Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera in CHICAGO (1975, Broadway)
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- This footage was recently featured in the second instalment of Rick McKay's The Golden Age of Broadway, but was oddly out of synchronisation. As such, we present it here in its correct form.
As is known, a month into the production, Gwen Verdon inhaled a feather during the finale and had to take leave for a throat operation. To prevent the show from closing, Ms Minnelli stepped in for a month in the role of Roxie Hart, opposite Chita Rivera's Velma Kelly.
Seen here is a rehearsal from late July, with Ms Minnelli and Ms Rivera dancing the show's finale, the Hot Honey Rag. Notice Bob Fosse's head in the bottom of the image as he watches his dancers.
I think Fosse told Liza she was the best interpreter of his style. I think it's because Liza dances as the CHARACTER would. She is such a good actress, every step, every movements has a purpose, tells something about the character, every moves reveal the character. Liza is a tripple threat but her best asset is her acting skills. And her humanity, her personnality that emerges in everything she does. What a great performer.
Inspired interpretation of the
1920’s era.
Wild,free ,jazzy and electric!
Two Broadway legends who could DANCE ! Electric and visceral.
Bravo ladies!
YES, Liza knows Fosse is about ACTING not just steps. This is the BEST I have ever seen. The revival and Film are WAY under tempo. Literally it is supposed to be at "GO TO H*LL IN A FAST CAR" speed lol.
He knew Gwen Verdon was the best interpreter of his style "even better than he was." Liza a good dancer for a singer; she was not a great dancer by any stretch of the imagination.
@@MrCrowebobby Agreed! Liza is a very good mover but not a trained dancer in any real way. She was great in Cabaret but no one can touch Gwen Verdon in this style, she indeed helped create and inspire it.. though the incomparable Chita Rivera is also spectacular!
There will never be a better showbiz duo than Liza and Chita.
LIZA BLOWS ME AWAY. SHE IS SO GOOD.. EVERY HALF SECOND..JUST RIGHT ON POINT. SHE'S AMAZING!!
SHE ! AT HER PRIME !!. WAS TRULY !! ONE !!!!OF A MAGNIFICENT !💥💥💥💥💥💥! KIND !!!! TOTALLY💥💥💥💥 IRREPLACEABLE !!!!!!!!!
It is wonderful to see Liza having stepped into Gwen's shoes with short notice, learning all the steps and still looking like Liza doing them. When you watch Chita and Liza dancing and watch the revival of Chicago (just like with Pippin), you get a sense of things getting lost over the years after Bob Fosse's death. Even though Ann was a Fosse dancer and so much of Bob's stuff was recorded, the dances don't have that same electric, magnetic razzamatazz feeling. Today's performers do the steps technically correctly, but there is not enough human soul electricity to their movements. Maybe it has something to do with all the nuanced character-building Mr. Fosse did with the dancers to create an entire theatrical experience, not simply choreograph steps. I have seen many versions of this dance, and Liza and Chita have a wildly pulsating energy.
Wildly pulsating could not be a better adjective, and I'm so very glad you pointed it out. The current 'versions' of Fosse's choreographies, particularly those of Chicago, are dreadfully stiff (certainly an intentional choice) and lack the human plasticity so beautifully displayed by Ms Minnelli in this footage that luckily captures her performance.
TOTALLY ! AGREE ! 1000%
People who don't get it have also turned the Fosse "thing" into a tiresome, irritating cliche of late--I cringe whenever anyone goes "Jazz hands, hotcha!" or swivels their hips as if that's all there was to it, good lord, it was so much more complex and artistic than that (thankfully). All the sass and confidence in the world can't match the almost grotesque angles and energy of the original works. But woah--I had no idea this dance originally ended in the *splits,* as if the cartwheel in dance heels wasn't enough ha ha, never seen THAT before and it makes it even more exciting...this is fantastic footage, so glad to see some of the "real thing" finally! ❤
What you said. Today’s Fosse dancers are doing steps/choreo.
