# Saw Chicago: thought Fosse had died? He lives with Elvis I guess . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641 "2003-05-02T15:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/1 "2003-05-02T15:23:24Z")
I mostly enjoyed it (too much emphasis on closeups; not enough sense of the stage–and I would have liked fantasy to have encroached a bit on reality, not so much cut back and forth between two very distinct sets during a musical number) but almost every thing I liked should earn Fosse’s estate some dough: the dancing, the staging, the very _tone and texture_ of the film was lifted _whole_ from ‘Sweet Charity’ or ‘Cabaret.’ Not that this is a bad thing; the borrowing was so explicit that Marshall can be said to be celebrating Fosse rather than cribbing. But still . . . Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/2 "2003-05-02T15:38:38Z")
Fosse did the original stage version and the current stage version is a straight re-do of that. I think the film pretty much had to do a Fosse style dance or it would have never opened in NYC. When I saw it at the Ziegfield here in NYC I think the entire audience had seen at least one of the stage versions and a fair number of them had seen both versions. If the film failed on it’s limited release it would have never reached the rest of the country or gone on to be Miramax’s highest grossing film. ---
**Author:** ![ajaye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ajaye/32/17180_2.png) [@ajaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajaye)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/3 "2003-05-02T15:40:03Z")
As far as I know, the original stage production of “Chicago” was Fosse’s choreography. I do know that his choreography lived on in notation format that his widow (Gwen Verdon) passed along. It shouldn’t be surprising the Just Google the phrase “chicago musical choreographer” and read on … ---
**Author:** ![ajaye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ajaye/32/17180_2.png) [@ajaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajaye)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/4 "2003-05-02T15:43:34Z")
That should be: As far as I know, the original stage production of “Chicago” was Fosse’s choreography. It shouldn’t be surprising the movie used it. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/5 "2003-05-02T15:55:41Z")
um, yeah, I know all that; but Marshall is credited as the choreographer of the film. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/6 "2003-05-02T20:13:35Z")
I’ve seen both the stage and screen versions of _Chicago_ (and I’m going to see the stage play again in June), and I can tell you that Marshall’s choreography is very different from Fosse’s. To tell the truth, I’m amazed that **Lissener** sees any similarity in their styles at all. For one thing, Fosse’s signature move is the isolation of body parts: hands or heads moving independently of the rest of the body, as in the “Rich Man’s Frug” number from _Sweet Charity_ or “Mein Herr” from _Cabaret_. There’s none of that in the film version of _Chicago_. In the stage production, the “Cell Block Tango” is performed with chairs with the dancers moving in a circle during the chorus. Marshall staged the film version of that number like a series of Marseille _Apache_ dances. The only number I can think of that has even remotely similar choreography is the “Hot Honey Rag” number at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/7 "2003-05-02T20:32:38Z")
**ajaye** , Gwen Verdon was not the only holder of Bob Fosse’s legacy. Ann Reinking, Fosse’s long-time lover and muse (she played herself in _All That Jazz_), put together the recent show _Fosse_, which has toured extensively, using his numbers from various stage and screen productions. I have read about Marshall choosing to “celebrate” Fosse’s choreography rather than “copying” it. Obviously, young Rob has never heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saw-chicago-thought-fosse-had-died-he-lives-with-elvis-i-guess/172641/8 "2003-05-02T20:35:09Z")
Forgot a thought- most of Fosse’s work has been preserved on film and/or tape, so it would be very easy indeed to teach it to generations of young dancers.