Coming of age as a dancer in Chicago’s burlesque houses, Bob Fosse, portrayed by Sam Rockwell, always dreamed of being Fred Astaire. When his career as a dancer in Hollywood fails to take off, Bob finds a second act as a Broadway choreographer. It is only when he meets Gwen Verdon, though, that his talents truly blossom.

Through a series of groundbreaking shows together, Bob and Gwen will reshape musical theater, as Bob transforms the choreographic vocabulary he first learned in the tawdry burlesque houses of the 1930s into his own singular aesthetic. Eventually, he will bring his unique vision to cinema, becoming one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of his generation. But Bob’s success will come at a terrible personal cost. Driven by a relentless need for perfection, and haunted by the demons of a troubled childhood, Bob will spend his life caught between his aspirations to greatness and the seemingly irresistible pull toward self-destruction.