Research Catalog

Title

Robert Scheerer: From Hollywood to Broadway and back [sound recording].

Author

Scheerer, Robert, 1928-2018.

Publication

2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Zee, Steve.
• Oral history archive.

Description

12 sound discs (ca. 492 min.) ; digital; 4 3/4 in. +

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 47 min.). 04/30/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about his family background, including his parents' attitudes towards his beginning dance lessons; his early tap dancing lessons and teachers, including Evelyn Bruns, Maury Reubens, and Steve Granger; an anecdote about auditioning with Fred Astaire; dancing in early television shows during the Depression [of 1929] and World War II; more on lessons with Granger; agent Bob Oakley coming to class to scout dancers for Universal [City] Studios; auditioning for Universal Studios and being hired to dance in What's cookin'; working on the film series Jivin' Jacks and Jills; other dancers in the series including Donald O'Connor and his partner Dorothy Babb; the introduction of the choreographer Louis DaPron to the series; reasons for the cancellation of the series; more on O'Connor.
• Disc 2 (ca. 49 min.). 04/30/2004. Robert Scheerer continues to speak with Steve Zee, about Louis DaPron teaching tap dancing to the cast of Jivin' Jacks and Jills; DaPron's personality and stylistic influence on Scheerer; returning to high school and taking acting lessons; his decision to pursue a career in show business instead of attending college; his mother's encouraging of his career; his parents' relationship with each other and with him; the importance of his drum teacher, Murray Spivak and his drumming lessons to his development as a dancer; working with Johnny Coy after graduating high school; the choreographer Nick Castle, including an anecdote about Castle and Gene Kelly working on the film Summer stock; performing with Coy, and his wife (Dorothy Babb) at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco; meeting Sammy Davis Jr. and seeing him perform; their friendship and impromptu tap dancing together at a club; traveling to Montreal with Coy to perform; traveling to New York, including his first impressions; auditioning for Jerome Robbins; an anecdote about auditioning for the Broadway production of A streetcar named desire.
• Disc 3 (ca. 48 min.). 04/30/2004. [The first part of the disc is marred by distortion resulting in muffled sound quality, but the voices are audible.] Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about auditioning unsuccessfully for Broadway shows in New York; driving back to Hollywood, Calif. with Coy; performing in the musical comedy Lend an ear at the Las Palmas Theater in Hollywood [sound quality improves]; some of the other performers, including Gene Nelson and touring with the show in New York; Nelson leaving the cast and being replaced with Daniel Nagrin; anecdote about Helen Tamiris; winning an award for best debut performance; Gower Champion including working as his assistant; Marge Champion; Charlie Gaynor, the writer of Lend an ear; performance anecdotes involving Dorothy Babb and Carol Channing; the musical comedy Dance me a song, including his audition; other performers in the show, including Bob Fosse; Scheerer's part in singing My little dog has ego; the stage design and dancing alongside Bob Fosse.
• Disc 4 (ca. 46 min.). 05/07/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about the Blue Angel club in New York and the singer Portia Nelson; his life in New York; an anecdote about a performance by Janet Collins; an anecdote about Jack Cole and Gwen Verdon performing in the musical comedy Alive and kicking; returning to Los Angeles to perform in the show Little boy blue, and staging a number in it; going back to New York to perform in Top banana and singing the Johnny Mercer song, My home is in my shoes; anecdotes about the show Little boy blue; his memories about the show's star, Phil Silvers; being drafted [for service in the Korean War] and leaving for basic training in New Jersey and Texas; his experiences in the Special Services including performing and staging shows that toured Europe; the influence of his time in the U.S. Army on his stage career; his creating of tap dances; reminisces about his developing interest in television; an anecdote about being arrested for draft dodging while performing in Top banana.
• Disc 5 (ca. 48 min.), 05/07/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about his career, including an anecdote about Jack Cole; returning to New York after serving in the U.S. Army and performing on television and radio shows; returning to theater in the show The boy friend; his reasons for retiring from live performances; getting hired as a PA [production assistant] at CBS [former Columbia Broadcasting System, inc.; now CBS, inc.], his duties within the production hierarchy, and working on The verdict is yours; being assigned to the series The seven lively arts, and working with its producer Robert Herridge; an anecdote about Billie Holliday and Lester Young; working as the bar and music counter in the control booth during production; several other shows for which he was production assistant; an anecdote about Louis Armstrong and Gerry Mulligan; how he began associate directing and choreographing while at ABC [American Broadcasting Company]; an anecdote about staging numbers for Shari Lewis on NBC [National Broadcasting Company]; how he was recommended to work on the Steve Allen Show as associate producer; his working relationship with Bill Hobin at that time; an anecdote about Charlie Dubin and working for him as a production assistant on The seven lively arts; filming George Balanchine's ballet The nutcracker in New York, including an anecdote about Balanchine.
• Disc 6 (ca. 48 min.), 05/07/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about his first directing experience, of the Steve Allen Show; directing as compared with performing; directing several of the Bell Telephone hour television shows, including the show that featured Rudolf Nureyev; anecdotes about directing the Osmond Brothers show; meeting Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine, and directing the Danny Kaye show for four seasons; Kaye as a person and as an actor; guests on the show including Gwen Verdon, Gene Kelly, and Dick Van Dyke; the transition from the use of film to videotape on the Danny Kaye show and how it affected his directing; working on shows that are filmed live; producing during the third and fourth year of the Danny Kaye show, and his duties as a producer; the special television program about Peggy Fleming filmed on a set at MGM [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer], including an anecdote about Katharine Hepburn visiting the set to meet Fleming.
• Disc 7 (ca. 48 min.), 05/14/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about directing the special television program about Peggy Fleming, including guests on the show such as Gene Kelly and Richard Harris; the lots and conditions at MGM [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer] for the Fleming production; some of the other special programs he worked on; producing and directing Barbra Streisand: A happening in Central Park; anecdotes about Frank Sinatra on the sets of various television shows and films; producing a special television program about Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald and [Antonio Carlos] Jobim; producing and directing a show hosted by Perry Como, with Jefferson Airplane as a guest; more on the Sinatra special program; the roles of directors and producers in various mediums; discussion of Scheerer's directing style.
• Disc 8 (ca. 46 min.), 05/14/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee, about directing a special television program about Fred Astaire; an anecdote about Simon and Garfunkel, who were guests on this program; his thoughts on working with various types of music; discussion between Scheerer and Zee regarding changes in music and show business from one generation to the next; more on the Fred Astaire special program; an anecdote about Mikhail Baryshnikov asking for Scheerer as a producer; seeing Shirley MacLaine perform in San Francisco, meeting her, and directing a special television program about her; an anecdote about working with Jimmy Stewart.
• Disc 9 (ca. 48 min.), 05/14/2004. Robert Scheerer continues to speak with Steve Zee about directing, including (briefly) his first feature film, Adam at six a.m., starring Michael Douglas; a special program about Disney World; a feature film, The world's greatest athlete; various anecdotes about the special program on Danny Kaye: A look in at the Met [Metropolitan Opera House, New York]; other television special programs at that time; (briefly) his last feature film How to beat the high cost of living, starring Jessica Lange; various television series including Love boat, Fame, Matlock, and Star Trek: The next generation.
• Disc 10 (ca. 47 min.), 05/21/2004. Robert Scheerer continues to speak with Steve Zee about directing, including two special programs under the auspices of the AFI [American Film Institute], on President Nixon and on Bette Davis; anecdotes about Davis and about Debbie Allen; more on Fame; directing his last Star Trek episode before retiring; his directorial approach; the many changes in technology and equipment throughout his career; his opinion regarding Broadway revivals, and filming or video taping live performance for preservation; (briefly) his pilot show Poor devil with Sammy Davis, Jr.
• Disc 11 (ca. 47 min.), 05/21/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about his summer stock theater performances during his Broadway period, including anecdotes about Mary Ellen Moylan, George Abbott, and Helen Tamiris and Daniel Nagrin; partnering Janet Leigh in rehearsals to prepare for a movie choreographed by Gower Champion; Howard Hughes, including meeting him and his relationship with Scheerer and Leigh; anecdotes about Tony Curtis and others including Leonard Reed.
• Disc 12 (ca. 48 min.), 05/21/2004. Robert Scheerer speaks with Steve Zee about what makes a good performance; current tap dancers such as Savion Glover compared with earlier tap dancers such as [Gene] Kelly and [Fred] Astaire; discussion of the dance Pork pie hat that Steve Zee performed; speaks about current and past tap dancers; reasons he did very little dance teaching in his career, and very little dancing now; his thoughts on improvisation in tap dance; current tap dancing and dance companies in general; (briefly) his personal life and balancing it with his career; his advice for aspiring tap dancers.

