Uncle Sam Rag

This chapter describes Bob Fosse’s work on the shows Redhead and The Conquering Hero. At Gwen Verdon’s insistence, Fosse was hired as both choreographer and director of Redhead, a musical comedy murder mystery. Working closely with the authors, Fosse shaped Redhead into a dazzling star vehicle with the pace and fluidity of a show fully staged by one person. This success was followed by The Conquering Hero, on which Fosse felt that his contributions as director-choreographer were sufficiently integral to the show’s creation that he sought, and received, Dramatists Guild recognition as an author. But this time, his relationship with his collaborators was combative, and he was dismissed while the show was in out-of-town tryouts. Fosse’s experience on The Conquering Hero demonstrated that the control he increasingly sought was not always easily negotiated.