LCOOD: Summer fun with Liza, Teicher and talented teens

Ella Fitzgerald

Poster for Bob Fosse's Cabaret with Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles

Here's a note about my one foray out, this season, to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, a free arts festival that, for many years, I used to haunt. Why only once this time? Well, I am now far less weather-tolerant than ever and quite over Gotham's punishing version of summer. This summer, I happen to be stuck in New York and not without whining. Considering that my notion of staycation definitely includes a ton of outdoor activities, I've been miserable.

But it turned out to be reasonably pleasant last evening as the sun vanished and students from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts--the Fame school--brought the Fosse in an all-out presentation of the jazz dance master's Sing, Sing, Sing number from DANCIN' (1978). Sanctioned by The Verdon Fosse Legacy, this ensemble performed as if sanctioned by God Herself. Which drew cheers and a standing-O from an army of buddies and family. Which brought unexpected tears to my eyes because young artists with supportive families.

The inspiring Caleb Teicher (Caleb Teicher & Company) followed with a trio of his dance pieces. This snappy size matters duet Small & Tall--Christine Flores and Lindsey Jones, respectively--showed off Teicher's penchant for goofy physical comedy. He's gifted at this himself with a studied finesse to the timing of movements and unique, offbeat detail--all of that making him the unmatched standout in his charming swing piece, Meet Ella. Originally a long, flowing duet with Nathan Bugh, it was presented last night as a quartet incorporating two women dancers, Macy Sullivan and Evita Arce. Sullivan and Arce have carefree gusto and were employed well throughout, but I was a little sorry to see them granted the tender, whirling, orbiting same-sex duet I had originally seen where Teicher partnered co-choreographer Bugh to Ella Fitzgerald's recording of "Midnight Sun." (I'm going to link to that song once again, as I've done before, because if you youngsters don't know it, you're missing something pretty great.) It's not that I don't want to ever see two women tackle this duet. It's that I specifically want Teicher + Bugh + Fitzgerald to dazzle me again.

If you get a chance to see this troupe, may it be in a closer, smaller setting. The Damrosch Park Bandshell isn't the best place for these dancers, though the Bzzz ensemble number--particularly a rousing duet between beatboxer Chris Celiz and tap improviser Jabu Graybeal--overrode the distance.

It was a long night, and I stayed only a few songs into the screening of Bob Fosse's television special for Liza Minnelli, Liza With A "Z" (1972). I ducked out while Liza took on "Son of A Preacher Man," a hit for English pop singer Dusty Springfield four years prior. But that and the first few numbers were enough to remind me of beloved Liza's big heart and underscore just how much freedom of expression white artists gained from studying Black people.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors concludes on August 11 and, in the meantime, wants to bring you several more cool performances for FREE. Click here for schedule details.

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DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

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LC Fest: Japan's Takarazuka Revue takes on "CHICAGO"

Started by a railway magnate in 1914 to attract tourists to the hot springs town of Takarazuka, the all-female Takarazuka Revue has grown into a true cultural phenomenon, with a devoted fan base that clamors for the company’s sparkling adaptations of classic Western and Japanese stories, movies, and plays, and a cultural influence that extends into the realms of anime and manga.

--from "Takarazuka: A History"

Granted, I did not have the best vantage point for Japan's Takarazuka CHICAGO, seated near the rear of the Koch Theater's hall (my bad, I guess, for waiting too late to try for a press ticket). From there, I could see, very well, that Takarazuka Revue's cast--nearly all women, often taking male roles--had brought their sharpest knives to the Fosse (via Ann Reinking) banquet. But I couldn't make out facial expressions or the subtleties of gaze and body talk that usually connect and even bond me to performers and the characters they play. I struggled to recover some sense of the 1975 Kander-Ebb-Fosse musical I had seen and enjoyed only in its 2002 movie version. It didn't help to have to continually aim my gaze nearly to the ceiling, away from those distant faces, to catch whatever English supertitles I could catch. I felt lost and got lost more often than I'd care to admit.

At the outset, the CHICAGO of Takarazuka CHICAGO seemed sluggish. Post-intermission, though, it took on a certain charge, and I did get a kick out of Saori Mine (playing flashy, celebrated celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn) and the moxie of foxy Roxie Hart (played by Hikaru Asami) and Velma Kelly (Yoka Wao), our two vaudeville-era lady killers. But I did not really start rooting for Takarazuka Revue until the hard-working performers lowered the curtain on CHICAGO and gifted us with one their famous encores, a show in itself.

To Takarazuka Revue, "encore" does not mean one or two quick, rousing sendoffs. Oh no. It means a string of numerous songs, each a mini-production with different performers, about twenty minutes more of material--Takarazuka's own material, this time, and what material! Glittering light effects sweeping the theater's walls and ceiling; sexy, romantic tangos between women dressed to the nines; Vegas showgirl feather costumes and Rockettes-style lineups. It's also fun to notice how audience members, many of them Japanese or Japanese-American, recognize and hail specific players as they take the stage for their encore segments.

As I giddily discussed this, via Facebook app, with a Takarazuka fan who has seen the troupe in Japan, we hit on the same explanation for why these encores slay. It's really hard to separate how gaudily over-the-top they are from the exquisite technical excellence of the performances. Your brain instinctively says, "Wait, no. I can't believe this," but you're grinning. Confections coming after the dark meal of CHICAGO, they feel like acts of sincere generosity, feel-good rewards and guilty pleasures. Each number is bite-sized but packs a lot of calories, and everyone goes away richly fed.

The North American premiere run of Takarazuka CHICAGO continues at Lincoln Center Festival through Sunday. Remaining shows are:

Friday, July 22, 7:30
Saturday, July 23, 2:00
Saturday, July 23, 8:00
Sunday, July 24, 2:00

Note: The show runs roughly three hours with one intermission.

Get information and tickets here.

David H. Koch Theater
20 Lincoln Center Plaza, Manhattan
(map/directions)

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Dance to get stamps of approval

Legendary Choreographer Bob Fosse to Be Honored with U.S. Stamp
Broadway.com, August 16, 2011

And not just Fosse! There's Isadora Duncan, Katherine Dunham and José Limón, too, coming in 2012 to a post office near you!