INTERVIEW: A talk with two dancers in Broadway’s acclaimed ‘Dancin”
Photo: The ensemble of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ includes Krystal Mackie and Ron Todorowski. Photo courtesy of Julieta Cervantes / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ has returned to Broadway in a new production directed by Wayne Cilento. The dance concert, which runs at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street, features the diverse and breathtaking style of one of the most cherished choreographers in history. There are dance renditions to many iconic songs, including “Sing, Sing, Sing,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Mr. Bojangles,” “Big Spender” and “Let Me Entertain You,” all brought to artistic life by a hard-working ensemble of performers.
Two of those performers have been with the show for quite some time, ever since Dancin’ ran at San Diego’s Old Globe. Ron Todorowski has appeared on Broadway in a number of productions, including Angels in America, Cats, Finding Neverland and Wicked, among many others. He has danced with Twyla Tharp’s company, in addition to Complexions, Cedar Lake, Parsons Dance and Mia Michaels, according to his official biography.
Krystal Mackie is also a company member, making her Broadway debut in Dancin’. Her other credits include everything from off-Broadway’s This Ain’t No Disco at the Atlantic Theater Company to the first national tour of Hamilton. In fact, Mackie left Hamilton to join Dancin’ when the Fosse show was staged at the Old Globe.
Recently both performers talked with Hollywood Soapbox about bringing Fosse’s vision to stage. Here’s what they had to say …
On how they joined the company of Dancin’:
TODOROWSKI: “I was actually reached out during the pandemic for my interest. My agent called, and I was cooking. And I was like thinking in my mind, there’s no way. I’ve been hearing about Dancin’ coming to Broadway for years, decades, and I was like, ‘Sure I’m interested.’ But it was literally in the middle of the pandemic, and then about a year and a half ago, [director] Wayne Cilento wanted to see some of the work done on a few dancers. So I was called in for that, so I’ve been a part of it since the very first [day]. … From that point, I auditioned for the workshop, and I got it. I went in four times. They really made us dance a lot, of course, and sing and read. Then it happened.”
On making one’s Broadway debut:
MACKIE: “I got the call around 4 in the afternoon, and we actually were already in rehearsals doing previews. So I was already at the theater, and [a fellow performer] called out because she was sick. And I got thrown on, and I was able to notify my family within enough time. … So my mom and my sisters and best friends and cousins and godsister, everybody was able to literally run and make it, and it happened. … I was shaking uncontrollably, but before I had been on, I just tried to ground myself as much as possible. All I could hear was my dad and the voice in my head telling me that I got this, and I did it. I don’t really remember much because I was just thinking and trying to take it one number at a time, but I do remember friends, who I had told that I was making my Broadway debut that evening, told me to try to keep one moment in the show, try to remember that one moment where you can say this is my Broadway debut. And for me that was when I got to sing ‘Let It Ride’ in front of a full audience for the first time ever. It was my very first time singing on a Broadway stage, and that was exciting. The cast was amazing. I felt all the love from everybody — stage management, wardrobe, crew, the audience, everybody. It was major, definitely one for the books. I definitely journaled a lot about it, and it’s something that I want to remember forever.”
On how familiar Fosse’s choreography was before performing in Dancin’:
TODOROWSKI: “For me, it was something I was always interested in, but the timing just never worked out. When Fosse was happening on Broadway and on the tour, I was doing other things, so I ended up working with a lot of dancers that did Fosse because I had done all three of Twyla Tharp’s dance-dominant shows. So a lot of those dancers had done Fosse, so I heard from them how rewarding, how wonderful the work is. And then, of course, I knew his work more from TV/film than theater. Cabaret is still one of my favorite movies of all time. … And then once I started learning the material, I started that deep sea dive of really researching who he was, where he came from and what inspired him. I went on this major deep sea dive in reading a lot about him and watching a lot of his work, anything I could find on YouTube and movies and Liza With a Z. It’s quite an impressive archive of work, and yeah, now I’m hooked for life.”
On the difficulties of learning multiple tracks in a dance-heavy show:
MACKIE: “I had joined the show when the show was basically done and all put together, and I had five days in New York with the cast before we all left for San Diego. So by the time I got to San Diego, I was playing catch up. At that point, I was covering four tracks. I currently now cover five. I was definitely playing catch up for the four tracks that I was covering, and somehow, some way I managed to go on for all four tracks and maintain the material. I don’t know how my brain held that much information, but it happened. And I really loved how I was being stretched, I felt, in every artistic way possible. I grew up dancing. I started when I was 3, and so dance has always been in my life, but not necessarily the acting aspect. I guess you can say dancers are actors, but full monologues on stage by yourself and singing solos by yourself, definitely didn’t have much experience in that. And so I just love the challenge. I love being able to challenge myself and seeing how much I can handle and how much I can maintain. I love that challenge. I remember when I had left Hamilton to do this job, I just kept saying that I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be challenged really, really, really hard, and oh, did I get it. The dream came true.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, featuring Krystal Mackie and Ron Todorowski, continues at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
