Bob Avian - Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographers Journey

DANCING MAN

DANCING MAN

A Broadway Choreographers Journey

Bob Avian

with Tom Santopietro

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI / JACKSON

The University Press of Mississippi is the scholarly publishing agency of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning: Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi Valley State University, University of Mississippi, and University of Southern Mississippi.

www.upress.state.ms.us

The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of University Presses.

Copyright 2020 by University Press of Mississippi

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing 2020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

LCCN 2019046220

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

FOR PETER P. AND MICHAEL B.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would first like to thank my co-author and good friend Tom Santopietro, without whom this book would not have seen the light of day. His prodding and insistence upon putting pen to paper made this book a reality. His enthusiasm and talent are boundless.

A huge debt of thanks goes to my publisher Craig Gill, who led me so adroitly through the process of creating a memoir. Additional thanks to Craigs associate, Emily Bundy, for her first-rate help with a myriad of details, as well as to copy editor Peter Tonguette for his time and dedication. A special thanks to Pete Halverson for his jacket design and to illustrator Ken Fallin, whose theatre caricatures beautifully enhance this book.

To my agent Malaga Baldi, thank you for finding exactly the right publisher in the University Press of Mississippi. Your guidance through the entire process cannot be overestimated.

My gratitude as well to the professional photographers Bob Deutsch, Paul Kolnik, Anthony Timiraos, Michael Le Poer Trench, and the late, great Stephen G. Jennings, whose work has added so very much to this book.

Lots of love and hugs to my old pals Patti LuPone and Cameron Mackintosh, who agreed to look at early drafts and then encouraged me with their endless support.

I send gratitude as well to Adrian Bryan-Brown and Heath Schwartz for their help in spreading the word, along with Jordan Nettles, Courtney McCreary, and Steve Yates.

And for all their guidance and help, I thank my friends, family, and colleagues, including my sister, Laura Nabedian; Jane Austin; Natasha Dennison; Marti Stevens; Michael Keller; James Vandernoth; Ron Madelbaum and Bill Miller; Stanley Steinberg; Josh Johnston; Philip Rinaldi; John and Nan Breglio; Gemma Allsopp; Megan Gorman; Barbara A. Callahan; Brig Berney; and Dan Kaufman.

Lastly, but most importantly, to my husband and best friend Peter Pileski, whose unconditional love and endless support help me more than I can convey.

THE LEADING LADIES

DANCING MAN

CHAPTER ONE

KATHARINE HEPBURN, COCO, AND A BIG SMASH FLOP

Summer 1969

KATHARINE HEPBURN, IVE JUST DISCOVERED, CANT SING AND SHE SURE cant dance. Which is a big problem, since shes starring in Coco, the most talked-about musical of the Broadway season. And why is this particular problem of concern to me? Because Im the associate choreographer of the show, working alongside my best friend Michael Bennett, who is fresh off a Tony nomination as choreographer of the Broadway smash hit Promises, Promises. On this, the very first day of pre-production rehearsal, were excited and even in awe of the great Katefor precisely ten minutes. And then Michael and I look at each other and realize theres an elephant in the room: the legendary Katharine Hepburn doesnt have a musical bone in her body. Michael and I can read each others thoughts: Were in trouble. Big trouble.

The show is already sold out for the first three months of its run, and there is two million dollars, the biggest budget in the history of Broadway, riding on the line. On this particular day, we wanted to start work on The Money Rings Out Like Freedom, a montage weve conceived of Coco Chanels rise to the top of the worldwide fashion industry, complete with twenty-four models and constantly spinning turntables, all of it anchored by Kate/Coco singing and dancing center stage. But, if Kate cant walk in time to music, how are we going to stage this mammoth number?

What exactly had brought us to this juncture? Well, we were two ambitious young menI was thirty-two to Michaels twenty-sevenand we had eagerly signed on for the show, both of us excited by the chance to work with an impressive roster of A-listers: composer Andr Previn, librettist and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, designer Cecil Beaton, and Kate Hepburn herself.

Once we had agreed to work on the showMichael would choreograph and I would assist him, just as I had done on Promises, Promiseswe met with Alan Jay Lerner at his elegant house in Oyster Bay, Long Island, in order to discuss the shape of the show. Alan proposed putting portions of the show on film: key moments from Coco Chanels life would unroll on giant screens, the film footage bleeding into live presentation as the elegant Chanel models stepped through the screen while the film footage faded away. An interesting idea but one Michael nixed quickly. Film footage meant weeks and weeks of expensive pre-production, resulting in numbers being frozen months in advance, even as we continued to work on the show. There would be no room for the changes every musical endures on the way to opening night, and Michael and I also knew that film footage would detract from the live performers.