Michael Bennett

And it's a, it's a poignant documentary about what happens to performers when the opportunity doesn't pan out the way they had hoped.

And I found my way to these three things because in doing Fame, I learned that one of the original inspirations for the screenplay was A Chorus Line, and specifically the tapes that Michael Bennett had done with Broadway dancers asking them about their personal stories and then crafting a show out of those stories.

And I think the idea of doing the same thing with students at the high school level auditioning to become a part of this performing arts school was-- is a, is a great milieu to set a film.

And this is a really compelling dramatic premise before you even get into the characters because the process itself of auditioning is inherently cinematic because it can combine extraordinary performance with public humiliation.

Here's a little fun salient detail.

This isn't necessarily the most PG detail, so you young kids out there, cover your ears.

This song is called "Hot Lunch." The film was originally-- the screenplay was originally entitled Hot Lunch, and the reason was because the screenwriter, who became interested in this concept of high school for the performing arts, went to this New York City high school and interviewed and talked to these kids, much in the same way that Michael Bennett had done the interviews for A Chorus Line, and he kept hearing that the students had this term, hot lunch, which referred to a blow job.

That's a hot lunch, giving someone a hot lunch.

... furious.

Was Michael Bennett in a bitch? Like, what happened?

Michael Bennett was involved in the film and in important ways-

Yeah, but then they-

... because he was unhappy with how they were doing it.

Well, and also Michael Bennett is, is quite controlling over his stuff as well.

Um-

Mm

Ooh

... with Michael Bennett and Michael Peters.

And of course, we know the history of Dreamgirls, where that went.

[laughs]

You know, like a nice grounded pas de bourree.

Like a chorus line Michael Bennett.

Yes, exactly.

Exactly.

It's something I'm really fascinated by in theater history in general.

The fact that people who have these huge hits like, you know, Michael Bennett did Ballroom after a chorus line and nothing could have ever been a chorus line.

And so he was almost set up for failure because of these great expectations that people have for theater folks that are on a roll or that are perceived to be like unbelievably successful.

So there's sort of like they were set up for a fall.

Mm-hmm

... that really was successful working with Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse-

Yeah

...

Yeah.

But, and then sh- Bob Fosse loved her because she remembered everything and she was a dance captain.

And Michael Bennett asked her to be assistant choreographer on Coco, which was the, the famous Katharine Hepburn musical about Coco Chanel.

But, and d- and she talks about it-

She was also cast in the 1969 film version of Sweet Charity where she performed the iconic ponytail-whipping lead of the frug.

Earlier in her career, she had been a featured dancer on NBC's Hullabaloo, where she danced with Donna McKechnie and Michael Bennett early on in their careers.

Suzanne went on to a prolific television career, appearing on shows including That Girl, The Rookies, Emergency, Kojak, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and Fantasy Island.

She also performed in Bob Hope's USO tours and received the Dancers Society's Gypsy Robe, now called the Legacy Robe, in 2004 for her contributions to dance.

So that is kind of the studio that I grew up in.

And then a lot of jazz.

And then once I moved to New York, then I started taking class with all the people who had been Fosse dancers or who had been Michael Bennett dancers, Jerome Robbins dancers.

So I kind of have, you know, been learning in that vein for the last 10 years or so.

Oh, yes.

And I got to work with Michael Bennett, and I got to work with Burt Bacharach and Hal David and Neil Simon, and I thought, "This is what ...

I worked really hard to, to do this." And I put myself, you know, through acting school, you know, after my mom passed away, and I moved to New York.

And I'm, I guess if you wanna call me a Broadway baby, yeah, that's what I wanted to do.