It's Showtime, Folks!

Roy Scheider died the other day. While, most people remember him as Chief Brody in Jaws, I'll always associate him with his amazing turn as Joe Gideon in All That Jazz.

I first saw the film in college and it immediately struck a chord. There's something wonderfully self-indulgent about Bob Fosse's film that makes it compulsively watchable. I love Gideon, the all-too-flawed genius director/producer/choreographer. The dance numbers are fantastic. There's an absolutely joyous number with Ann Reinking and the young girl who played Gideon's daughter to a song called Everything Old is New Again. It's quite possibly Fosse's greatest piece. And I love the finale that many folks consider too long and too self-indulgent. I just think it's spectacular.

I only hope Scheider had a similar production number waiting for him as he passed on to the next realm.