Gwen Verdon: A Life on Stage and Screen (38 page)

The star appears in the show as one of the alternate actresses playing Charity, coming from the closet in the scene in the apartment of Vittorio Vidal (Robert Goulet). She is not dressed exactly in character but still in a similar black dress with a sheer sleeve covering and carrying a shoulder bag. Verdon takes a plate of food from the meal that Charity has been offered, then returns. She acknowledges the audience’s applause but is unable to get out her line until finally Charles Nelson Reilly as Manfred roars to her, “What did you want to say? What are you trying to say?” Verdon then says the line, “If you get a chance, I’d love a cold beer” and goes back into the closet. She is also seen hiding behind the closet door when Ursula (Marla Maples) enters. Charity puts on Vittorio’s black top hat and hides amongst clothes when Ursula moves to open the closet. She reacts against Ursala hitting the door when she says, “Why do I torture myself?” Verdon accidentally makes the door set slip toward Ursula and falls, which gets a big laugh from the audience. She pulls the closet door, which is on wheels, back into position with the assistance of a crew member and the audience applauds. In response, Maples as Ursala ad libs, “It must have been an earthquake.” Verdon stays in character as Charity in her spotlight as she listens at the door to the dialogue between Vittorio and Ursula. She swigs the bottle of beer that Vittorio opens the door to give to her, and raises it to say “Up yours” when Ursula describes her as “that little nothing” he picked up. During Vittorio’s song “Too Many Tomorrows” Verdon reprises the closet moment when she lights a cigarette and blows the smoke into a plastic clothes cover. She also reacts in pleasure when Vittorio hands her Ursula’s white fur piece and Charity wears it.

Verdon gets a second line with “Talk about your foreign movies,” and sings a sad reprise of “If My Friends Could See Me Now” in a solo spotlight. After a blackout, Vittorio helps her out of the closet when Ursala is asleep and tells him, “I enjoyed you in the movies, but in person⁠…!” When he asks her if she watched, she gestures that she did. She says
ciao
as goodbye, hands him back Ursala’s fur, and exits. Verdon joined the other Charitys–Chita Rivera, Donna McKechnie, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen—at the end of the show to take a bow. She is also summoned by Cy Coleman to join him center stage after the cast members have taken bows and she sings “If They Could See Me Now” with the rest of the company.

The evening was praised by Christopher Isherwood in
Variety
who wrote that Verdon’s brief appearance “proved her comic chops are as ageless as the audience’s affection for her, and she was met with the kind of heartfelt ovation that reminds you how perfunctory they can seem.”

Verdon was credited as the artistic advisor on
Fosse
, a bookless three-act show celebration of the choreographer which presented a collection of recreations of his original musical numbers. The idea was conceived by director Richard Maltby, Jr., and choreographer Chet Walker and co-director Ann Reinking. Verdon was credited as co-choreographer for the Fosse recreations with Walker, with dance reconstructions by Brad Musgrove and Lainie Sakakura. Interviewed about the show, she said that Fosse knew that people basically were very erotic and very sensual even though they denied it. He pushed people’s buttons and they were seemingly shocked but they loved it so Verdon felt that they weren’t really shocked at all. With Fosse you knew you were going to get something different because his point of view was off-center. Verdon also felt that Fosse would have found all kinds of fault with the show but he would still be absolutely thrilled.

Verdon said that the idea for the show originally came from Walker in 1986 and together he and Verdon worked on it for years. They would find people who were terrific and teach them for free, her feeling it was almost like being on a scholarship. When Verdon and Walker felt they had the right people, they started doing workshops and teaching dance numbers. She was determined to get Ann Reinking involved because Reinking could choreograph the show and she (Verdon) could not. Reinking came aboard in 1994; she and Verdon worked very well together, Verdon knew how to take the material and create a Fosse world of dance language. Reinking praised Verdon, saying that her mind and her memory were like no one’s she had ever known. Not only was she a fantastic teacher and director, but in looking through all the tapes of her movies and television work, Reinking saw that her technique and her performing ability then was better than anybody’s today. Verdon said that Reinking understood Fosse’s elegance and attention to detail.

1n 1996 the show was developed by Garth H. Drabinsky’s Livent company in Toronto. Its basic content was reflected by selections from Walker and Verdon, although others, including Drabinsky, had some influence on it. Drabinsky approached Richard Maltby, Jr., who at first turned it down though he attended a workshop. Maltby then began to see that his judgment of Fosse’s work was incorrect. Like most people, he thought it was all about the style, the fingers, turned-in knees, etc. Instead, he saw that it was about emotion being expressed in a style. Verdon said that there were many facets to the choreography and to its vocabulary of movement. It was funny, sexy, quick, romantic, and there was so much detail. And you had such a sense of accomplishment—when you were finally able to accomplish it.

