There's a lot of material about Bob Fosse;
there's much less material about Gwen Verdon.
I think a lot of us know less about Gwen Verdon.
Gwen Verdon was the entire heart.
I don't think Bob Fosse really would have
become himself without her.
It wouldn't have looked the same without Gwen.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
You see what Gwen's doing with the arms?
Scooping ice cream!
Dancing for us.
JOEL FIELDS: Gwen Verdon was one of the greatest Broadway
musical stars of her era, and unknown as the secret
collaborator of her husband Bob Fosse.
STEVEN LEVENSON: A lot of working on this show has been
about discovering Gwen, who she was,
and her contribution to the body of work
that we know of as Bob Fosse's.
It was Gwen who was the star; it was Gwen who is really
the toast of the town, and Bob was a choreographer who hadn't
gotten directing jobs yet.
What did I do to deserve it?
You know, I don't know.
NICOLE FOSSE: My mother made goofy, sexy.
Boop, boop badum!
She was a triple threat on Broadway.
She was a highly trained dancer.
She was very much fashioned after the Harlequin, or a mime,
when she performed.
Her dancing was unparalleled for her time,
and for this time.
She was a performer who believed in working
harder than everybody else.
Can we just go again from the top, Bob?
I don't have it in my body yet.
You heard the lady.
Let's take it all the way back.
NICOLE FOSSE: She was a self-made woman.
She came from nothing; from the depression,
from a very poor family, and from difficult circumstances.
And she created a life that she had fun living.
She became, to an artist, all the colors in the spectrum.
Show me the reverse.
Eh.
Yours is better.
Let's do it again.
[LIGHT PIANO PLAYING]
THOMAS KAIL: I met Michelle through this project,
and she saw something in Gwen that resonated with her.
I immediately called Steven Levenson.
And I said, all right, well, it's over, we found her.
And both she and Sam approached to work on a molecular level.
I'm always drawn to a person--
to a character when I read a script.
I found myself going towards this woman,
even though I knew very little about who she really was.
When you're walking backwards and you roll the shoulder,
it's not a seduction, it's a con job.
Now, he doesn't know that, so, shh.
A lot of the preparation was physical, of course,
so it started with dance training.
A lot of it is just repetition; it's allowing yourself to walk
into something as a beginner, and have faith in yourself
and the people that you're working
with, that you will perform it with fluidity
and effortlessness.
I'm so excited for the world to see what Michelle is doing
in this, because I've certainly never seen anything like it,
and I'm excited to share it.
Slouch the shoulders.
Don't think I've ever heard that word from a choreographer
before.
Bob and Gwen really lived through a period
of ups and downs with Broadway.
And then, eventually, Bob eclipsed Gwen,
and they both had to figure out how to manage that.
To get to tell their story is a huge privilege,
and I have felt thrilled and also just incredibly honored
to get to explore this legacy, and to hopefully, you know,
dig a little bit deeper into these two people
and understand them a little bit better.
You and Gwen make a hell of a team.
[PIANO PLAYING]