"'FOSSE/VERDON' COMING TO FX" — Page 21

At the end of the day, I can look past so many of the inaccuracies because as Brody has mentioned, the series is introducing a new generation to Gwen Verdon and renewing interest in her career. Being that she didn't live and work as long as the likes of Chita, Stritch, Channing, Lansbury, etc, I've worried that she would be quite forgotten over time. Thankfully, this will never be the case, and her legacy will surely live on through this series. Hopefully "Perfectly Marvelous," Ken Bloom's documentary on Verdon will find the proper funding now.

Updated On: 5/28/19 at 11:54 PM

Not sure about the factual inacuracies- but this miniseries was on of the most enjoyable and riveting television experiences I have had- I clapped at the end of this episode last night- I thoroughly enjoyed this miniseries- Bravo to the cast and crew. I thought that although Fosse was portrayed as self absorbed and obsessed with women and his art- the relationship with Gwen seemed real and complex- as I expect Picasso and many great artists were. I would imagine -though there are lots of dramatic liberties taken, the essence of both Gwen and Fosse are portrayed somewhat accurately- since Nicole was involved with the production.. As drama, it totally worked- I think we all understand that these miniseries and life stories take many liberties. If the essence is accurate, then it is a successful portrait.

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 04:57 AM

I'm done reading Children! Children!. If anyone wants my copy for $5 and postage, please let me know in a PM.

Gwen, I'm so sorry you had to go through such pain, but while you were here on earth you made many people happy with your wonderful talents. Bob, you were a genius and you won't be forgotten. Nichole, it must have been painful at times doing this series, but I am glad you were there in control. I enjoyed this very emotional series, and bravo to all who participated. Perhaps more bios on Broadway legends are soon due; Ethel Merman , Jerry Orbach, or Joel Grey for example.

Sooo emotional during the death. Never had much interest in Williams before this show but will follow her through everything now. It has ignited an interest in Gwen Verdon I never had, and it's also helped me revisit Chicago - which up until now I had been over for about 10 years.

I really want to watch the show, but I don't want to watch the sex scene. Could somebody provide time stamps for where I should skip?

Just read the Reinking piece. For me, if what she says about the hospital bed sex is true then, I have kind of Lost respect for the creators of this series. (Actually want crazy about some involved from the start) I wasn't crazy about that scene as is and was trying to remember if it was I the book. But i was just watching and thinking that they took his sexual appetite too far. We already knew he was bedding a lot of girls and i just wasn't believing she would do that. Also she was supposedly injured at the time. JMO

Ann clearly states that sex moment DID happen, just not after his surgery. The creative team has addressed the discrepancies in the series if you Google interviews they’ve done. There are several. They firmly state the series is NOT a documentary and due to the time constraints per episode, numerous things had to be consolidated to accomplish the tact of covering moments but not in an honest chronology. Each episode was treated independently so they needed to fit the time given to that episode as they couldn’t just include a moment later in another episode.

Yes, in true life while Bob Fosse was recuperating from his open heart surgery, Ann was in another hospital recuperating from back surgery from an injury she suffered doing her legendary jitterbug (with John Mineo) in the 1974 Broadway musical OVER HERE! She didn’t visit Bob at the hospital. She did say that sex moment did happen afterwards when Bob was better. The series wanted to include that pivotal moment so the timeline was shuffled so it could be included in the episode dealing with his heart surgery. Plain and simple. She’s admitted that moment DID happen just not during the timeline in the series. It wasn’t a sex scene fabricated by the writers.

ljay889 said: "At the end of the day, I can look past so many of the inaccuracies because as Brody has mentioned, the series is introducing a new generation to Gwen Verdon and renewing interest in her career. Being that she didn't live and work as longas the likes of Chita, Stritch, Channing, Lansbury, etc, I've worried that she would be quite forgotten over time. Thankfully, this will never be the case, and her legacy will surely live onthrough this series. Hopefully"Perfectly Marvelous,"Ken Bloom's documentary on Verdon will find the proper funding now."

Gwen Verdon was an above-the-title Broadway star for a good 24 years! And that doesn't count her later work as a production supervisor. She won more Tony Awards than any of the women you mention except Angela. Yet you make Verdon sound like a one-hit wonder!

