Line #3 Creator/BobFosse


1	[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bobfosse.jpg]]
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3	Robert Louis "Bob" Fosse (June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and film director. He won eight Tony Awards for choreography during his lifetime. He was also nominated for four UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, winning one for directing ''Film/{{Cabaret}}''. As a matter of fact, he is the only director to have won a Tony (for ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}''), an [[MediaNotes/EmmyAward Emmy]] (for ''Liza with a Z''), and an Oscar (for ''Cabaret'') '''in the same year'''.
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5	Known for his innovative choreography and use of subtext in his dances, Fosse choreographed such classic Broadway musicals as ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame'', ''Theatre/DamnYankees'', and ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''. Productions he both choreographed and directed include ''Theatre/SweetCharity'', ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'' (on which he also did some uncredited work on the script), and ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}''.
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7	He appeared in the film versions of ''Theatre/KissMeKate'', ''Theatre/DamnYankees'' and ''The Little Prince''.
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9	His film ''Film/AllThatJazz'' (1979) is a semi-autobiographical look at his life and relationships. ''Fosse'', a musical revue featuring his most famous dances, won the Tony award for Best Musical in 1999.
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11	In 2019, Creator/{{FX\|Networks}} aired a biographical mini-series called ''Series/FosseVerdon'' with Creator/SamRockwell as Fosse and Creator/MichelleWilliams as Fosse's wife and long-time collaborator Gwen Verdon.
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14	[[folder: List of Works]]
15	[[AC: Theatre Work:]]
16	* [[AC: Choreographer:]]
17	** ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame''
18	** ''Theatre/DamnYankees''
19	** ''Theatre/BellsAreRinging''
20	** ''Theatre/NewGirlInTown''
21	** ''{{Theatre/Redhead}}''
22	** ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''
23	** ''Theatre/LittleMe''
24	** ''Theatre/PleasuresAndPalaces''
25	** ''Theatre/SweetCharity''
26	** ''{{Theatre/Pippin}}''
27	** ''{{Theatre/Chicago}}''
28	** ''{{Theatre/Dancin}}''
29	** ''Theatre/BigDeal''
30
31	* [[AC: Director:]]
32	** ''Theatre/LittleMe''
33	** ''Theatre/PleasuresAndPalaces''
34	** ''Theatre/SweetCharity''
35	** ''{{Theatre/Pippin}}''
36	** ''{{Theatre/Chicago}}''
37	** ''{{Theatre/Dancin}}''
38	** ''Theatre/BigDeal''
39
40	* [[AC: Librettist:]]
41	** ''{{Theatre/Pippin}}'' - uncredited
42	** ''{{Theatre/Chicago}}''
43	** ''Theatre/BigDeal''
44
45	* [[AC: Actor:]]
46	** ''Theatre/PalJoey'' - Joey
47
48	[[AC: Film/Television Work:]]
49	* [[AC: Director:]]
50	** ''Film/SweetCharity''
51	** ''{{Film/Cabaret}}''
52	** ''Liza With a Z''
53	** ''{{Film/Lenny}}''
54	** ''Film/AllThatJazz''
55	** ''Film/Star80''
56
57	* [[AC: Screenwriter:]]
58	** ''Film/AllThatJazz''
59	** ''Film/Star80''
60
61	* [[AC: Choreographer:]]
62	** ''Film/WhiteChristmas'' - uncredited
63	** ''Film/ThePajamaParty''
64	** ''Film/DamnYankees''
65	** ''Film/SweetCharity''
66	** ''{{Film/Cabaret}}''
67	** ''Film/TheLittlePrince''
68	** ''Film/AllThatJazz''
69
70	* [[AC: Actor:]]
71	** ''Series/TheAffairsOfDobieGillis''
72	** ''Film/KissMeKate''
73	** ''Film/TheLittlePrince'' - The Snake
74	[[/folder]]
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76	----
77
78	!!Tropes associated with Bob Fosse include:
79
80	* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations[=/=]ScreenToStageAdaptation:
81	** ''Sweet Charity'' is based on Creator/FedericoFellini's ''Film/NightsOfCabiria'' (and subsequently, Fosse brought his version to the screen).
