(Dhawunirodha) (Libri) Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the
American Musical
By Kevin Winkler
Bob Fosse (1927-1987) is recognized as one of the most significant figures in post-
World War II American musical theater. With his first Broadway musical, The Pajama
Game in 1954, the "Fosse style" was already fully developed, with its trademark
hunched shoulders, turned-in stance, and stuttering, staccato jazz movements. Fosse
moved decisively into the role of director with Redhead in 1959 and was a key figure
in the rise of the director-choreographer in the Broadway musical. He also became
the only star director of musicals of his era--a group that included Jerome Robbins,
Gower Champion, Michael Kidd, and Harold Prince--to equal his Broadway success in
films.Following his unprecedented triple crown of show business awards in 1973 (an
Oscar for Cabaret, Emmy for Liza with a Z, and Tony for Pippin), Fosse assumed
complete control of virtually every element of his projects. But when at last he had
achieved complete autonomy, his final efforts, the film Star 80 and the musical Big
