Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical

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 , Emmy for , and Tony for ), 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
and the musical , written and directed by Fosse, were rejected by audiences and critics.

A fascinating look at the evolution of Fosse as choreographer and director, considers Fosse's career in the context of changes in the Broadway musical theater over four decades. It traces his early dance years and the importance of mentors George
Abbott and Jerome Robbins on his work. It examines how each of the important women in his adult life–all dancers–impacted his career and influenced his dance aesthetic. Finally, the book investigates how his evolution as both artist and individual mirrored the social and political climate of his
era and allowed him to comfortably ride a wave of cultural changes.
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