Kad said: "Interpreting that interview with Reinking as her confirming the show is a "full of lies" is a bit of a stretch. Why are people acting so new and so incensed to the concept of the process of adapting history to a dramatic form?Is it because the subject is dear to them?

That said, I was disappointed the series ended with such a cliche biopic trope of written epilogue. And the focus on Nicole here was distracting, and really the only time I felt her influence strongly.

But that "If My Friends Could See Me Now" scene was stunning."

In fairness, Kad, this was the first time Nichole was presented as an adult. (Yes, the same actress appeared earlier, but she was playing a teenager.)

The bio quotes Fosse as saying he really didn't know what to do with Nichole when she was a kid, that they only became close when she started studying ballet and the two of them had the worlds of dance in common.

***

I thought the scene of Fosse's death was a little, "Well, we've come this far, let's go ahead and win Michele that Emmy!" But the actual details of his death conformed to the account in the book, which I had read only a couple of hours earlier. The book retreats, however, to a stranger's p.o.v. rather than zooming in.

But I further think they wanted to end with the point that whatever the state of their romance, Verdon and Fosse's partnership very much continued through his lifetime. They were soulmates, no matter how many women he screwed.

As for the alleged "factual inaccuracies" I didn't see many compared to what was reported in the book. It was more a change in tone, and a condensation of events, than an invention of facts. (Yes, I know, bk, grocery bags didn't have handles and phone calls were a dime.) And even the "dour Bob Fosse" about which we've all complained wasn't so far off the book's portrayal of Fosse once he took on the extra responsibilities--including teaching himself to use a camera--of directing. Per Wasson, it seems Fosse became less and less fun as he spent more time multitasking and fighting with movie studios. Who wouldn't?

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 10:15 PM

BrodyFosse123 said: "Ann clearly states that sex moment DID happen, just not after his surgery. The creative team has addressed the discrepancies in the series if you Google interviews they’ve done. There are several. They firmly state the series is NOT a documentary and due to the time constraints per episode, numerous things had to be consolidated to accomplish the tact of covering moments but not in an honest chronology. Each episode was treated independently so they needed to fit the time given to that episode as they couldn’t just include a moment later in another episode.

Yes, in true life while Bob Fosse was recuperating from his open heart surgery, Ann was in another hospital recuperating from back surgery from an injury she suffered doing her legendary jitterbug (with John Mineo) in the 1974 Broadway musical OVER HERE! She didn’t visit Bob at the hospital. She did say that sex moment did happen afterwards when Bob was better. The series wanted to include that pivotal moment so the timeline was shuffled so it could be included in the episode dealing with his heart surgery. Plain and simple. She’s admitted that moment DID happen just not during the timeline in the series. It wasn’t a sex scene fabricated by the writers."

Oh just stop justifying the liberties taken with the truth. They could have easily addressed this as it really happened. People who don’t know any better will watch this and walk away thinking it’s the truth. Just STOP!!! It’s irresponsible!

As for creative liberties, I find that I am bothered by some and not by others - and usually that depends on how much I have invested in or know about the person beforehand. I was pretty annoyed by the Queen movie because of its flat, boring and dishonest portrayal of Freddie Mercury. I was more forgiving of Fosse/Verdon, in part because I realized they were in part going with the book's portrayal, in part because I knew little about Gwen Verdon beforehand, and in part because I never thought Bob Fosse was an angel (because he told me a long time ago in All That Jazz.)

The final episode was a bit all over the place as it tried to cover too much ground. I found myself bored during some sections (Gwen's boyfriend breaks up with her - yawn; every scene involving Nicole) and really liked others.

Rockwell grew on me as the series progressed. He had a tough role to play, especially to an audience like this one, and the writing often let him down. Williams was marvelous. (Note to self: Track down her past films.) Butz was terrific.

I found the overall portrayal of Fosse and Verdon's unique partnership fascinating, especially in its attempt to capture the creative process when a lot of people are involved. If I had one gripe, it was that the focus on the 1970s naturally discounted the part of their career in which Verdon was the star. It would have been nice to see more of that, but it's understandable that the focus was on the prime of his career.