They don’t get what his dance captain from OBC Dancin’ Gail Benedict taught me in class-Fosse is about ACTING/CHARACTER ❤️🔥
I honestly don't know how I did it but I got to see Liza in this production when she stepped in for Gwen Verdon. The box office manager was very kind. I won't forget that performance.
2nd or 3rd week of August 1975 --- I was there
I was almost 19
😎😎😎😎😎
It still blows me away what a pro Liza is, that she agreed to do this show and learnt it all so fast. I do wish we had both full performances of Gwen and Liza. I have audio, but video/film would be awesome. Also shout out to Chita. I got to see her in Nine on Broadway and in her solo show ten years ago at the Sydney Opera House, she was incredible in both.
She is RIGHT BESIDE Chita, and keeping up. Not one ounce behind her.. incredible
You cannot imagine the electricity in that theater when Liza went in. I think I saw her second performance. When they made the announcement the joint went wild. And boy, did she deliver the goods. One of the great evenings of theater.
Oh wow! Thank you so much. Two real legends together. If only a recording of the whole show existed. I saw Liza in concert at the London Palladium late 70s. Greatest live performance I have ever seen, and I've seen A LOT! I have never forgotten every moment. I love Chicago, and would do anything to see the original version with these immense real talents. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Exist an soundboard of entire show
The one and only Chita an incredible dancer, singer actress, RIP. Both great performers!!!
This really is an amazing peice of footage. I've always loved the original version of the Hot Honey Rag. It's a really fun, fast-paced, dance number. And Chita and Liza do it wonderfully. As I'm sure Ms. Verdon did too.
THEY SURE *DO* . IT WOWED ME.
I was so looking forward to seeing Gwen Vernon and was surprised she just had throat surgery and was being replaced with Liza. I loved the show,especially Jerry Orbach. Liza tried her best with such short rehearsal time and mostly pulled it off.l will always remember that I was privileged to see both Chita and Liza on the stage together.💕💕
Wow! Saw the show with Gwen and loved it. Wish I could have caught it with Liza, but those tickets were impossible to get. The original version of Chicago was fabulous!
Loathe to make the comparison, BUT There was a documentary which correctly stated "Easter Parade" was the only Fred Astaire picture where the eye chooses to focus on his dance partner. In watching this priceless clip (AGAIN) my attention does not automatically fix upon Ms. Rivera. Chita's interpretations are always the rapt headquarters of attention, and rightly so. Ms. Minnelli always defies common entertainment, here challenging an intent focus debate. Rare treat, indeed!
They are electrifying. Separately and together.
Awesome!!! ❤️❤️❤️ It's a shame not being born in those years to appreciate the beauty of this all live.
I really really REALLY wish that were at least ONE full filming of the original production :(
Oh, if only there was even more footage of this musical, with Gwen Verdon too. Alas, a full, audio only housetape, tv apperances, bootleg fragments (thanks Ms. Brown), and scattered pictures on Pinterest will have to do... for now.
WOW! Amazing that you have this. Please upload more. Liza is incredible here. Even more impressive because she went in on short notice.
THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR HER IMMENSE TALENT.
This really is a fabulous bit of footage. Thanks so much for making it accessible.
Chita and Liza - where do we look? Too much amazingness!
Thank you! This is the best!! ✨
Wow this is actually fantastic! I’ve found the ending of Chicago in other productions I’ve seen to be wildly underwhelming. The movie is fantastic. But live, it ends on a very “meh” note… in this video I could feel the spark it was meant to have. Both ladies are incredible
It wasn’t ever supposed to have spark. It was meant to feel more like Brecht, especially considering the costumes and music were very much in the same style as the Cabaret film Fosse had previously directed. Nothing about the plot screams razzmatazz and that’s what was so brilliant about the original production. Berlin style, underground theatre counterbalanced and uplifted with Fosse Choreography.
