"He ran into my knife, he ran into my knife 10 times"

I would think that for most of you, the title of today's blog is self-explanatory; but, for those of you that are a little afraid that I've committed some sort of fratricide (sorry Aaron!) or something, I'm merely quoting a line from the show TW and I went to see last night (for free!) at the Colonial Theater.

The line in question is from a little number called the "Cell-Block Tango," which is one of TW's favorite songs in the show. It doesn't worry me that TW loves a song that begins with the line, "He had it comin'/he only had himself to blame..." (Should I be worried?)

As a big Fosse fan, I was encouraged to see such a high level of dancing throughout the cast. According to the program, this production used the original, 1997 choreography recreated by Ann Reinking--one of the original Fosse-ites out there, right next to Gwen Verdon. I found myself watching the back-up dancers as they curled, slinked and snaked themselves around the edges of the stage, and marveled at the sinuous commentary they provided on the action at the forefront of the stage. This is the most successful element of Fosse's choreography: saying so much with so little. I believe that this style translated into his directorial style as well; and it's no coincidence that Fosse's the only person to win an Emmy, Oscar and Tony for directing in the same year.

The two leads (Roxy and Velma) were both adequate to the roles. Velma, who was tall and lean, unlike Catherine Zeta-Jones, but very much like Gwen Verdon, sang well and but danced even better; Roxy was an excellent dancer, but apparently believed that she working a open-mic night at Ha-Ha's because she kept yucking it up every chance she got.

Mama Morton and Miss Sunshine were both excellent, as was Amos (Mr. Cellophane), but for my money (not that I paid--my wife did!) the leading characters in a Fosse show are always secondary to the chorus--without their energy and dedication to the part, the leads would have no foundation to work from**.

And the numerous references to Chicago's grease-the-wheel type of governance were particularly appropriate considering Gov. Blago's little tape-recorded incident earlier this week...what a perfect time to see "Chicago."

**You'll notice that I didn't even mention "Billy Flynn" played by Tom Wopat. I'm delivering about as much energy in typing up this blog as he put into his performance last night; although, he's got quite a career ahead of him in merchandising. He was out in the lobby by the table selling goods last night when my friend chatted him up. He ended up signing a CD for my friend, who thought it was a gift, but the girl behind the counter ended up charging him $20--what's he gonna do, say no now that Tom Wopat has signed over a copy of a CD to "friend of celexo"??