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17-764: The American Dance Machine was also a school in New York City and later on Long Island at the American Theater Dance Workshop that taught original Broadway dance repertoire in the late 1970s and 1980s until Lee Theodore's death in 1986. Teachers included founder Lee Theodore , Nanette Charisse and Gwen Verdon . Dance repertoire for classes and shows included, Can-Can , Brigadoon , Little Me , Shenandoah , The Boyfriend , Carousel , Cabaret , Finian's Rainbow , West Side Story , Sweet Charity , George M , Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , The Unsinkable Molly Brown , Half

34-565: A New York Philharmonic violist) and her sister Rita (later Zweig). Lee graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts in 1949. As a young dancer, Lee (then still Becker) appeared as the character Anybodys in the original 1957 production of West Side Story ; indeed, the role was created for her by Jerome Robbins . She can therefore be heard on that production's 1957 soundtrack LP, released by Columbia Records . She also performed in Tenderloin and The King And I . As

51-465: A Sixpence , Walking Happy and No No Nanette . In February, 2012, former dancer Nikki Feirt Atkins revived the organization as American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21, Inc .) in order to continue the legacy of the late Lee Theodore and The American Dance Machine. ADM's original mission was to preserve "great theatre dances saved from oblivion" and ADM21 continues that mission; to ensure that significant musical theater choreography, and

68-438: A choreographer, Theodore created dances for Baker Street , Darling Of The Day , and Flora, The Red Menace . In 1967, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography for The Apple Tree . This was a time period of rich cross-pollination of various styles of dance, and Theodore's work seamlessly and fluidly melded many influences. She also choreographed the 1970 feature film, Song Of Norway , an adaptation of

85-509: A daily Broadway Dance class—perhaps the first such class ever—at Harkness Dance Center on the Upper East Side . Her class, which relied on dancers' previous and significant ballet training, was divided into decades by day: Mondays 1950s (think West Side Story ), Tuesdays 1960s, and so on. She was a tough teacher who demanded a great deal from her students and was beloved by them. Watching her demonstrate technique effortlessly in class

102-637: A single step. Once recreated, the dances were filmed and notated. Furthermore, believing that dances must be performed to be truly alive and accessible, Theodore trained a group of talented performers to bring these dances live to audiences. Through this process, American Dance Machine saved the choreography of Agnes De Mille , Jack Cole, Joe Layton , Michael Kidd , Ron Field , Bob Fosse , Onna White and Peter Gennaro . Featured dancers and guest artists included Janet Eilber, Carol Estey, Harold Cromer , Liza Gennaro, Patti Mariano, Nancy Chismar, Randy Skinner and Donald Young. For many years, Theodore taught

119-488: A sold-out two-week run of a new production by ADM21 was presented at the Joyce Theatre which included 18 numbers from shows including Oklahoma , West Side Story , The Who's Tommy , Singin’ In The Rain , Grand Hotel and A Chorus Line . The New York Times called this production "the best such anthology I’ve seen since Jerome Robbins’ Broadway .” A new Broadway production conceived by Nikki Feirt Atkins

136-516: Is based on a 1959 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams . Set in the Tenderloin , a red-light district in 1890s Manhattan , the show's story focuses on Reverend Brock, a character loosely based on American clergyman and social reformer Charles Henry Parkhurst . After six previews, the Broadway production, directed by Abbott and choreographed by Joe Layton , opened on October 17, 1960, at

153-651: Is planned for the 2020–2021 season, produced by Douglas Denoff . Lee Theodore Lee (Becker) Theodore was an American Broadway theater director, choreographer , performer and dance archivist. Born in 1933 to Russian Jewish immigrants Zena and Gayna (Klasner) Becker, Lee was raised in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx . She began dance lessons at the age of 4. As a child, she often performed at her parents' "Veyetcherinkas": Russian cultural arts nights in their home, with her brother Eugene (who later became

170-403: The 46th Street Theatre , where it ran for 216 performances. The cast included Maurice Evans (better known as a Shakespearean actor than a musical performer) as Reverend Brock and Ron Husmann as Tommy. Tony Award nominations went to Evans for Best Actor in a Musical , Husmann for Best Featured Actor in a Musical , and Cecil Beaton for Best Costume Design in a Musical , and Husmann won

187-921: The Theatre World Award for his performance. An original cast recording was released by Capitol Records , and Bobby Darin 's recording of "Artificial Flowers" reached #20 on the Billboard charts . The musical was produced in New York City Center 's Encores! staged concert series in March 2000, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Rob Ashford . The cast included David Ogden Stiers (Brock), Debbie Gravitte (Nita), Tom Alan Robbins (Joe), Patrick Wilson (Tommy), Sarah Uriarte Berry (Laura), Kevin Conway (Lt. Schmidt), and Jessica Stone (Margie). A concert cast recording

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204-429: The 1944 operetta of the same name . In 1976, Theodore founded and created The American Dance Machine , which was a living archive of Broadway theater dance, with seasons on Broadway and international tours. Originally, American Dance Machine was created to rescue great Broadway choreography which, at the time, often was neither filmed nor notated. While the great shows had musical scores and Books to preserve dialogue,

221-399: The great dances were doomed to be lost. Theodore's "rescue sessions" brought the original dancers from Broadway shows into the studio. Often, they had not performed these dances for many years. But with the understanding that memory resides in a dancer's body, the collaborators played music from the shows and the dancers gradually recreated the choreography—often starting with the memory of just

238-491: The minister's church and proceeds to play one side against the other, eventually framing Brock by revealing to the authorities his plan to raid the brothels , but ultimately saving him by siding with him at his trial. As a result, the Tenderloin is shut down and Brock, asked to resign from his church, heads for Detroit with the hope of succeeding there as well. William and James Goldman were called in to doctor

255-438: The techniques that propel such works, would be preserved, studied and shared in the 21st century; to present “iconic choreography exactly as it was intended." In collaboration with the stagers authorized by each choreographer, ADM21 has reconstructed work by choreographers including Jack Cole , Bob Fosse , Tommy Tune , Gower Champion , Susan Stroman , Agnes De Mille , Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett . In December 2015

272-416: Was a lesson in technique, artistry, and, as she became ill, also of extraordinary determination. Theodore died on September 3, 1987. Tenderloin (musical) Tenderloin is a musical with a book by George Abbott and Jerome Weidman , lyrics by Sheldon Harnick , and music by Jerry Bock , their follow-up to the highly successful Pulitzer Prize -winning Fiorello! a year earlier. The musical

289-435: Was released by DRG Records. Reverend Brock, a single-minded 1890s social reformer works to sanitize the Tenderloin, a red-light neighborhood in western Manhattan. He is foiled by everyone associated with the district, including the corrupt politicians and police who are taking their cut from the earnings of the prostitutes who work the streets there. Tommy Howatt, a writer for the local scandal sheet Tatler , infiltrates

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