LINCOLN PARK — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago kicks off its already sold-out 47th season on Friday with a retrospective of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon’s “Sweet Gwen Suite,” making Hubbard Street the only dance company in the world with a work by Bob Fosse in his current repertoire.

The Hubbard Street fall series also includes “Return to Patient” and “Busk” by resident artist Aszure Barton, “Show Pony” by Kyle Abraham and “Prelude to a Kiss” by Lar Lubovitch.

Performances will run Friday through Nov. 24 at the Steppenwolf Theater Company, 1650 N. Halsted St. The company’s standby ticket policy, under which $30 standby tickets are sold an hour before shows sold out performances, is available. here.

The names Fosse/Verdon may be familiar to fans of films and musicals like “Damn Yankees,” “Chicago” and “Cabaret,” as well as the 2019 FX miniseries “Fosse/Verdon” starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams as main characters. title characters. Gwen Verdon is considered one of Broadway’s brightest dance stars and Bob Fosse is considered an iconic choreographer and director. The couple married in 1960, and although their relationship was tumultuous, they separated but never divorced. Verdon was with Fosse when he had his fatal heart attack in 1987. Verdon died in 2000.

Some of the moves in “Sweet Gwen Suite” may also be familiar – to anyone who’s ever seen Beyoncé’s award-winning “Single Ladies” video. Beyoncé said in an interview she was inspired by a video she watched of “Bob Fosse’s wife” performing a segment called “Mexican Breakfast” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1969.

Nicole Fosse, the daughter of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, promises the connection won’t go unnoticed in the Hubbard Street performance.

“So this dance is in this suite. (Choreographer) Linda Haberman made some adjustments from how the choreography was originally performed on television to make it more exciting for stage presentation, taking movement ideas from other Fosse choreography and integrating them. And we’re playfully nodding to Beyoncé and ‘Single Ladies’ in there, both musically and physically.

Nicole Fosse created the Verdon Fosse Legacy Foundation. She also helped create the FX miniseries and was instrumental in the partnership with Hubbard Street.

Both his parents had ties to Chicago. Bob Fosse was born here; the strip of Paulina Street near Montrose is designated as Bob Fosse Way near his birthplace, as is a block in the downtown theater district. He attended Ravenswood Elementary School and Amundsen High School, where Nicole Fosse said he was on the swimming and wrestling teams. And obviously, he named one of his most important creations after his birthplace.

Gwen Verdon was also a Chicago fan, Nicole Fosse said.

“My mother worked at Hubbard Street about 20 years ago,” she said. “She pieced together a piece of my father’s. It was a solo from “Dancin” called “Percussion Four.” And she and (Hubbard Street founder) Lou Conte had a really wonderful, friendly, working relationship. And she loved working with Hubbard Street back then.

“And so I had this piece, ‘Sweet Gwen Suite,’ which was originally produced in part by the New York City Center Fall for Dance Festival, as well as by Michelle Williams, who performed it during the FX series, and (theatre director) Tommy Kail, her current husband, was instrumental in producing it,” said Nicole Fosse. “It was a great idea and a real honor for my mother to see her recognized for her contribution. to my father’s choreography… you can really see her influence, her style, her humor in a lot of what you see in “Suite Sweet Gwen,” but the play didn’t have a home.

“This opportunity to work with Hubbard Street is just phenomenal for us because they will really be able to explore the piece as a business. »

Nicole Fosse says there are two major preconceptions about her parents: “One is that my mother was a dancer, and then my father was a choreographer. My mother was an actress and my father was a director, okay?

“When someone once said to my mother, ‘You sing and dance, don’t you?’ And she said, “Yes, and I seem to remember doing something other than changing my clothes.” » Which means there is stage work. She was an actress. And everything my father choreographed required acting in movement and superimposing authentic acting very deeply.

Fosse/Verdon’s dance creations are known for their unique stylizations and extreme athleticism – but also for their unprecedented sense of fun, which Nicole Fosse says is perfectly showcased in “Sweet Gwen Suite.”

“There’s such variety in the play, and there’s really a lot of acting and physical characterization, and then just simple weirdness, and then a little bit of athletic fun. And I find the play really invigorating… I think there will be laughter and maybe a few tears, and then some will dance in their seats.

His parents “always found humor in everything they did,” Fosse said. “Even when something is darker (like in ‘Chicago’ or ‘Cabaret’), they found humor in it. And I think just presenting darkness can make an audience very uncomfortable, and you’ll lose your audience, right?

“But if you can make fun of it and imply levity, you can keep an audience engaged and continually convey your message… (They) found a way to engage in a serious exploration of the human condition and lightness.”

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