Robert Wyatt Presents A Step in Time: Fred Astaire

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He began performing as a child with his older sister, Adele, and the two toured the vaudeville circuit before coming to Broadway in 1917. When Adele retired to marry an English aristocrat in 1932, Astaire was forced to develop a solo act and soon starred in Cole Porter’s The Gay Divorcee. But for all his early success, a career in the movies eluded Astaire. After a screen test in Hollywood, a studio executive wrote “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little.” He responded by appearing in 36 musical films and 4 television specials while becoming the finest “song-and -dance man” in musical history.

Join American music specialist Robert Wyatt as he invites you to sweep across the dance floor with Astaire and his partners Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse and Audrey Hepburn. Learn more about the man who was also a subtle actor of wide range and a vocalist who introduced more popular standards than any other singer. Songs by the Gershwin brothers, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter guided his steps through an exceptional career which spanned the vaudeville stages of the pre-World War I era into the 1920s Broadway, through the Golden Age of Hollywood and even to a guest appearance on Battlestar Gallactica in the 1970s.