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Last night the golden age of television got a little more fabulous with the premiere of Fosse/Verdon. Executive produced by Broadway playwrights Lin-Manuel Miranda and Steven Levenson, FX’s latest miniseries tells the complicated relationship between one of the greatest choreographers of all time, Bob Fosse, and one of the greatest dancers ever, Gwen Verdon. But between this show’s gorgeous dancing and incredible acting, there’s likely one detail that will leave audiences confused. Exactly what is Fosse/Verdon counting down to? Historical spoilers ahead.
Fosse/Verdon may have one of the most complicated timelines of any show on television. The first episode starts with a frowning Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) posing with his wife Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams) in a dance studio. A black screen announces that we’re in Hollywood and that 19 years are left. The series never clarifies exactly what means.
Presumably that’s because Fosse/Verdon is expecting audiences to already know the story behind this dynamic couple. Fosse/Verdon is most likely counting down the moments until Bob Fosse’s death in 1987. (Because screeners for the full series haven’t been provided to critics, this is based on conjecture and the structure of Sam Wasson’s book Fosse.)
The first episode of the miniseries begins in the aftermath of the 1969 film Sweet Charity. To really understand this movie’s impact, we’re going to have to hop back in time a little further. The stage musical of the play first hit Broadway in 1966. Directed and choreographed by Fosse, the play starred his highly talented wife and muse Gwen Verdon as a down-on-her-luck taxi dancer named Charity. The play was a critical success and was nominated for nine Tony Awards during its first run, including a win for choreography for Fosse.
Two years later, when the idea was floated to bring Sweet Charity to the big screen, Bob Fosse was tapped to direct again, this time for Hollywood. The film version of the play swapped out Verdon for Shirley MacLaine with Verdon’s blessing. Though it was met with critical praise, most reviews noted that Shirley MacLaine couldn’t stand next to Verdon’s take on the titular role. Even more troubling, the film adaptation of Sweet Charity was a box office bomb. The film made reportedly only made $8 million at the box office against its $20 million budget. That would be analogous to only making $55 million on a $137 million movie today. Ever the perfectionist, Fosse took the failure personally.
Though it was his biggest flop, Sweet Charity would continue to play an important role in Bob Fosse’s life. Almost 20 years later on September 23, 1987, the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. planned a stage revival of Sweet Charity. On his way to the show Fosse suffered a heart attack and fell into the arms of Gwen Verdon. He later died at George Washington University Hospital.
Based on the years and places listed in the countdown, this is likely what will bookend Fosse/Verdon. But why structure the show like this in the first place? For one, this countdown is a clear nod to the biography Fosse/Verdon is based on, Sam Wasson’s Fosse. The book starts with Bob Fosse’s funeral then jumps back in time, counting down 60 years of the choreographer’s life before ending on his untimely death.
More importantly, this format also speaks to the theme of this entire series. Two of the most devastating moments of Bob Fosse’s life — the failure of Sweet Charity and his own death — quite literally involved Gwen Verdon picking up the traumatic pieces. In the case of the Hollywood flop, that meant Verdon enduring her husband’s growing resentment about her superior onstage performance and petty, untrue quips that she could only be an iconic star under his direction. In his death, that meant literally holding her husband in his final moments. So yes, Bob Fosse may have top billing in this FX series, but never forget who the real star is.
New episodes of Fosse/Verdon premiere on FX Tuesdays at 10/9c p.m.