The month of the show’s world premiere at the Toronto Ford Center for the Performing Arts differs in sources. Some say it was in July 1998 and others August. Rachelle Rak joined the company in Toronto. When she showed up with big hair, a tan and a leopard leotard, she felt that Verdon looked at her in amazement. Despite this, she was cast and she was put in “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Big Spender” and “Sing Sing Sing.” In Boston, Elizabeth Parkinson was featured in every number and it was decided that she needed a break from the three-and-a-half-hour show. Verdon had Rak audition to be in the ensemble of “Rich Man’s Frug” and she was hired, which put her in four numbers. As time went on, Verdon saw something in Rak and allowed her to do an understudy rehearsal day. She decided to do “I Gotcha” and there was something about it that Verdon liked. Rak became the understudy for Shannon Lewis for “I Gotcha.” The first time before she went on in New York, Verdon asked if Rak, whom she called “Rak,” if she got the notes for the number. Rak had not, so Verdon demonstrated that she wanted her to do a hip roll and slap the floor. At the performance Rak saw Verdon sitting at the sound booth and she did the number and got through it. Afterwards the dance captain asked if she would like to get her notes from Verdon. He also told her how Verdon had been bouncing in her chair during Rak’s performance and that she had said, “She’s great. One hundred percent trash.” Everyone in the company heard about Verdon’s comment. When Rak came in the next day she saw that there had been t-shirts made with the same written on them and signed
Gwen Verdon
.

In September the show played at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. From October 9, 1997, to December 6, 1998, it was at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. It had previews in New York at the Broadhurst Theatre from December 26, 1998, and opened on Broadway on January 14, 1999. A hit, it ran till August 5, 2001. Verdon also planned that the company would go to London and have a European tour.

The show and Verdon were both parodied in an off–Broadway revue created and written by Gerard Alessandrini,
Forbidden Broadway: 2001 A Spoof Odyssey
. The revue had opened at the Stardust Theatre on December 6, 2000. The original cast recording was released by DRG Records on February 13, 2001. In it Christine Pedi impersonated Verdon to the tune of “I’m a Brass Band” from
Sweet Charity.
She also introduced some of her pals from
Fosse
for a parody of “Steam Heat” from
The Pajama Game
. Pedi’s Verdon asked that the audience not sneak out the back way the way they had during
New Girl in Town
.

Verdon guested on the Warner Bros. Television comic talk show
The Rosie O’Donnell Show
on January 7, 1999. Since Ann Reinking also appeared, they were presumably both there to publicize
Fosse
which was then in previews. When she wasn’t rehearsing
Fosse
, Verdon would drive up to Vermont where Nicole lived with her husband and their sons Sean, Noah and Leif. The Vermont house was where she kept her four Tony Awards in a suitcase in storage, since she believed that it was work not honors that mattered. Verdon thought Nicole’s husband Andreas “Andy” Greiner was a terrific guy. “Most mothers can’t stand their son-in-law, but I keep thinking, if they ever had an argument, I’d be on
his
side.” Her son Jimmy gave her two granddaughters. The younger one, Jennifer, was an actress living in New York. Jennifer had a sister, Lisa, who had a twelve-year-old son also named James. Verdon said that her great-grandson was really handsome and also interested in theater.

She was conspicuously absent from the
E! True Hollywood Story
on Fosse that was broadcast on February 3, 1999, although there is a muted shot from an interview with her. It also featured a grainy black and white film re-enactment of the scene of Fosse’s final heart attack in Washington when Verdon was with him. Her double is only seen from the back. The scene is notably free of onlookers, which adds a lonely poignancy to it. Another point of interest in the special is that it shows the
Chicago
billboard that announced that Liza Minnelli was replacing Verdon in the performance.

Verdon, Reinking and Valarie Pettiford appeared on the PBS talk show
Charlie Rose
to discuss
Fosse
in an episode broadcast on March 9, 1999. It was filmed in New York, and Verdon wore a black suit with white gray-striped open shirt and high-necked sweater. Reinking said that her favorite dance of Fosse’s was “Cool Hand Luke” because it was so lyric and gentle, and so few people thought of his choreography that way. On April 20, 1999, Verdon made her third and final appearance at the Easter Bonnet Competition which benefited Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at the New Amsterdam Theatre. This appearance was a surprise one as she danced across the stage during the performance of a number from the cast of
Fosse
.