Subjects

• Scheerer, Robert, 1928-2018
• Audiotapes > Scheerer, R
• Tap dancing
• Dance in motion pictures, television, etc
• Musicals > Production and direction
• Motion pictures > Production and direction
• Television > Production and direction
• Zee, Steve

Note

• Interview with Robert Scheerer conducted by Steve Zee on Apr. 30, 2004 and May 7, 14, and 21, 2004 in Culver City, Calif. as part of the of L.A. Ironworks Oral History Collection.
• Sound quality overall is good. The first part of disc 3 is marred by distortion.
• The transcript, which is dated July 2007, was not prepared by The New York Public Library. It is lightly edited and may contain misspellings.

Access (note)

• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Source (note)

• Steve Zee;

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2872

OCLC

601468749

Author

Scheerer, Robert, 1928-2018. Interviewee

Title

Robert Scheerer: From Hollywood to Broadway and back [sound recording].

Imprint

2004.

Local Note

Arch. orig.: *MGZTCO 3-2872 no. 1-6

Former call number of audio recording: *MGZTL 4-2663

Former call number of transcript: *MGZMT 3-2663

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Source

Gift; Steve Zee; L.A. Ironworks, 224 Culver City, Calif. June 27, 2008. NN-PD

Added Author

Zee, Steve. Interviewer

Zee, Steve. Donor

Oral history archive.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2872

*MGZMT 3-2872