Randy Skinner A Champion of Gower
When Skinner auditions dancers for shows, he looks for four things:
1. A sound dance technique
2. A specific dancer look
3. A particular body type
4. A display of the love and joy of dancing.
"I try to find all of that," Skinner said. "Technique without joy is not interesting. Joy can't be taught. It is inherent in dancers. There are people who have it all. Your eye goes to the people with that special quality and who also connect with the music. When you have a cast of that, you have a whole cast of power."
In 1980 after graduating with a speech education teaching degree from Ohio State University, he moved to New York. His bonding to "42nd Street" began, and his life changed, with one phone call. " I received a phone call," Skinner recalled. "'This is Gower Champion and I'm working on a new musical. Come in and spend the day dancing in the studio to see how it all feels.'" Gower, a Hercules of 1950's dance and mus-icals, and an acclaimed dancer and member of the Gower and Marge Champion dance duo, was the director and choreographer for a new musical, "42nd Street." In that show, Gower was one of the first dance choreographers to also be a director of a show. Gower was seeking an assistant choreographer to help him plan the steps and dances, and to train the dancers for the new musical, "42nd Street." A dance arranger who had previously worked with Skinner recommended Skinner to Gower.
Skinner spent his trial day in the studio with Champion and another assistant, Karin Baker, who had already been hired. Champion also wanted a male assistant. Referring to the famous historical dance team of Gower and his wife, Marge, Skinner said, "I didn't know a lot about Gower and Marge. I knew Fred and Ginger. I went back and watched Gower and Marge dance on film. Now, I know they were the last of the great dance teams of the mid 50's."
Skinner's previous experience included attending dance classes from the age of four, dancing in college shows at Ohio State University and dancing in summer stock with the Kenley Players Company that played in three cities. "John Kenley loved Ohio people and tried to cast them," Skinner said. "The theatres were large, seating three to four thousand people. I had the opport-unity to work with Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney, Juliette Prouse and many stars."
Skinner's well-rounded exper-ience, and exposure to choreography, prompted him to accept Gower's job offer, in spite of his predisposition to performance. "I did choreography in college but my focus had been on performance," Skinner recalled. "I always knew I had a talent for it. It came easy for me, but I had not put a lot of serious thought into it." With the opportunity to work with a legend like Gower, Skinner decided that he should break out beyond the performance area and pursue this.
A friend of Gower commented that Skinner danced like Gower and was even physically built like him. Skinner cherishes the hard work and concentrated time with Gower. "It was an education to learn how to shape and create a show, pull things together, organize a musical, and to work on a show from the ground up and watch it come together," Skinner recalled.
After months of hard work preparing for the first "42nd Street" show, Gower Champion died on opening night. "Karin and I watched over the show and it was a huge hit," Skinner said. "It ran for 8 1/2 years. ... 12 years later the revival was planned. The revival has lasted 3 1/2 years and has a huge cast: 24 girls, 12 boys, 4 swing girls, 2 swing boys, 11 principals and understudies, 54 cast members. That is over 100 backstage. It takes a huge theatre and that's why we haven't played London yet. We did have a national touring company in Germany."
Skinner wanted to pay tribute to the past with his revived "42nd Street," much like Ann Reinking did for "Chicago." Skinner feels she paved the way to pay tribute. Yet, Skinner also wanted to make it a whole new experience. "It took lots of re-thinking and re-inventing," said Skinner.
In recognition of his efforts, Skinner received a Tony nomination for Best Choreography, nominations from the Outer Critics, and Drama Desk and Astaire awards for the revival of "42nd Street."
Skinner believes the dance world has room for all types of tap ... show tapping and hoofing. "The musical theatre tap, jazz and ballroom are our Classical Art Form of American Broadway Musicals," Skinner explained. "Ballet came from Europe. There is an element of dancing going on under what you are seeing in tap. Our routes are important. We should keep stressing this priority and teaching revivals and show training for new shows." Skinner does more than preach about training, guest teaching in New York at Steps and Broadway Dance Center, leading master classes and giving lectures at colleges. Some of the other musicals choreographed by Skinner include "Ain't Broadway Grand" and "State Fair," which he also co-directed.
For some people it might be sad to walk by the theatre where their revived choreography played for more than three years, but Skinner is always looking ahead. His current project is choreographing a new musical, "White Christmas," that opens in San Francisco in November. "It is based on the movie with music by Irving Berlin. "It is exciting to work with this music, lots of music of Fred and Ginger." Skinner credits his parents for taking him to many movies that became the major influence in his professional life.
All bets are on that "42nd Street" will return in future years. Skinner is young enough to choreograph it one more time. Fans of Broadway will look forward to seeing, once again, the full dance cast entering from the top of the steps, near the end of the show, for the stair finale, for yet another great moment in tap and theatre. •