Slick your hair and wear your buckled shoes, and all that jazz

Sad news today - the lovely, leggy Fosse muse Miss Ann Reinking has high-kicked her way off to Fabulon...

Never quite as famous as her predecessor in Bob Fosse's bed Gwen Verdon, nor a top-billed star in the same way as Chita Rivera, nevertheless her legacy as a choreographer has assured her immortality - for it was she, rather than Bob himself, who created the fabulous "jazz hands" routines for the worldwide smash hit musical Chicago...

Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth - Chicago [Tony Awards, 1997]

...not to mention her dazzling performance in Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz:

Ann Reinking - There'll Be Some Changes Made

Pizazz!

RIP, Ann Reinking (10th November 1949 – 12th December 2020)

Hold on hon, we're gonna bunny-hug - I bought some aspirin down at United Drug

Oh my dears, it's miserable and dark out there, and the last thing I want to do is go out and to the office...

Never mind - on this Tacky Music Monday, let's instead dream of better things - such as the incomparable pairing of two of our favourite "va-va-voom" girls, Miss Liza Minelli and (today's birthday celebrant) Miss Goldie Hawn!

Goldie Hawn and Liza Minnelli - All That Jazz

Many happy returns, Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born 21st November 1945)

I've seen them all, and my dear...

Things will never be the same again.

From The New York Times

"Elaine Stritch is leaving the building.

Ms. Stritch, the husky-voiced actress who, with a Tony Award and three Emmys to her credit, became a beloved cabaret star in recent years at the Carlyle Hotel, said on Wednesday that she was giving up her apartment there and returning to her home state, Michigan. But not before she performs one last show, “Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin’ Over and Out,” from April 2 to 6.

Mere mention of the word “retirement” drew a gasp and flat denial from Ms. Stritch, who is 88. “What actor would ever say they’re done?” she fairly shouted over the telephone.

Still, in fragile shape after two recent falls and a hip replacement, she said she knew it was the end of an era."

What will the theatrical world do without her?

Elaine Stritch in Sail Away (Noel Coward)

Lena Zavaroni, Elaine Stritch, Wayne Sleep, George Chisolm - All That Jazz

Elaine Stritch - Broadway Baby

Elaine Stritch - I'm Still Here

Elaine Stritch

More Stritchy

[Thanks to Marc at Deep Dish for the info!]

All that Jazz

It's strange how coincidences happen...

Today would have been the 80th birthday of the late Roy Scheider, he of Jaws and French Connection fame.

Today is also the 63rd birthday of that marvellous Bob Fosse muse (and the great man's one-time lover), the choreographer, dancer and actress Ann Reinking - who was, tantalisingly, scheduled to appear with Chita Rivera for a charity gala in the West End last year which we were geared up to go to, until the thing fell through, dammit.

Miss Reinking and Mr Scheider, of course, famously collaborated on the semi-autobiographical Fosse musical film All That Jazz, and to mark the birthdays of these two great stars, here is a fantabulosa number from that very movie:

Ann Reinking - There'll Be Some Changes Made

Fantabulosa!

All That Jazz on IMDB

They only live to service you

It has been ages since we've had a bit of "glossy Fosse" here at Dolores Delargo Towers - and discovering the fact that the elastic gymnastic dancer Sandahl Bergman celebrates her 59th birthday today is enough of an excuse to feature some, methinks...

On this Tacky Music Monday, why not Take Off with them? If only EasyJet flights were like this!

Bob Fosse All That Jazz - Take Off With Us

Have a good one!

From King Kong to "cocksucker" to Kennedy

The lovely Jessica Lange celebrates her sixtieth birthday today!

Of Finnish, German and Dutch extraction, Miss Lange was never one of the "leading ladies" of Hollywood, yet she has made a definite impact upon my sensibilities. From her debut in the dreadful remake of King Kong - which I and my sister went to see in the cinema in 1976, and hated - she went on to recover her credibility with an extremely sexy role against Jack Nicholson in the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, an Oscar nomination for her absolutely stunning portrayal of the doomed 30s starlet Frances Farmer in Frances, and parts in several award-winning films including Tootsie and the Patsy Cline bio-pic Sweet Dreams, finally winning an overdue Oscar in 2004 for her part in Blue Sky with Tommy Lee Jones.

And I look forward to seeing her in the recently released movie Grey Gardens, about the weird real-life relatives of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis...

I have a sneaking admiration for Miss Lange - if not just for her sheer determination, after appearing in some shitty movies in her early career, but also for her incredible on-screen presence (to me, she is reminiscent of Faye Dunaway). Admittedly, her latest round of plastic surgery does lend itself to the feeling that this lady's bone structure is about to crumble...

All this leads me to one of her lesser-known parts in a film, and an excuse to post this particular clip (Bye Bye Life) from All That Jazz, in which (right at the very end) she plays "The Angel Of Death"...



And here she is giving what should have been the winning Oscar performance in Frances....("Occupation? Cocksucker!")

Jessica Lange - Frances

Jessica Lange on IMDB