Dancing in the Rain: Gene Kelly, the BBC, and Me

In October 2011, BBC Radio 2 invited me to take part “Dancing in the Rain: Gene Kelly,” a documentary celebrating the life and talent of the song-and-dance man 100 years after his birth. Featuring commentary from Len Goodman (Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing), Matthew Morrison (Glee), Leslie Caron, Kerry Kelly Novick (Gene’s eldest daughter), biographer Ruth Leon, choreographer Matthew Bourne, tap-dancer Rusty Frank, and yours truly, the program aired for a week in December 2011, and it will re-air in late August 2012 for Kelly’s centenary.

At the time of the interview I lived in Toledo, OH, so after much preparation and a little hand-wringing, I drove to WGTE, the local PBS affiliate and where I’d recorded this spot on Twitter in the Classroom a couple of years earlier. I was to interview over the phone with Elizabeth Ann Duffy, a lovely BBC Content Assistant based in Scotland. With the sound check in place and a few notes in hand, we were off and running. The two of us talked for an hour about Gene Kelly as well as his appearance, style of dance, acting skills, and ground-breaking routines. Among other things, we also covered how and when I first learned of the star, whether I incorporated his work in the classroom, if I could separate my enjoyment as a fan from my academic perspective, and why he’s still a prominent figure in American film.

As is often the case with interviews, very little actually makes it into the final product. That’s what happened here. My part in the hour-long broadcast came near the end and lasted about four minutes. So what to do with all the rest of the material, Duffy’s thoughtful questions and my six pages of notes? While my other recorded responses may be used for a subsequent documentary on Kelly, I’m hard-pressed to believe that all of them will, so I thought I’d put some of the information here, spread out over a few posts. Let’s begin with the section actually featured in the program.

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