‘Fosse’ Is a Blockbuster Tribute

The brim of a derby lightly touched by forefinger and thumb, the other fingers spread wide. Facing front, the dancers, shoulders sagging, let their arms hang limply, as their hands jut out at angles. Facing away from the audience, the dancers’ impudent behinds wag joyfully.

You can’t mistake the late Bob Fosse’s choreography, it’s all there in the Tony-winning musical tribute “Fosse” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Modern dance began with Nijinsky’s “L’apres midi d’un faun,” with its angular lines and eccentric form. Nijinsky took movement and turned it into attitude.

Fosse did the same, and that’s what made him special. He could take a simple, bland lyric, stir excitement into the music and create unforgettable moments of dance. He was arguably the most influential popular choreographer of the late 20th century.

The only problem with a tribute like this, all Fosse and all inclusive, is that it’s like going to an art gallery to see 100 paintings by Van Gogh. You turn a corner, see a new painting and think you might have seen it before.

The hands in one Fosse number are like the hands in the preceding number. The dangling arms repeat themselves, as do the insolent behinds. Still, his genius was in sparkling canvases, like the electric “Steam Heat” danced and sung by Carol Haney in “Pajama Game.”

And in the final analysis, this tribute, fired by the affection of one of Fosse’s most prominent protegees, Ann Reinking, is still a blockbuster. Even the softer, less Fosse-esque numbers are full of excitement and fire.

The hallmark sequences, such as “Big Spender” from “Sweet Charity” and “Big Noise From Winnetka” from 1978’s “Dancin’,” are memorable, along with the angular, idiosyncratic “Mein Herr” from the film version of “Cabaret.” They and most of the evening are top-notch--breezy and brash, insightful looks into the world of musical show business before the turn of the century.

This touring company of the Broadway production, features some performers who graced the show in its Tony-winning beginnings. Reva Rice, whose movements both vocal and physical are sensuous and electric, opens the show with “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” and precedes the finale with the same tune. She’s a constant joy throughout, as is the sensual Terace Jones, whose fluid body and piquant attitude are Fosse to the core.

Though she doesn’t have the raucous urgency Carol Haney had in “Steam Heat,” Linda Bowen has some of the fire, with Tyler Hanes and Mark Swanhart marvelously helping to re-create a magical moment in Broadway history. Fosse is as fresh today as ever, and this tribute is what it was meant to be, a valentine to a star.

SHOW TIMES

“Fosse,” Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends April 29. $29.75 to $63.75. (714) 556-2787. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.