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| Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 11:30 pm EST 01/14/22 | |
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| Sometimes the YouTube algorithm just gets it right. I randomly got served this video when visiting YouTube tonight. A Charleston number from 1956 film Don't Knock the Rock. The dancers are absolute stunners. The sheer athleticism, the perfectly calibrated chaos is just so joyous. Surely some of these dancers must have done Broadway. | |
| Link | The Charleston from 'Don't Knock The Rock' |
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| re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 08:56 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - DistantDrumming 11:30 pm EST 01/14/22 | |
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| Carol Haney right at the top here in the white skirt doing The Charleston. Then she comes back. Wow. | |
| Link | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISQuVgDh2Zc |
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| This Question Made Me Think of GEORGE CHAKIRIS and JOHN BRASCIA | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 02:14 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 02:04 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - DistantDrumming 11:30 pm EST 01/14/22 | |
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| Chakiris and Brascia did some outstanding dancing (uncredited) in the 1954 film White Christmas that made me notice them instantly. Chakiris, of course, became a Broadway and film star after dancing unnoticed in a number of Hollywood films. Brascia danced the role of Willie on Broadway in Hazel Flagg. When I saw White Christmas for the first time on TV, I recognized John from somewhere but couldn't remember where. Decades later, I realized I had seen him on The Ed Sullivan Show, dancing with Helen Gallagher in the "You're Gonna Dance with Me, Willie" number from Hazel Flagg. When I saw White Christmas for the first time on TV, I obviously also recognized Chakiris as having played Bernardo in the '61 West Side Story. The White Christmas film has some really bad continuity problems because Chakiris apparently plays two distinctly different characters in the film. He is a member of the dance ensemble with Vera-Ellen in a number performed at the general's inn midway into the film but then later appears in Rosemary Clooney's New York nightclub act much later in the movie. Both roles are small, but he has such a distinctive look and is such an incredible dancer that it is very noticeable that he is playing two distinctly separate people in the same movie. |
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| re: This Question Made Me Think of GEORGE CHAKIRIS and JOHN BRASCIA | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 04:36 pm EST 01/16/22 | |
| In reply to: This Question Made Me Think of GEORGE CHAKIRIS and JOHN BRASCIA - BroadwayTonyJ 02:04 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| Interesting. I recognized him in both numbers, but never thought through the logic or lack of. He makes quite an impression on Love You Didn't Do Right By Me. The poses he strikes around Rosemary are breathtaking. I adore the number. Rare to see Rosie quite so glamorous. I think of her persona as a bit more down to earth. I'm going to slip in a quick Rosie recommendation. I've been listening to her CD "For the Duration" It's a collection of WWII songs that she recorded in the 90s. |
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| re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? | |
| Posted by: reed23 01:44 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - DistantDrumming 11:30 pm EST 01/14/22 | |
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| The only one I found had done Broadway was Bobby Banas, who appeared on Broadway as an "Indian" in Jerome Robbins' production of PETER PAN starring Mary Martin. That production originated at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera,, where Banas was already an established young regular. After playing Broadway in PETER PAN, he returned to Hollywood, where he spent the rest of his career. He danced with Marilyn Monroe (and kissed her) in "Let's Make Love" (1960), played "Joyboy" in WEST SIDE STORY (1961), and was one of the chimney sweeps in MARY POPPINS. He's still with us, by the way; I corresponded with him a few years ago, when a YouTube video of "Nitty Gritty," a number he choreographed and was lead dancer for on The Judy Garland Show, suddenly swept the nation, getting millions of views, with posts titled "The Best Boy Dancer Ever." Two of the other DON'T KNOCK THE ROCK dancers did Hollywood versions of Broadway musicals; Gilbert Brady was in the LI'L ABNER film, and Troy Patterson was in GIVE A GIRL A BREAK, MY SISTER EILEEN, and GUYS & DOLLS. Many of the dancers in this movie had been in its predecessor "Rock Around The Clock," also choreographed by Earl Barton, who had a very active West Coast career as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Several of them were also in "The Benny Goodman Story," making me wonder if that was also choreographed by Earl Barton, but I can't find a choreographer credit for that film. There were thousands upon thousands of dancers in Hollywood, and countless opportunities for employment and serious skill development in the movies, on TV, and in adjacent Vegas. They were in no way the inferiors of their Broadway counterparts; getting in a movie meant being seen by millions of people, as opposed to thousands of people. There was comparatively little traffic between the dance communities of the two coasts, and most of it was one-way – to Hollywood. Occasionally someone like Michael Kidd (or Bob Fosse) would bring out his favorite dancers from New York. There was the story of Donna McKechnie, who went to Hollywood after her Broadway triumphs in the early 70s, and wound up in the colossal bomb "The Little Prince," and returned to NYC, which made up a good deal of her plot line in A CHORUS LINE. |
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| re: Nitty Gritty and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | |
| Posted by: waterfall 08:11 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - reed23 01:44 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| " 'Nitty Gritty', a number [Banas] choreographed and was lead dancer for on The Judy Garland Show, suddenly swept the nation, getting millions of views..." Banas at his "Don't pop the head, Cassie!" best. :) The Nitty Gritty clip was heavily "borrowed from" in Mrs. Maisel's S2, ep9, "Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy" telethon episode. The reimagined number was dubbed "The Bop". I can't find it now, but there was an article in which Mrs. Maisel's creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, was asked about the similarities. She roundly denied that that the show had derived any inspiration from Nitty Gritty, which...I dunno. If you have Amazon Prime, you can see "The Bop", starting around 23 minutes in. You tell me what you think. Personally, I think Sherman-Palladino's "revisionist history lacks vérité". |
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| Link | Nitty Gritty |
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| re: Nitty Gritty and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | |
| Last Edit: waterfall 08:39 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| Posted by: waterfall 08:24 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Nitty Gritty and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - waterfall 08:11 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| Found a link. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Regarding other dancers in Nitty Gritty, it seems likely that Gina Trikonis was Banas' partner. She was in West Side Story as well. |
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| Link | Mrs. Maisel's The Bop |
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| re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 01:51 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 01:51 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - reed23 01:44 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| You're faster than I am. Besides the two I mentioned below (Turnbull and Banas), I recognized the names of Gilbert Brady and Troy Patterson, who never did Broadway but must have danced in films or TV variety shows in the 50's. | |
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| re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 12:57 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - DistantDrumming 11:30 pm EST 01/14/22 | |
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| I'd guess maybe not? Not easy to travel back and forth between Hollywood and Broadway. They were probably just Hollywood dancers? | |
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| Glenn Turnbull -- Danced in CALL ME MISTER & Robert Banas -- Danced in PETER PAN (1955 Version) | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 01:45 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 01:35 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Did any of these stunning Charleston dancers do Broadway? - KingSpeed 12:57 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| Glenn Turnbull, one of the dancers in Don't Knock the Rock, was in Harold Rome's hit post-WWII Broadway revue Call Me Mister. Robert Banas played a Kangaroo and an Indian in the 1955 musical version of Peter Pan. |
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| re: Glenn Turnbull -- Danced in CALL ME MISTER & Robert Banas -- Danced in PETER PAN (1955 Version) | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 04:03 am EST 01/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Glenn Turnbull -- Danced in CALL ME MISTER & Robert Banas -- Danced in PETER PAN (1955 Version) - BroadwayTonyJ 01:35 am EST 01/15/22 | |
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| Thanks for the info! | |
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