Fosse's Dancin' to Return to Broadway in 2009

A new staging of the three-act Bob Fosse dance revue Dancin' will return to the Broadway stage in spring 2009 following a run in Toronto.

The revival will be guided primarily by three of Fosse's former female collaborators: director Graciela Daniele, artistic consultant Ann Reinking and former chorine Kathryn Doby, who worked as an assistant to Fosse on Pippin, Chicago and the original Dancin'. Doby's primary function here will be to recreate Fosse's dances. Nicole Fosse, daughter of Fosse and Gwen Verdon, will advise on the revival and also assist with the addition of several Fosse numbers never before performed on the stage.

Dancin' opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 27, 1978 and played there, and later at the Ambassador Theatre, for a total of 1774 performances. Directed and choreographed by Fosse, it was nominated for seven 1978 Tony Awards and won Fosse one of his eight Tonys for Best Choreography. Fosse's vision of the show was to blend contemporary music with classical music, so Dancin' featured songs from a diverse mix of songwriters including Neil Diamond, Melissa Manchester, Johan Sebastian Bach, Jerry Leiber, Cat Stevens, Cynthia Weil, George M. Cohan, Barry Mann, Louis Prima, Johnny Mercer and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Several of the dances from Dancin' were previously recreated for the 1999 Tony-winning musical revue Fosse: "Crunchy Granola Suite," "Mr. Bojangles," "Big Noise from Winnetka," "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" and "Sing, Sing, Sing."