For an AIDS Project Los Angeles benefit, David Engel asked me to work a little video magic. Broadway legend Donna McKechnie has a wonderful story in her act about getting to dance with Fred Astaire, which she planned to tell at the benefit. David's idea was that, as she was talking about meeting Astaire, a clip from The Band Wagon would appear on a screen behind her. And as Fred Astaire began to dance with Cyd Charisse, Donna would begin dancing along. And then — here's where the video magic comes in — Cyd Charisse would fade away, leaving Astaire dancing solo onscreen, and Donna dancing solo as his "partner" onstage.

 

This was extremely difficult to do, and in truth the results weren't entirely perfect. I took comfort in the fact that, if Donna McKechnie was there dancing live, people would be more interested in looking at her anyway! Still, parts of what I did looked pretty good, especially the beginning and end. So, you can see those bits in the video above!