Verdon returned for her second guest appearance on
Walker, Texas Ranger
on the episode “Mind Games.” It was also to be her last appearance on television. It was broadcast on May 8, 1999, and written by Robin Madden and directed by Michael Preece. Verdon was back as Maisie Whitman, whose son Brian (Robin Thomas) is murdered by his wife, Caroline (Roxane Hart) and her lover Peter (David Allen Brooks). Caroline schemes to get Maisie’s trust fund by drugging her tea with Ecstasy so that she can be declared mentally incompetent. Maisie’s friend C.D. (Noble Willingham) saves her. Verdon appears in ten scenes in a variety of costumes that all feature neck scarves. Maisie wearing more cardigans than jackets indicates her age. Verdon dances again with C.D. at the beginning of the episode at a country and western dance but her being a drugged victim allows the actress to play degrees of confusion. Her best moment is perhaps her reaction to being face-slapped by Caroline, a mix of shock and disapproval. Maisie having a son in the narrative disproves the theory of the previous show’s episode, “Forgotten People,” that she may have been a lesbian, and her being wealthy is something else not indicated in that episode. Her drugged visions are demonstrated by director Preece using distorted imagery for point of view.

On June 6, 1999, Verdon attended the 1999 Tony Awards with her granddaughter Jennifer. They were held at the Gershwin Theatre and broadcast live on CBS television. She is seen four times in the show. For the first, Verdon is in the audience clapping after being thanked by Ralph Burns, who won the Tony for Best Orchestration of a Musical with Douglas Besterman for
Fosse
. She wears the same black gown with white collar that she wore at the 1994 Tribute to Fosse and at the 1994 Tonys. There is a second cut to Verdon applauding Thomas Bridge, who won the Best Lighting Design award for
Fosse
, after he thanked Bob Fosse. Verdon is seen for the third time sitting next to Ann Reinking when the camera cuts to Reinking and Richard Maltby Jr., as they are announced as nominees for the award for Best Director of a Musical. Reinking and Maltby, Jr, lost to Matthew Bourne for
Swan Lake
. Verdon is seen for the fourth time as part of the show team that accepts the Award for Best Musical for
Fosse
with Roy Furman, Ann Reinking, Chet Walker, and Richard Maltby Jr. As Furman speaks for the team to accept the award, she stands beside him. We see that Verdon’s outfit is the black jacket with white collar worn with a broach and black necklace, and black skirt with a split.

In June an extended version of the 1990 interview with Michael Buckley was published in the fall 1999 issue of
Show Music
magazine. She appeared on the
A&E
Biography
episode on Fosse broadcast on August 24, 1999. Verdon wore a black blouse and jacket, and was interviewed sitting down, with some extreme closeups showing her milky gray–colored eyes. Among the things she spoke about was working with Fosse on
Damn Yankees
.

In the fall of 1999
Fosse
began its national company tour in Chicago under her artistic director eye. On October 25, 1999, Verdon was presented with a Career Transition for Dancers’ Award by Jerry Orbach at “The Next Step,” a gala benefit program at the Kaye Playhouse. The performance benefited an organization that provided counselling, education and scholarship programs to help dancers move successfully to new fields when they retired.

Verdon next appeared in the supporting role of Alora Swanson in the comic crime drama
Walking Across Egypt
(1999). Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, it was shot on location around Orlando, Florida, including Clermont, Ocoee, St. Cloud and Windermere. The screenplay by Paul Tamasy was based on the novel by Clyde Edgerton. It focused on the relationship between an elderly religious woman, Mattie Rigsbee (Ellen Burstyn), and an inmate of the Listre Young Man’s Rehabilitation Center, 16-year-old Wesley Benfield (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). As Mattie’s next door neighbour, Alora is a minor character in the narrative. Like the others she speaks with a Southern accent and Verdon’s red hair here appears straight. Alora dresses in loud colors and wears large earrings which hint at an eccentricity that is not explored. Verdon has two good moments. The first is her reaction to the news that Wesley is going to commit suicide which she describes as “committing sideways.” She expresses it physically as mayhem when she runs. The second is Alora’s smile of apology to Mattie over Wesley being taken back to the Center. Verdon’s clown face makes the smile comic and also shows character empathy.