Keith Curran

Where were the dance numbers? WHERE WAS THE DANCING? I watched the show, sure, expecting the same, tired, Fosse drinking, drugging, fooling around, but where were the DANCES? Oddly, the series didn't seem to have permission (from the Fosse estate?) to recreate Fosse's actual choreography! But, for a series about a (legendary) choreographer and a well known dancer, where were the damn musical numbers? Michelle Williams as Vernon did NO DANCING at all. Rockwell, as Fosse, did his usual foot-sliding nonsense that had no relation whatsoever to Fosse's style. Also problematic is that Vernon was NOT a major influence on Fosse's style. HE was on HERS. He, essentially, made her a star. But, her, years later, on the set of a Fosse movie, stepping in every now and then, telling a dancer "It's not a seduction it's a con job" is hardly representative of a creative partnership. Frankly, making the series about Vernon as much as Fosse reeked of too much "Me, Too". A WOMAN has to have an equal role now, truth be damned. Now, the two "collaborated" on "Sweet Charity" and "Damn Yankees", but... so what? Those shows happened mid-career for Vernon and early-career for Fosse. Then, she stagnated while he rocketed to stardom! Over the YEARS AND YEARS, she kept complaining that they had to do another show together, while he, independently, did "Lenny", "Cabaret", "Liza With A Z", "Pippin", "Dancin'", "Fosse"' and "All That Jazz". He revolutionized American Dance. She was a star for a while, decades ago, due, in large part, to Fosse's influence. Sorry, but the painfully obvious efforts taken by the series creators to put these two mismatched careers, wildly different in their artistic and cultural impact, on a level stage, was a disaster! It was embarrassing to watch. And it dragged the series, which could have been a celebration of a genius, down into a far too familiar and boring extended fighting match between a rising genius and a stalled-out stage star. AND WHERE WAS THE DANCING?