Picture this: Bebe Neuwirth, Debbie Allen, and Gwen Verdon gathered around an ancient upright with Sweet Charity's composer, Cy Coleman, belting out "If My Friends Could See Me Now." Verdon, who created the title role for the Bob Fosse Broadway musical, and Allen and Neuwirth, who played Charity in revivals, were rehearsing for the concert version performed last June at Avery Fisher Hall as a benefit for several AIDS organizations.

Chita Rivera and Donna McKechnie joined those taking turns as Charity; Whoopi Goldberg popped up everywhere. The all-star supporting cast included Betty Buckley, Hinton Battle, Jim Dale, Helen Gallagher, Robert Goulet, Pamela Isaacs, Jerry Orbach, and Marisa Tomei. Former New York City mayors David Dinkins and Ed Koch walked on as policemen. The distinctive dance numbers, including "Rich Man's Frug," led by Diana Laurenson, were danced by gypsies well acquainted with Fosse shows.

For Verdon it was a particularly special occasion. She has spent the last three years deeply involved in reviving and staging her late husband's choreography and acting as artistic adviser for Fosse: A Celebration in Song & Dance, codirected by Ann Reinking, with Richard Maltby, Jr., as production director for the Canadian producer Livent Inc. Garth Drabinsky of Ragtime fame is coproducer on the project. Fosse opened in Toronto in July; Boston and Los Angeles are to see it before it opens next year on Broadway.

Chet Walker, billed as co-choreographer, had worked with Fosse on musicals both as dancer and dance captain. It was he who suggested the idea of A Celebration to Fosse before he died in 1987. Says Verdon, "I knew Chet was doing fabulous research. After Bob died we waited about three years. Then I said, `Okay, let's see what you've got.'" It grew from there, with a workshop in Toronto, where Livent is headquartered, with Walker, Verdon, and her daughter, Nicole, coaching the dancers [see Dance Magazine, July, page 33].