Buzz Miller
Buzz Miller | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vernal Miller 1923 |
| Died | 1999 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Dancer |
Buzz Miller (23 December 1923 - 23 February 1999) was an American dancer who was equally at home on Broadway and in contemporary ballet and modern dance.[1].
Early life and training
Vernal Miller, known from boyhood as Buzz, was born in Snowflake, Arizona, a small town in Navajo County founded by Mormon pioneers and colonizers. Raised in a family with two brothers and a sister, he was educated in local schools. After graduation from high school, he joined the U.S. Army and spent two years as a front lines messenger on active duty in World War II. He was honorably discharged from military service after being injured in combat. In 1947, when he was 23 years old, he began his dance studies with Mia Slavenska, glamorous Croatian ballerina, in Hollywood, California.[2] After only nine months of study, he got his first professional dancing job.
Professional career
Once he began training, Miller soon showed an unusual talent for jazz dance and he quickly found employment as a professional dancer. He toured night clubs and cabarets in London and Paris with Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers (1947) and in cities around the United States with the Jack Cole Dancers. Thereafter, he appeared in numerous Broadway shows[3] and Hollywood films.[4], demonstrating his facility for the quirky jazz-based choreography of Jack Cole and Bob Fosse.
Broadway shows
- 1947 -- Magdalena: A Musical Adventure. A Brazilian folk operetta with music by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Choreography by Jack Cole.
- 1952 -- Two's Company. A musical revue with music by Vernon Duke and lyrics by Ogden Nash, starring Bette Davis. Choreography by Jerome Robbins. Miller had featured billing, along with Nora Kaye and Maria Karnilova.
- 1953 -- Me and Juliet. A musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, with dances and musical numbers arranged by Robert Alton. Miller was a principal dancer, partnering Joan McCracken in "Keep It Gay," a dance number in act 1.
- 1953 -- Pal Joey. A revival of the 1940 musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Choreography by Robert Alton. With Harold Lang, Helen Gallagher, Elaine Stritch, abd Bob Fosse.
- 1954 -- The Pajama Game. A musical with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, directed by George Abbott and Jerome Robbins. Choreography by Bob Fosse. The show was regularly stopped by applause for the dance number called "Steam Heat," performed by Buzz Miller, Carol Haney, and Peter Gennaro.
- 1959 -- Redhead. A murder-mystery musical set in Victorian London, with music and lyrics by Albert Hague and Dorothy Fields, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse and Donald MacKayle. Created especially for Gwen Verdon in the title role. As the Jailer, Miller was her partner in the dance number called "Pick-Pocket Tango."
Other performances
Copy to come
Choreography
In 1968, Miller choreographed and associate directed Julie Bovasso's The Moon Dreamers at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.[5] He was then associate director for Bovasso's plays at La MaMa in 1971, 1974, and 1975. These included Schubert's Last Serenade and Monday on the Way to Mercury Island in 1971[6][7], The Nothing Kid and Standard Safety in 1974[8], and Schubert's Last Serenade, The Final Analysis, and The Super Lover in 1975[9].
Later years
Miller was gay and lived with his partner, Alan Groh, for over 30 years until Groh's death in 1996. Miller died on February 23, 1999 in Manhattan.[10]
His papers are held at the New York Public Library.[11]
References
- ^ Jack Anderson, "Buzz Miller, 75, Danced on Broadway and in the Movies," obituary, New York Times, 4 March 1999.
- ^ Mike Philips, "Buzz Miller," biography, Internet Movie Database, www.imdb.com.
- ^ "Buzz Miller" in Richard C. Norton, A Chronology of American Musical Theater (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002)
- ^ "Buzz Miller" in David Thompson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 6th rev. ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004).
- ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Moon Dreamers, The (1968)". Accessed August 13, 2018.
- ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Schubert's Last Serenade and Monday on the Way to Mercury Island (1971a)". Accessed August 13, 2018.
- ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Schubert's Last Serenade and Monday on the Way to Mercury Island (1971b)". Accessed August 13, 2018.
- ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: The Nothing Kid and Standard Safety (1974)". Accessed August 13, 2018.
- ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Schubert's Last Serenade and The Final Analysis and The Super Lover (1975)". Accessed August 13, 2018.
- ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Buzz Miller, Original 'Steam Heat' Dancer in Pajama Game, Dead at 75 | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NYPLwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
External links
- Mimi Swartz, "Buzz and Alan" in The New Yorker, August 1998
- Norma Skurka, "An apartment that evolved" in The New York Times, September 23, 1973
- Miller's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
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