Gwen Verdon

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 9:50pm

She was amazing, wasn't she?

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 9:51pm

True that.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 10:16pm

She was perhaps the best dancer Broadway has ever seen. Just perfection.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 10:19pm

Are you people on crack?

Christina Applegate was so much better!

[Ruth Sherwood]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 10:27pm

WickedGeek- Was that sarcasm? If not, have you ever seen Gwen Verdon dance?

[CurtisTaylorJr2]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 10:34pm

I never saw Verdon dance, but I have seen a clip of Applegate and she wasn't that good.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 10:41pm

Yes, Ruth it was sarcasm. I love Gwen's work.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 11:16pm

Ahh in times of crazy people like Jennahaze, a little talk about Gwen Verdon always helps.


I wish she was still around What a flawless dancer.
Updated On: 6/24/06 at 11:16 PM

[Horton]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 11:20pm

Who do you think is the 'modern day' Gwen Verdon. I think that the closest thing we have is Charlotte d'Amboise

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 11:22pm

In terms of all around stage personality/performer, absolutely d'Amboise!

She has performed 4 Verdon roles. And I'd say she is one of the very few performers who has that "spark" similar to the one of Verdon.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 11:23pm

It's definately Charlotte. Not only have they played the same roles, they both have that vivacious personality.

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 6/24/06 at 11:55pm

I would have loved to have seen her perform, but that was before my time. SHe played so many incredible roles, namely Lola. Vocal power, serious acting and comedic fun. She's no typical singing star, but her voice is so distinctive and great for all the roles she's played. One-of-a-kind talent. There were/are very few people like her anymore...

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 1:56am

She's one of those people whom I don't like to remember that they are dead, because it makes the world seem like just that much more of a duller place...

[jaesdare]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 3:17am

oh i would have killed to see her and Chita share a stage

[jv92]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 1:16pm

Just like they'll never be another Bob Fosse, they'll never be another Gwen Verdon. No present day dancer can compare to her.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 2:01pm

Dear jaesdare,

I bought the boxed set of the PBS "Broadway Musical" just for the clip of Chita and Gwen dancing the "Hot Honey Rag".

(Now I would kill to have a copy of them dancing the entire number. Why the Hell didn't they put that on the "Razzle Dazzle" edition of the DVD of "Chicago"?)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 2:21pm

Gwen got a bit of a bad rap for her vocal abilities. Her voice sounds just fine (if a bit husky) on the cast albums of CAN-CAN, DAMN YANKEES! and SWEET CHARITY. But her best cast album (and perhaps most interesting role) was NEW GIRL IN TOWN. (If you haven't heard it, get it - even if you have to pay top $ for a copy.)

She also did a solo album for RCA Victor called THE GIRL I LEFT HOME FOR. I don't think it has had a CD release but I heard some tracks from the Lp on a radio tribute to her and I must say she sure knew how to put a song across.

Posted: 6/25/06 at 2:50pm

I saw Gwen Verdon in all her Broadway shows from CAN-CAN to CHICAGO. She certainly was a marvelous performer. My favorite was REDHEAD...a show that most people overlook.

[jaesdare]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 4:38pm

sondheimboy2 I saw that clip too, fabuloussss...
i saw a full run of hot honey rag of chita and bebe, but she just seemed incomplete without gwen, hahaha

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 5:41pm

Gwen's solo album is marvelous. She sounds simply stunning.

According to this link on Amazon there is an import CD version of it
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000568IV/qid=1151271476/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-7717358-3822361?s=music&v=glance&n=5174

but it takes 4-6 weeks to ship, so I don't know if that's really available.

Her voice was pretty much wonderful up until Sweet Charity and the infamous feathers. She always had that husky sound, but after the feathers... well you know how she sounds after those. But she still sounded loveable.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/25/06 at 6:16pm

Gwen Verson was totally devoted to her craft.

When she and Bob Fosse saw the costumes for the Fan Dango girls, they realized they were not what were called for, she went home, pulled out her sewing maching and created exactly what was needed for "Hey Big Spender".

Yup, the original costumes for that number were designed and executed by the star of the show! Oddly enough, I feel that the costumes that were used in the Christina Applegate revival were closer to what Fosse and Verdon rejected.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 9:48am

In addition to being a consummate performer (I was so lucky to see her, Chita and Jerry Orbach in CHICAGO twice), she was, as Dollypop points out, the ultimate support and help to Fosse.

She shopped Liza's entire wardrobe for the film of CABARET from thrift shops in Berlin. And most graciously coached Shirley Maclaine in the film of SWEET CHARITY.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:31am

Friends of mine in London saw Evita and are raving about this Elena Roger who, apparently can sing and dance fantastically. Watching the clips on the Evita site certainly indicate she's unique.

[JarNerdAV]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:32am

Who is the current Gwen Verdon? Why Ann Reinking, of course. Or at least she thinks she is.

Gwen was amazing, and, yes, incredibly gracious. I mean, how many women would help choreograph the film she should have starred in (Sweet Charity) and how many women would be friends with and work so closely with their husband's mistress. She was definitely a class act and still very much missed.

When she died, a drag queen friend wanted to do a tribute to her in his show so I wrote him a little medley (envisioning her heavenly reunion with Bob Fosse) to the tune of some of her most popular songs:

For Gwen Verdon:

(To the tune of If My Friends Could See Me Now)
If they could see me now,
that little gang of mine.
I’m wearing flowing robes
and floating on cloud 9.

I’m in Heaven, Holy cow!
If my friends, if my friends, if my friends could see me now.

(To the tune of Big Spender)
The minute I danced through the gates
I remembered a man of distinction
A real smooth mover,
good-looking, so refined
When you played around, did you think I was blind?

So let me get right to the point,
We’re reunited for all eternity.
Hey Bob Fosse, Hey Bob Fosse
Won’t you spend the rest of time with me.

(To the Tune of All that Jazz)
I was a dancing fool who loved to play the clown
And all that Jazz
I danced a Can-Can and brought the whole house down
And all that Jazz

I played a Redhead and I hate to complain
But why’d they film Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine
I let those Damn Yankees know what this Lola wants
Is all that Jazz

Oh, I was someone’s wife, but
Oh, he had another life.
Depicted loosely in the movie
All that Jazz

(To the tune of Nowadays)
It’s good isn’t it,
great isn’t
swell isn’t it,
fun isn’t it
Nowadays.

You dance like a kid again
Star in a hit again
Feel like you’re it again
Nowadays.

You can like the life your livin’,
you can live the life your liking
You can even marry Verdon, and mess around with Reinking
And that’s good, isn’t it great, isn’t it swell, isn’t it fun, isn’t it Nowadays.

In thirty years or so,
Ann is gonna join us again I know.
But isn’t it Heaven.
I think I’m in Heaven.
This has to be Heaven, nowadays.

If they could see me now,
that little gang of mine.
I’m wearing flowing robes
and floating on cloud 9.

I’m in Heaven, Holy cow!
If my friends, if my friends, if my friends could see me now.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:43am

I worship Gwen Verdon. I assume everyone here's seen her duet with Fosse in the movie verison of Damn Yankees? Not Fosse's most impressive choreography, in my opinion, but still, you don't get better than those two.