” (Wikipedia)
• Lenny Bruce (1925). Fosse directed a biographical drama about Bruce. “Bruce was the subject of the 1974 biographical drama Lenny, directed by Bob Fosse and starring Dustin Hoffman” (Wikipedia)
• Pal Joey by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (1940). Pal Joey (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart) — ghost for Bob Fosse (wikidata.org)
• The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman (1957). The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman) — culture for Bob Fosse (themoviedb.org)
• Kiss Me Kate by George Sidney (1953). Kiss Me Kate (George Sidney) — titan for Bob Fosse (themoviedb.org)
• 81/2 by Federico Fellini (1963). 81/2 (Federico Fellini) — culture for Bob Fosse “Fosse's answer to 8½ in which Federico Fellini wittily examined his own life at a point when he feared his creativity was at an end".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Blue Angel by Josef von Sternberg (1930). The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg) — ghost for Bob Fosse (themoviedb.org)
• The Band Wagon by Fred Astaire (1953). The Band Wagon (Fred Astaire) — titan for Bob Fosse “== Career == === 1947–1953: Contract with MGM === After his discharge, Fosse moved to New York City in 1947 with the ambition of being the new Fred Astaire.” (en.wikipedia.org)

Peers and kindred spirits

• Sweet Charity by Cy Coleman (1966). Sweet Charity (Cy Coleman) — collaborator for Bob Fosse “Verdon was a critically acclaimed performer on Broadway in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, having originated many roles in musicals, including Lola in Damn Yankees, the title character in Sweet Charity, and Roxie Hart in Chicago.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick (1968). Cabaret (Bob Fosse) — collaborator for 2001: A Space Odyssey (via Cabaret) “He is best known for his work on critically acclaimed releases such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bob Fosse's Cabaret and Richard Donner's Superman.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Seasons of Youth. Bob Fosse dances in 'The Seasons of Youth.' “while dancers Barrie Chase Bob Fosse supply the mobile talent.” (The Adak Sun (Adak, Alaska))
• On the Town by Jerome Robbins (1944). On the Town (Jerome Robbins) — geography for Bob Fosse “Fosse told an interviewer, "Jerry [Jerome Robbins] started me doing choreography.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Stephen Sondheim. Cabaret (film) (Bob Fosse) — collaborator for Stephen Sondheim (via Cabaret (film)) “=== Legacy === Prince was the inspiration for John Lithgow's character in Bob Fosse's film All That Jazz.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (1957). West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein) — peer for Bob Fosse (musicbrainz.org)
• Hello, Dolly!. Hello, Dolly! (Jerry Herman) — peer for Bob Fosse (wikidata.org)
• Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb (1966). Cabaret (John Kander and Fred Ebb) — collaborator for Bob Fosse (wikidata.org)
• Gene Kelly. Sweet Charity (Bob Fosse) — peer for Gene Kelly (via Sweet Charity) (themoviedb.org)
• Dorothy Fields. Cabaret (Bob Fosse) — collaborator for Dorothy Fields (via Cabaret) (themoviedb.org)
• Chicago Blues Piano by Meade Lux Lewis (1927). Chicago Blues Piano (Meade Lux Lewis) — geography for Bob Fosse

Who Bob Fosse influenced

• Chicago by Rob Marshall (2002). Chicago (Rob Marshall) — legacy for Bob Fosse “(1974), Goodtime Charley (1975), Chicago (1977), Dancin' (1978), and Sweet Charity (1986).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Fosse. The Broadway revue Fosse was created to showcase Bob Fosse's classic choreography, based directly on his work. “Called simply Fosse , the three-act musical revue was conceived and choreographed by Chet Walker, directed and co-conceived by Richard Maltby Jr., and co-directed, co-choreographed by co-conceived by Ann Reinking.” (Wikipedia)
• Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson (1989). Rhythm Nation 1814 (Janet Jackson) — legacy for Bob Fosse (musicbrainz.org)
• Beyoncé. Sweet Charity (Bob Fosse) — culture for Beyoncé (via Sweet Charity) (themoviedb.org)
• Britney Spears. All That Jazz (Bob Fosse) — culture for Britney Spears (via All That Jazz) (themoviedb.org)
• Queen. Cabaret (Bob Fosse) — culture for Queen (via Cabaret) (themoviedb.org)
• Usher. All That Jazz (Bob Fosse) — culture for Usher (via All That Jazz) (themoviedb.org)
• Ann Reinking (1949). Ann Reinking's choreography for the Chicago revival was done in Fosse's style, showing his influence on her work.
• Michael Jackson. The Little Prince (Bob Fosse) — ghost for Michael Jackson (via The Little Prince)