@@peteradaniel no there was productions before the now normal version you always see with band on stage and minimal everything that did have complete set pieces. The common version now performed is done because it’s cheap. That doesn’t mean it’s good. That doesn’t mean other shows haven’t pulled similar off. But honestly, it drags the show down not having extra “razzmatazz”
I love the special Liza Minnelli and Goldie Hawn did when they were trying to raise money to make Chicago the movie
What a missed opportunity
MISSED !😫😫 Opportunity ! Indeed !! Had it Been Made ! With Those Two ! LEGENDS ! Then ! At Their Prime !!!!!💪💪 Directed ! By Fosse ! At The Time !... It Most Probably ! Would Have topped ! CABARET ! As His Best Film !!!! And H
Be the Classic ! That ! Unfortunately !... It's Not !!!!!;🙄
The special which aired on CBS in 1980 of Goldie and Liza was pretty bad and Goldie Hawn does not sing or dance in any acceptable manner even though she did on the special.
*WOW, LIZA* ...YOU ARE JUST *THE CAT'S MEOW.* LOOK AT YOU GO~SO PERFECT IN YOUR EXECUTION OF THE DANCE MOVES...NEAT!
YOU ARE SO TALENTED..ITS PHENOMINAL AND I LOVE YOUR INCREDIBLE SPIRIT THAT FUELS IT ALL YOUR LIFE. NICE JOB, GIRL. BEAUTIFUL GIRL.
OH MY GOD !!!!!! WHAT A TREASURE !!!!! THE JOY ? OF IT ALL !!!!!!! In my Humble ! Opinion !!🙄 This Version ! Of The ORIGINAL ! Version ! Of Fosse's CHICAGO !!!! The Whole Concept ! Sets ! Costumes ! Music Arrengmenrs Tempo! Etc !! Was WAY SUPERIOR !! Than ANY Of the Scaled Down ! Productions !! That Have Appeared ! On Broadway !... Since !! And it WELL Deserves !! A Revival !!!! So The New ! Generations !!! Can Experience ! It's UNRIVALED MAGIC !!!!!!
absolutely amazing !!!! please post more if you have any 💙
Wow! This is amazing. I saw Chicago in 1999 (I think) Bebe had already left but was back for a short time, which was an unbelievable and amazing surprise! To see footage of these two legends performing is priceless ❤️
Verdon swallowed confetti during the Chicago run, and the feather during Sweet Charity.
Bravo! How I wish someone could upload this entire performance!
So fabulous!!!
I saw Liza and Chita in The Rink..1984..front row seat...Amazing...
I did, too. One of my most cherished theatrical memories. Can't believe it wasn't a huge hit.
Me Too ! On Saw it On Liza's ! LAST Performance ! On the Tuesday Night !!! She Left The Show !!!on Wednesday !!!; 😅! And She ! Chita ! And the Show Were Amazing ! I Saw ! No Sign ! Of trouble ! With HER Performance ! At All !!!!!!🙄
Had to watch "Fosse/Verdon" again, which led me to watch this clip in awe AGAIN. Now another time through "Cabaret" seems prudent. Probably Ms. Minnelli in 'Victor/Victoria" will take another viewing before the week is over.
Carrying a lead is weighty burden of honor; filling in for a talent-laden lead is running full-speed around a dark golf course.
Kindness with talent exceeds ego every single time.
This is awesome ! 👏👏👏
Amazing!
Thank you!!
I'm going to assume the figure in the dark watching is Bob Fosse. And, even the way Chita sticks out her leg to stand when it is all over is SO dramatic! Such an amazing piece of theatre!
Rest in Peace La Rivera.
PLEASE !! UPLOAD !! MORE !!!!!!!👍👍
Fosse is Forever.
Thanks for editing this, good job!
This is the tempo the number should be performed at "GO TO HELL IN A FAST CAR" the film and current revival are too slow here. Also see the go for broke gusto Liza and Chita are dancing with? They are precise but loose with their movements, not stiff corpses like Bebe and some others.Fosse should be FUN and fast/sexy not boring and stiff like Ziemba and Bebe dance him. That is Bob standing in front of the stage, so that is exactly the tempo he wants.
