Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fosse/Verdon’ On FX, About The Tumultuous Relationship Between Bob Fosse And Gwen Verdon

Bob Fosse was one of Broadway’s best choreographers before his death in 1987. Gwen Verdon was a magnificent dancer and a great choreographer in her own right. Their marriage — they never got divorced, despite the two of them separating in 1971 — is the stuff of showbiz legend, and it’s being portrayed in the new FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon. Read on for more about this star-studded series. And for alternate take on the show, read Kayla Cobb’s review here.

FOSSE/VERDON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A weathered, bearded man stares into a mirror, with a cigarillo hanging out of his mouth.

The Gist: Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) hears a knock on the door of his hotel room, says “it’s too early,” but keeps hearing knocking. He also thinks back to his days as a tap dancer. When he answers the door, we flash back to a younger version of himself coordinating some moves with his wife, Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams). We see a graphic that says, “Hollywood, 19 years left.”

It’s 1968 and Verdon is helping Fosse with the choreography of the “Big Spender” scene in Sweet Charity. He’s directing a feature film for the first time, and the movie is a film version of the Broadway musical Verdon starred in, though Shirley MacLaine is in Verdon’s role in the movie. Fosse’s perfectionism is causing budget overruns, and when we flash to “18 years left” (i.e. 1969), the movie tanks and loses the studio $20 million.

At the opening night party, he gets wind that Cabaret is being made into a movie. He meets with Cy Feuer (Paul Reiser), the movie’s producer, who thinks Fosse is too “showy” for what’s supposed to be more of a “musical drama.” But Fosse insists he’s the right guy, and goes over Feuer’s head to get the job.

When there’s “16 years left” (aka 1971), Fosse is in Munich shooting Cabaret, with Cy breathing down his neck to get scenes shot on schedule, which is butting up against Fosse’s desire for authenticity, to the point where he goes to a brothel to hire prostitutes as extras. He also takes up with the movie’s translator, Hannah (Christiane Seidel).

It’s not the first time this has happened. When Fosse calls Gwen, asking her to come to Munich to help him with the choreography, she asks “Am I going to be unhappy when I get there?” And while there’s a pretty good chance she won’t be happy, she loves working with her husband as we see when the film takes shape while she’s in Germany. She even volunteers to fly back and forth between New York and Munich to get a gorilla costume for a scene. But she likely won’t be happy when she gets back.

Our Take: There are lots and lots of big names in the executive producer ranks of Fosse/Verdon, including Joel Fields (The Americans), Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail (Hamilton), Williams and Rockwell, along with showrunner Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen). Fosse and Verdon’s daughter, Nicole Fosse (played by Chandler Head in the series) is also an EP.

Suffice to say, there are some Broadway musical heavyweights involved, and the show plays out that way, with lots of characters and in-jokes that might go over the average viewer’s head, like Nate Corddry and Aya Cash playing Neil and Joan Simon. We like Neil Simon and we forgot that the late playwright wrote the book for Sweet Charity, so it’s hard to say what the average viewer might get from those two characters, as with Kelli Barrett playing the very over-the-top version of a young Liza Minnelli.

But what irks us about the show is that the title is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the second episode of Fosse/Verdon goes back to the start of Verdon’s career, but we know that “Everything Changes” (can we trademark that?) when she meets Fosse. The first episode has Fosse constantly flashing back to times when he was a young dancer, either as a kid when he was drilled hard by a perfectionist father or when he was in the Navy entertaining wounded soldiers during World War II.

In essence, the show is about Fosse’s tortured genius and how Verdon fit into his life, not as much about the collaboration between the two in life and in show business. It’s based on the biography Fosse by Sam Wasson, so this point of view makes sense. But it’s disingenuous to say it’s about the two of them when we spend so much time on Fosse and his foibles.

Don’t get us wrong, Rockwell and Williams do fine work in their respective roles, as does Reiser as the ever-annoyed Cy Feuer. It’s just that people who think the show will be about a partnership will be disappointed.

Sex and Skin: Fosse sleeps with Hannah, but we just see her in his bed, that’s it.

Parting Shot: We’re back to the older Fosse opening the door, to see Verdon there. She’s taking him to the opening of a revival of Sweet Charity. A graphic says “Washington, DC. 8 minutes left.” Read up on Fosse’s death and you’ll understand the reference.

Sleeper Star: We like seeing Reiser playing a jerk again. Though, given Fosse’s perfectionism, is Cy Feuer really being a jerk about wanting Caberet to stick to its budget?

Most Pilot-y Line: After talking on the phone about how much Sweet Charity tanked, Fosse imagines himself jumping off the terrace of his apartment. Then we cut to him still contemplating. Seems like a shortcut about someone’s mood we’ve seen too many times lately.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Fosse/Verdon has too much Bob Fosse, not enough Gwen Verdon, and a whole lot of story beats we’ve seen in the recent past.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Where to stream Fosse/Verdon