ABSTRACT
With a few exceptions, the musical genre is not director-driven. One reason for the lack of much attention solely to directors by film scholars of the musical may be because the very collaborative nature of the musical mitigates a single author study focused solely on musicals. Making full use of the specialized talent behind as well as in front of the camera at MGM, as a director he is known as a superb stylist, with particular attention paid to his camera work, color and composition, and mise-en-scene. The Martons hire the esteemed director, Jeffrey Cordova, who turns the light-hearted musical into a new and more heavyweight version of Faust and casts the younger ballet star Gabrielle Gerard opposite Tony with her mentor Paul Byrd signed to choreograph. One of Fosse’s successes as choreographer-director in New York was Sweet Charity starring Verdon, which he filmed at Universal in 1969 with Shirley MacLaine.