Yes I am sorry the tight, small, precise movements became Fosse's only trademark to later audiences. This isn't who he was in total. Look at his earlier work and even his last show Big Deal. He often used big movements and high energy. It was only in part of the 70's that Fosse did the sort of stuff he is now known for. Plus I never believed Hot Honey Rag in the revival was his original choreo, it, like the rest of the show is an imitation and speaks more to how Reinking and others saw his stuff. Plus Fosse was much more a director than a choreographer. Even Liza once said it isn't about the dancing, it is about the acting.
It’s not the same choreography tbh, rather than it being danced differently as it got changed. Bob re-staged it on Ann and Lenora when they took over full time and that was the version that Ann used in the revival which is tighter and less free and has no splits at the end: that is how he intended her and Lenora to do it as it suited their v precise style and that’s what she used in the revival (when Chita played Roxie in the revival she did the tighter version, not her own original version). The 1970s US Tour version he staged on Penny and Carolyn was different again and same on the other pairs he worked with. The revival version (and the version in “Fosse”) have always been the Ann-Lenora version but with 2 different endings (with and without cartwheels, for those who need it both for ability and for resting injury reasons - same reason there are two “we want Billy” versions with and without splits) and minor tweaks from dance captains and people like Gary Chryst et al. who’ve modified it to look better on particular pairs e.g. if a major height difference etc.
@@TheSpinDoctor SPIN DOCTOR is a great name for you. Actually, if you do your research, Chita and Gwen do this EXACT same choreo at this tempo on the Mike Douglass Show in 1975. This is the speed and choreo from the OBC. Obviously any choreographer worth their salt adjusts choreo to the limitations of the dancers they have, but THIS is the speed he wanted and could achieve with masters of their craft such as Chita, Liza and Gwen. Other changes were due to dancers not being up to the bar he wanted. he adjusted to make them look good, but this is the tempo desired.
@@billyflood2430 I said nothing about the tempo, nor about Gwen-Chita version being different to Liza-Chita. I was talking about the Ann-Lenora version which is what the revival uses. Mr Fosse restaged this (and many other numbers e.g. huge swathes of Sweet Charity) to suit specific dancers - it’s very well documented that he did this throughout his career. It wasn’t down to ability but what looked good on what specific combination of people, their physique and their acting choices in the role. The Gwen-Chita version isn’t used for the revival - it’s superficially similar to the later Ann-Lenora version but IS different and done in a tighter style with quite a lot of differences in the final sections. This was done by Mr Fosse to suit the characterisations and the physique of the dancers when the cast changed in 1976 (numerous other changes were made at the same time but those numbers are of course never performed now so we don’t see them). Ann then used that version (as that’s the one she knew) for the 1996 revival of “Chicago” and again in the 1999 “Fosse”. She and Gwen both talked about that extensively in interviews at the time: it’s very well documented in the various books on Mr Fosse and on the production of “Chicago”, too. Even when Chita joined the revival herself as Roxie (1998-99, Toronto, Los Vegas, London) she also did the Ann-Lenora version, not the one that was created on her in 1975, and the ending was modified further in London to accommodate an injury on Valarie Pettiford (Velma). If you watch the HHR in the DVD version of “Fosse”, you can see it’s not the same choreography as the Gwen-Chita version - it starts the same and then changes. It’s not just the same choreography being danced/interpreted differently, it’s a distinct difference in style that came from Mr Fosse himself in 1976 when he reworked the number when the cast changed. The Ann-Lenora version has been the base used for all of the “Chicago” and “Fosse” productions worldwide since 1996/1998 and is modified to suit ability/accommodate injury - it has always had 2 different endings since 1996 for that reason, but other changes have been added near the start at times too.
Liza is just a naturally gifted dancer...some people just have that. It's a gift. Her singing was always a little more variable.
Just fantastic!!!
Wow, they were good dancers
I wish they'd still do the split at the end.