82	** ''Cabaret'' was adapted from the stage musical, itself based on a set of short stories by Christopher Isherwood (collected in ''Goodbye To Berlin''), as well as ''I Am A Camera'', a 1951 play inspired by the ''Berlin'' stories.
83	** ''Chicago'' is based on the 1924 nonmusical play by Maurine Dallas Watkins of the same name.
84	** ''Big Deal'' is based on Mario Monicelli’s crime-comedy ''Film/BigDealOnMadonnaStreet.''
85	** ''Dancin’'', while not an direct adaptation, is more of a {{Pastiche}} of various dance styles Fosse was influenced by over the years.
86	* AuthorAppeal:
87	** His dances were often sexual and comical in nature, owing much to the cabarets of his youth. They had elements like turned-in knees, rolled-in shoulders, sideways shuffling, hip thrusts and jazz hands.
88	** He freely mixed styles of dance, from overtly broad movements to tiny, intricate jerks of the body.
89	** He also used white gloves, derbies and chairs as often as he could.
90	** As a storyteller, he often focused on those who try to become greater than themselves, usually through artistic achievement, entertainment or fame-seeking. They examine the foibles of the human condition and society as a whole, more often than not cynically. He’ll keep the audience entertained before giving them some severe MoodWhiplash somewhere down the line.
91	* AuthorAvatar: Joe Gideon from ''All That Jazz'' is the most blatant example, but Fosse asserted that the majority of his heroes were extensions of himself.
92	* {{Biopic}}: Both of his non-musical films were biopics, both relating to artists and the struggle between fame and their art.
93	* BlackComedy: His sense of humor is this through and through, with some snarking tendencies on top.
94	* BreakingTheFourthWall: A ton of his works certainly lean on it, but ''Pippin'' balls-out demolishes the damn wall.
95	* CopiouslyCreditedCreator: He was a director, writer, choreographer, producer and occasional actor for film, theatre and television, often with multiple productions going on at once.
96	* DiegeticMusic: One of his big innovations for the movie musical were that the musical numbers were always in a different reality or venue from the “real world” of the film, whether that be through the Kit Kat Klub in ''Cabaret'' or as seen through [[ImagineSpot imagine spots]] in ''All That Jazz.''
97	* GlorySeeker: The main hallmark of a Fosse hero. Fosse himself is a major example, as throughout his life, as he always felt the need to top whatever he did before him.
98	* IconicItem: The derbies and white gloves, with the chair at a close second.
99	* ItalianFilms: ''Sweet Charity'' and ''Big Deal'' are adaptations of Italian classics, while ''All That Jazz'' owes a great deal to Fellini's ''Film/EightAndAHalf'', to the point where he got the former's regular cinematographer to work on the film.
100	* MoodWhiplash: One of his very favorite tricks. You can never go into a Fosse production without having the rug pulled from under you emotionally.
101	* TheMusical: His bread and butter.
102	* ThePerfectionist: Fosse was constantly reworking and refining his productions to the finest detail. The precision of the editing, the wrinkle on a fabric, even the position of a finger didn’t go unnoticed by his eye.
103	* SelfDeprecation: ''All That Jazz'' is practically a masterclass in self-flagellation.
104	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Fosse’s work got increasingly cynical as time went on, but often had occasional glimmers of optimism.
105	* {{Vaudeville}}: A major influence on the Fosse style, as his dances were filled with the pratfalls, double-takes and slapsticky qualities of the medium.
106	* WorkHardPlayHard: A workaholic throughout his life, Fosse would supplement his meticulous work schedule with hardcore, party lifestyle included more booze, sex and pills than most people would get in a lifetime.
107	* WorkingWithTheEx: Gwen Verdon eventually left Fosse thanks to his womanizing and self-destruction, though they stayed legally married. She continued to work with him for the rest of their lives, and he died in her arms while they were working on a revival of ''Sweet Charity''.
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Context Creator / BobFosse