To do that, they find the worst script, cast and director, one flamboyant Roger De Bris. OKWU: Mel Brooks' play is a story of two scheming Broadway producers who conspire to make a fortune by staging a flop. One, and two, and turn, and it's just a difference. Two ratchets? And suddenly, they're moving their knees twice instead of once. And then she'll say something like, two ratchets! Nobody knows what the hell she's talking about. There is such energy and focus when she's studying it. If she were a laser beam, she would destroy whatever she was looking at. BROOKS: When somebody should look at each other. STROMAN: And you just give them a glance a little bit. is her style, her persona and her uncanny vision.
OKWU (voice-over): Those who work with her say what makes Stro, as they call her, the best. And it's always about pushing the plot forward. Therefore, every dance step I do is plot-oriented. I feel that when I am choreographing, I am telling a story. STROMAN: Well, I feel that I am a writer of dance. You're the best choreographer/director that there is on Broadway.
But everyone we talked to, anyway, says that you are the best. (on camera): You are personally not going to admit this. OKWU: Today, she has three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: "The Producers," "The Music Man" and "Contact." By the New Year, she will have six in production or rehearsal. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Susan Stroman, "The Producers." OKWU (voice-over): The two Tonys Stroman won this year, for choreography and directing, bring her total to five. BROOKS: Ending up on their couch, and saying hi.
STROMAN: And he sang full out, he went right past me. STROMAN: He launched into a full song, a song called "That Space," which opens the second act of "The Producers" BROOKS: That face, that face, that marvelous face. BROOKS: I rushed past them, doing Fred Astaire, down this long corridor. SUSAN STROMAN, DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER, "THE PRODUCERS": Well, the first day I met Mel, I opened my front door, and I was thrilled to death because he's such a legend. Nobody can hold a candle to her, and we got very lucky when we got Sue Stroman to direct and choreograph "The Producers." OKWU (on camera): Tell me about how you met Mel Brooks. MEL BROOKS, "THE PRODUCERS": I'd have to say that Stroman is tops in taps. MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The hottest thing on Broadway these days, aside from the stage adaptation of Mel Brooks' 1968 movie, is its director/choreographer Susan Stroman. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the 2001 Tony goes to Cady Huffman UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Producers." UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The Producers." UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've broken the record. We begin with "Time"' choice for best Broadway director, Susan Stroman, the celebrated choreographer behind the smash hit, "The Producers." Here is CNN's Michael Okwu. Tonight, CNN brings you the first installment of "America's Best." Twenty-one honorees from the editors of "Time" magazine. They are as diverse as they are gifted each a groundbreaking artist or entertainer at the very top of their game. Good evening, and welcome to CNN PRESENTS. America's best: Who are they, and what sets them apart? Tonight, CNN and "Time" magazine unveil AMERICA'S BEST: ARTISTS AND ENTERTAINERS. LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: From the big screen to the small screen, the radio and the stage from music to museums literature and fashion artists and entertainers. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. He also produced a string of hits for Roy Orbison, including "Only the Lonely," "Blue Bayou," "Crying" and "Oh, Pretty Woman.THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. He champions great songwriters, champions great singers and great musicians."įoster, a label executive and music publisher who also guided the early careers of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, died in 2019 after a short illness. "Fred Foster is a man who has been a champion of great artists all these years. "I think he liked the way I sing because I sing like a girl, and he was fond of girl singers," Gill told the audience. Kristofferson also performed their signature song.įoster was welcomed into the hall by singer Vince Gill, who offered a tribute with a combination of humor and respect. In fact, after her death, "I couldn’t listen to the song without really breaking up."įorty-five years after Joplin's success, Barbara McKee Eden was in the audience when Fred Foster earned induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Foster admitted to Performing Songwriter that he had doubts as to whether Joplin would be able to sing anything outside the rock genre, but he said her version proved him wrong.