Well... I wish they would cast dancers in the role... then we might get that ending! :p
The split was only in the Gwen/Liza and Chita version of Mr Fosse’s choreography - when the revival was staged, Ann used the Ann-Lenora version Mr Fosse created on them, which for whatever reason had no splits and was a bit tighter in the middle/less flowing. It’s that version still in use today (she used the same version for “Fosse” too) but they do have an alternative ending without the cartwheel for performers who can’t do it at all or who can’t do it on a given day through injury. When I saw Chita as Roxie in London, the cartwheel was cut as Valarie Pettiford had an ankle injury from doing “Fosse” still.
Liza looks amazing dressed head to toe in her 20s inspired outfit
I saw it with Quen and to me it was much better. There is no one better than the originals. Just at nobody could never be a better Sally Bowels than Liza except Dame Judy Dench
Wooooowww
Treasure!
Oh to be there
Exelent !
She is simply the best.
Is this a rehearsal?
I would love to know what is on Chita's t-shirt.
I saw both versions; first with Gwen Verdon then Liza Minnelli. Both were great in their unique way. There is nothing like the original production. I saw a pale imitation in London in 2000. Meh.
DOWN IN FRONT!
Maybe it's Bob Fosse directing a rehearsal. (Why else would Chita Rivera be wearing that T-shirt?) I don't care. Sit down!
And now go watch Wallflower and it’s like full circle
If it's a rehearsal, who is doing all the applause at the end. Sounds like a real performance.
The audio is most likely from an actual performance, hence the applause at the end. This is the case in some theatrical films where the sound wasn't recorded with it and the people who upload them here such as 1971FolliesFan have to improvise.
It's interesting that many elements of this 1975 Hot Honey Rag is included in the current H.H.R. on Broadway.
Why is Chita wearing a t-shirt?
Cause ! It Was LIZAS ! Dressrehearsal !!👍 The Guy !! In The Front ! Was FOSSE !!!
My mind is gaslighting me I keep think Chita is wearing a t-shirt
She is!
Liza was roundly panned for her performance in Chicago, but judging from this selection, the criticism was probably unfair. She seems to throw herself into this dance number.
She was not roundly panned at all but praised by the critics
What Are you Talking🙄 About ????? I Still Have Some Of HER Reviews ! For this Show !! And Including ! The NYT Gave her High Praise !!!; Comparing LIZA ! And GWEN ! As Two FINE WINES ! One RED ! And One WHITE !... SHE SAVED ! THE SHOW !!!!!!;;
David, can you provide one quote or one article link to back that statement up with? Very irresponsible of you saying something like that, when the opposite was true. Liza got rave reviews for her month-long stint in Chicago. When Liza and Chita reunited for the ‘The Rink’ in 1984, that got some unfavorable reviews but the general consensus with Liza stepping in to save the day, was very very positive.
Balderdash.
@@jaykaplan2862 Panned? BS. And I saw her and the show another six times.
¿ and Gwen Verdon ?
Gwen was out sick. Liza stepped in last minute
Liza is great, a wonderful performer and actress, and she probably saved the show. But she's not Gwen Verdon.
No, she's Liza. What an absurd comment. Both women are incredible. Gwen cannot do what Liza does and Liza cannot do what Gwen does. They have incredible DIFFERENT things they bring to the role.
@@billyflood2430 you literally just said Bebe Neuwirth is a corpse in the number… so……. this logic seems odd coming from you 😂
And Gwen ! Was NOT Liza !!!!!!!... What a Dumb Comment !!. Like The NYT ! Review ! Said ! They Are BOTH FINE Wine ! One WHITE !!! And One RED !!!..One A Dancer ! That Sang ! VERDON And The other ! A Singer ! That Danced!!!!; MINNELLI !!!🙄;
@@AKoooooooo Compared To LIZA ! And CHITA ! YES ! Bebe ! TOTALLY!!!! Seems Like a CORPSE !!!!;;🙄
@@AKoooooooo Exactlly! 😀She IS Sooooo Bland ! Just!!!😀 Like a DEAD Person !!