Broadway dancer turned Broadway choreographer Lorin Latarro is back on the boards for the 14th time this spring finding the physical poetry of sugar, butter, and flour in one of the season's most anticipated new musicals, Waitress
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BroadwayBox asked Lattaro to imagine she had a Broadway time machine and tell us about the five Broadway shows she most wishes she could go back in time and see the original productions of.
If I could go back in time and see anything, these are the first pieces that popped into my mind. I didn't stick to a genre, but chose things I love, that inspire me, that move me.
Dreamgirls (Imperial Theatre, 1981)
Michael Bennett is a bonafide genius who was so ahead of his time that we still mine his ideas. I had the honor of being in the Chorus Line revival so I've been inside his amazing work, but Dreamgirls literally changed musical theatre; it was the beginning of fragmentation and deconstruction for a musical. I have sadly never seen it live, but went to Lincoln Center to watch the video of the Broadway production. It must have been electrifying in the theatre.
Angels in America (Walter Kerr Theatre, 1993)
I have seen the revival, read the script, seen the movie, but missed the original production. As a young girl, I grew up dancing in New York City and witnessed the AIDS crisis unfold. I believe artists have the responsibility of changing the world, and Tony Kushner is the quintessential boundary pusher and activist. His work is a constant source of inspiration.
Big Deal (Broadway Theatre, 1986)
Bob Fosse is another game changing choreographer. His opening number for this musical is legendary, though the show was not a hit, and must have been thrilling live. Some of the best dancers in the world were in the show.
Ziegfeld Follies (New Amsterdam Theatre)
From 1907- 1931 the shows ran in many different iterations. It sounds like The Follies was a cross between Vaudeville, Pageantry, Musical Theatre, and the Rockettes. Imagine seeing Josephine Baker, Eddie Cantor, W.C.Fields and Fanny Brice in one of these elaborate productions!
La Traviata (La Fenice, 1853)
I am choreographing it next season at The Met so would love to go back in time to 1853, to be in the audience of La Fenice in Venice, with Verdi in attendance.
See Lorin Latarro’s vision come to life in ‘Waitress’ at Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
