Fosse Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00G3INHOY | Format: PDF
Fosse Description
We see Bob Fosse's legacy everywhere - from Broadway to "Billy Jean" to Beyonc?'s moves in the "Single Ladies" video. Yet in spite of Fosse'sdeep cultural significance, no biography has ever brought him fully to life, unveiling the man behind the bowler hat and the swaggering sex appeal. Now acclaimed cultural historian Sam Wasson traces Fosse's numberless reinventions of himself over a career that would spawn The Pajama Game, Cabaret, Pippin, Chicago, All That Jazz, and other iconic works of art andearn him Tonys, Emmys, and an Oscar.
Wasson traces not only Fosse's prodigious professional life but his intense relationships with everyone from Liza Minnelli, FredAstaire, and Neil Simon to Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange, and Dustin Hoffman.Through extensive interviews with collaborators and lovers and unprecedented access to Fosse's archives, Wasson also reveals the deep wounds that propelled his subject's excessive appetites - for spotlights, women, and life itself. In Fosse, Wasson's stylish, effervescent prose proves the ideal vehicle for reanimating Bob Fosse as he truly was - after hours, close up, and in vibrant color.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 21 hours and 23 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: November 5, 2013
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00G3INHOY
This isn't Fosse 101 , it's the whole story.
Sam Wasson is an excellent writer and not only covers every aspect of Bob Fosse's colorful and often tragically sad life, but digs in deep and keeps his reader enthralled with all of the details one could only glean from such a detailed book.
Where to start? How about Fosse's difficult childhood where his father left the family when little Bobby was in his formative years. Sad (and not surprising) to say that this loss paved the way for the angst, drive, and abuse (to himself and the people in his life - not just the women), all of which fueled the genius of this talented dancer, choreographer, and director.
This book is so dense that I found myself jumping around to the chapters that interested me the most i.e. his lifetime love affair with Gwen Verdon (Wasson gives us more than a glimpse about Gwen and her story, which is fascinating if you're a fan, and how she stuck with Fosse til (literally) the very end. The scads of other women in his life including Ann Reinking, et al, all play a part in Fosse's search for something he could honestly never find: happiness. His self-loathing and ongoing depression conquered all, but never love.
As a reader, I was reminded of just how MANY amazing films and shows this man headed up. This book is so interesting if you are a fan or Broadway and film."Damn Yankees" .."Pippin"... "Liza with a Z"... "The Pajama Game" ... "Kiss Me Kate"... Fosse was without a doubt, the "Zelig" of both worlds.
I was so pleased that Sam Wasson's writing kept me invested in the story of this man. Too many biographies lately are so poorly written and just a hodge-podge of previous attempts of getting the whole story with more numeric citations than a college algebra book.
This is a long book about a short man who cast a long shadow in a short lifetime. Bob Fosse single-handedly changed the way people dance on Broadway and in the movies. Through his major blockbuster accomplishments -- PAJAMA GAME, DAMN YANKEES, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, CABARET, SWEET CHARITY, CHICAGO, PIPPIN -- and others, he left his mark in the world of dance and the musical as we know it. True, he fell back on certain tricks that over the years have become clichés, but clichés come about only through their original brilliance.
Sam Wasson's incredibly well-researched biography of this man, while perhaps overlong, never fails to enlighten. I knew many of Fosse's shows, having been fortunate enough to become aware of Broadway at the same time he was at his peak. Thus I was able to see many of his shows in their original productions. They're shows I still listen to, to this day. I have many of his movies on DVD and watch them from time to time. But until I read this book, I had no knowledge of the man behind all those dances and shows.
He had a very sad beginning -- a distant father, a mother who seemingly let him do whatever he wanted. I mean, what kind of mother would allow a teenage son to work in burlesque theaters where strippers would molest him? These early events not only colored his psyche but helped contribute to his artistic output. We all are the sum total of our lives. Not all of us, though, can turn those formative experiences, good and bad, into something that will bring pleasure to millions of people, well beyond the end of our own physical existence. Fortunately for all of us and for generations to come, Bob Fosse was one of those who could and did.
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