Catching up with Hillary Clinton on “Bob Fosse’s Dancin'”

On Sunday night, Hillary Clinton, fresh from attending the opening night of “Bob Fosse’s dance” on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre, entered the Rosevale Cocktail Room at the Civilian Hotel on West 48th Street.

As candles flickered on the tables, with miniature models of productions like “Hadestown” and “Dear Evan Hansen” displayed on a back wall, a few dozen guests at the private party afterwards sipped glasses of white wine from the bar. Ms. Clinton mingled with the guests, including David Rockwell, the Tony Award-winning architect and entertainment designer who designed the hotel; actress Jane Krakowski; Huma Abedin, longtime aide to Mrs. Clinton; and “Dancin’” director Wayne Cilento.

“I loved it,” she told Cilento, who also danced in the original 1978 production of the show. “The dancers were so charismatic and magnetic. That energy was so necessary.”

So when asked to entertain the idea that a touring production of the latest show, in which two men dress as women to escape the mob, could be banned from playing in a state like Tennessee, which recently passed a law limiting “cabaret” showsPart of a nationwide wave of legislation by conservative lawmakers against drag performances, Mrs. Clinton’s reaction was clear.

“This is a very sad comment about what people think is important in our country,” Clinton said. “I hope it goes the way of the dinosaur because people will recognize that it’s just a political stunt.”

The variety of shows that could potentially be banned under such legislation, such as Shakespearean plays, in which various characters are cross-dressed; “Hairspray”, the popular musical in which the mother of the protagonist is usually played by a man in a suit; and “1776,” whose current touring company features an all-female, trans, and nonbinary cast, was, he said, “absurd.”

“I suppose they’re going to close state lines to anything Shakespearean?” she said. “Are we going to stop exporting any kind of entertainment?”

At around 9:10 pm, Mrs. Clinton left the party. Some guests followed her lead, while others went up to the Starchild Rooftop Bar & Lounge on the 27th floor, where Nicole Fosse, the daughter of director and choreographer Bob Fosse and actress Gwen Verndon, and Mr. Cilento, the director, were present. . organizing a second party for the creative team of the show and the cast of 22 dancers.

Ballerina Karli Dinardo wore a sleeveless silver cut-out dress by Australian designer Portia and Scarlett, while Yeman Brown donned a green cathedral-style Who Decides War sweatshirt with cut-outs at the front. They drank “Dancin’ Man” mocktails (divino bianco roots, cucumber, pink pepper, and lemon-lime soda) and ate “Fosse’s Breakfast” (granola) and shrimp cocktails served by servers on silver trays. (For those with less highbrow tastes, there were also M&M bags by the bar with the dancers’ names printed on them.)

Kolton Krouse, a non-binary dancer in the production whose face kicks he earned a greeting from New York Times critic Jesse Green in her review, she wore an asymmetrical black dress, gold heels, shimmery gold eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick.

“I wanted to do a modern take on Ann Reinking’s original trumpet solo dress,” they said of her sparkling one-shoulder gown.

max Krouse, who is among a cast of dancers that is markedly more diverse in age, ethnicity, body type and gender presentation than a typical Fosse cast, said the best part of the new production was that “we can all be us.” ourselves while we’re doing it.”

Mr. Cilento said he purposely sought a more diverse cast for the revival.

“I made a very eclectic and really exciting group of dancers because I felt like you had to embrace the whole culture and not just make it, you know, white bread,” she said.

max Krouse, who headlines the “Spring Chicken” number on the show, said, “It’s rare to do a show where I can be myself, and that’s okay.”

Quick Question is a collection of red carpet offices, gala dinners and other events that bring celebrities out of hiding.