{"id":951,"date":"2016-08-08T15:48:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T15:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2018-08-07T02:50:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T02:50:14","slug":"theatre-in-film-series-all-that-jazz-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-all-that-jazz-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Film Series: All That Jazz (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-header-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h3>Theatre in Film Series: <em>All That Jazz<\/em> (1979)<\/h3>\n<font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-1 hover-type-none author-image\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/authorimage.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>August 6, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\">Have a love affair with theatre <em>and\u00a0<\/em>film? Me too! It&#8217;s an ongoing relationship that&#8217;s a thrill to have, and Performer Stuff&#8217;s\u00a0Theatre in Film series celebrates the\u00a0great films that effectively depict a life in the theatre.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Part III\u00a0in our ongoing\u00a0tribute to theatre-centric cinema begins with\u00a0Bob Fosse&#8217;s semi-autobiographical film<em>,\u00a0All That Jazz<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em>from 1979.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>All That Jazz\u00a0<\/em>(1979)<\/h4>\n<br><div align=\"center\"><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C74Pae3PpMo?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><br><p><b>Director:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bob Fosse<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Starring:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, and Ann Reinking<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">What happens:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Theatre director Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is in the middle of working on his latest Broadway musical while trying to cut together a Hollywood film he\u2019s directed. Gideon smokes and drinks his way through rehearsals and begins every day with a dose of Dexedrine, Alka-Seltzer, and Visine. His continuous escapades with different women frustrate his ex-wife (Leland Palmer) and current girlfriend (Ann Reinking), and in numerous fantasies, he flirts with an angel of death named Angelique (Jessica Lange). Gideon is rushed to the hospital when he complains of chest pains during a table read. He\u2019s mandated to stay at the hospital for three to four weeks. After negative reviews for his film are released, Gideon has a massive coronary and is rushed in for bypass surgery during which he dreams scenes from his life. In his final moments, his death is shown in a large variety show featuring people from his life, each of them wishing him well as he says goodbye.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Why it matters:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All That Jazz<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a semi-autobiographical film,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was directed and co-written by Bob Fosse. Though Fosse couldn\u2019t predict his own death, he would die eight years later meeting the fate of his character Gideon &#8212; a heart attack. He died after the final dress rehearsal of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sweet Charity <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">revival in 1987. His cast wasn\u2019t told of his death until after the opening night\u2019s performance of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sweet Charity <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">had concluded on that following day. Fosse\u2019s legacy as a director is manifested in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All That Jazz<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: his choreography, his passion, his drive, and his desire for absolute perfection. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most striking aspect of\u00a0this film is its accurate portrayal of the audition and rehearsal process &#8212; and how that process can sometimes take a toll on artists, from the producers to the director to the performers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most famous scenes in the film is the opening sequence in which dancers audition for Gideon\u2019s Broadway show. Hundreds of performers dance onstage in unison, all led by Gideon\u2019s dance captain. We see dancers warming up, actors watching others while they attempt to memorize the steps, dancers practicing moves, and Gideon quietly telling some that they\u2019re no longer needed. The way in which this scene is edited together\u00a0mimics the way an audition process sometimes feels: quick and not long enough to show your worth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the casting process, Gideon\u2019s drinking and amphetamine intake increases as he tries to cope with the stress of editing his film and directing his show. His collapse is something that some actors and dancers feel\u00a0<em>emotionally<\/em> after a long and stressful rehearsal process. Other times, our bodies literally give out when we haven\u2019t given ourselves enough time to bounce back between shows &#8212; we experience fatigue, chest pains, dizziness, headaches, and illness. If we\u2019re lucky, our bodies can hold out long enough to get through the closing night of a show; adrenaline helps us push through aches and pains. But if work is constant, and there\u2019s never a recuperation period, disaster can strike. \u00a0If nothing else, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All That Jazz <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reminds us that our health comes first as artists and that our bodies and voices are valuable, irreplaceable tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below are three videos: the first features the opening scene from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All That Jazz <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in which dancers audition for Gideon\u2019s Broadway show, the second is B-reel from the film in which Bob Fosse directs actors in that same audition scene, and the third is the ABC Nightly News obituary that played following Fosse\u2019s death on September 23, 1987.<\/span><\/p>\n<br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L2e9acreKmQ?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a5TNYn3MAqs?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><br><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9efRwVJldE0?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This film is the first featured in Part III of \u201cTheatre in Film\u201d. See below for the others in Part III.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-tootsie-1982\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Tootsie <\/em>(1982)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-the-dresser-1983\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>The Dresser<\/em>\u00a0(1983)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-to-be-or-not-to-be-1983\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>To Be Or Not To Be<\/em> (1983)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>A Chorus Line<\/em>\u00a0(1985) <\/strong><em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Want to start with Part I? Check out\u00a0<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=133\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">42nd Street\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(1933)<\/span><\/strong>. Didn&#8217;t get to read Part II?\u00a0Begin with\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-band-wagon-1953\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The<\/strong> <strong>Band Wagon\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(1953)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com\u2019s Editor.\u00a0<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">Thumbnail image from\u00a0<em>All That Jazz.\u00a0<\/em>Copyright\u00a0\u00a9 20th Century Fox and\u00a0Columbia Pictures, 1979.<\/h5>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[259,265],"tags":[6,379,106,352,139,319,107,82,80,14,105],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}