Kevin Winkler To Introduce The Film SWEET CHARITY At The Quad Cinema as Part of Bob Fosse Film Series

This coming Saturday, August 4 that 1:00pm, Kevin Winkler, the author of the recently acclaimed book, BIG DEAL: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical, will introduce the film "SWEET CHARITY" at the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th St NYC 10011. The film is part of the current Bob Fosse film series. This screening will be the uncut, original roadshow version of the film, that starred Shirley MacLaine, Chita Rivera, John McMartin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Stubby Kaye, Paula Kelly, Ben Vereen. This was Fosse's first film that he directed. The film received three Academy Award nominations.

With his trademark hunched shoulders, turned-in stance, and stuttering staccato jazz movement, Bob Fosse was the groundbreaker in the development of choreography for the Broadway musical. BIG DEAL: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musicalby Kevin Winkler is an exciting and fascinating look at the evolution of the man as a choreographer and director. (published, in hardcover, by Oxford University | 9780199336791 | $29.95 | 368 pages | 37 photos)

Bob Fosse (1927-1987) became recognized as one of the most significant figures in post-World War II American musical theater. Following his unprecedented triple crown of show business awards in 1973 (an Oscar for Cabaret, an Emmy for "Liza with a Z", and a Tony for Pippin), he assumed complete control of virtually every element of his projects. Bob Fosse belongs to a rich lineage of Broadway choreographers who expanded their duties to include directing in this era. Perhaps more than any other director-choreographer, he took the concept of "The Muscle," or complete control of his productions, to its furthest extent, eventually eliminating collaborators altogether.

BIG DEAL considers Fosse's career in the context of changes in the Broadway musical theater over four decades. It describes how his film experiences influenced his stage work and offers vivid cameos of important musical theater figures, including each of the important women in his life - all dancers - and how they affected his career and influenced his dance aesthetic. The book investigates how his evolution as both artist and individual mirrored the social and political climate of his era and allowed him to comfortably ride a wave of cultural changes.

Kevin Winkler enjoyed a career of more than twenty years as a curator, archivist, and library administrator at the New York Public Library, prior to which he was a professional dancer. He has served as a consultant for Lincoln Center Education, curating resources to accompany PBS Lincoln Center Live performances available throughout New York City public libraries. For several years he taught the popular Institute in Performing Arts Librarianship class at the Pratt Institute School of Library and Information Science. He is the editor of Their Championship Seasons: Acquiring, Processing, and Using Performing Arts Archivesand associate editor of Performance Reclamation: Research, Discovery, and Interpretation(both published by Theatre Library Association), and co-edited the entry on performing arts libraries in International Dictionary of Library Histories(Fitzroy Dearborn). Kevin is a contributor to Performing Processes: Creating Live Performances(Intellect Books), The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era (University of Michigan Press), and Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater(University of Michigan Press). His articles have appeared in Theatre History Studies and online at BroadwayWorld and Theatermania. Kevin has given lectures and presentations on musical theater dance, LGBT performance history, and libraries and archives at conferences in Europe, Canada, and across the United States. He blogs for Huffington Postand is a MacDowell Colony fellow. In 2010 Kevin received the Theatre Library Association's Distinguished Service in Performing Arts Librarianship Award.