Dark Genius: The Story of Jerome Robbins

FAIN: TI-50033-06

Educational Broadcasting Corporation (New York, NY 10019-7416)
Judy Kinberg (Project Director: November 2005 to December 2008)
Susan Lacy (Project Director: December 2008 to January 2010)

Production of a two-hour documentary film chronicling the life and achievements of Jerome Robbins, choreographer and theater director (1918-98).

DARK GENIUS: THE STORY OF JEROME ROBBINS (w.t.)is the first audio-visual documentary examining the life and work of the preeminent director/choreographer. Through Robbins's story, we gain insights into the history of American ballet; the evolution of American musical theater; the aspirations and struggles of immigrants as they strive to become assimilated into the fabric of American life; and the impact of HUAC on Robbins and on the Broadway theater. This two-hour program, including selections from some of the most significant American musicals and ballets, reveals not only the inner conflicts of a complex man, but illuminates the ways in which Robbins's story reflects America's search for identity in the twentieth century.