JeanneH

I just found this fascinating 1983 interview with Gwen on YT. She is being interviewed by Rian Keating for a public access program. 36 years later Rian Keating posted it on YT (in March 2019). In the notes he wrote:

Lin-Manuel Miranda live tweeted the final episode with streaming video at commercial breaks. Nicole (and two sons) was watching the episode with him at his place, and was taking questions people had sent to him beforehand. One of them was what was Bob's reaction to her getting a part in that movie. She said he smirked and went "huh" (or some sound like that). The tweets and videos (there are 4 of them) are still up. @Lin_Manuel

from The Ringer (via Primetimer): ‘Fosse/Verdon’ Was at Its Best When It Was Doing What Bob Fosse Couldn’t Do Himself - FX’s expansive portrait of two showbiz greats thrived when it refused to genuflect at the altar of their history and let Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams cook There's a few interesting points made in the article, but the one I found most interesting concerned those countdown cards scattered throughout - I had never considered that they weren't counting down to Bob's death, they were counting down to the end of Bob and Gwen's partnership (yes, I know, one causes the other, but the show is named "Fosse/Verdon")

I love this version too. I was late to the song, so its use in the gut punch scene in the season 3 finale of "The West Wing" (shown in part here) I also like the version by The Canadian Tenors on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," when they got a little surprise mid-performance (shown in part here)

Lynn Manuel Miranda (apologies, I'm sure I mangled his name) was live tweeting every episode. Last night's was especially good as Nicole and two of her sons were with him. He tweeted some while it was on, then live streamed with Nicole during commercials and after it was over. Nicole seemed pretty cool, I thought. She choreographed (reconstructed) the father/daughter dance from ATJ. An excellent miniseries, and all the awards to Michelle!

Season 15 winner Chevel Shepherd sang "God Bless America" at the 2019 Indy 500 yesterday. She was wearing a near-stereotype country cowgirl outfit. Her former coach, Kelly Clarkson, was also on TV at the same event, singing the national anthem.

I read in one of the posted articles (I think) that it had been on YT but was taken down. As far as Gwen, I agree with VB68 and others - she was the emergency fill-in. NBC saw it as a casting emergency that needed quick resolution. And Gwen fit the bill - they could get in contact with her and get an answer quickly, she already knew how the game works, and (most importantly) she happened to be available (or could shuffle her schedule) for filming days.

According to Yahoo Entertainment, Adam was not popular behind the scenes, and was not happy with the recent rule changes that guaranteed equally sized teams. He also massively ticked off the PTBs at NBC with his "performance" at the recent network upfronts. The coaches performed there as a quartet, and while the others were into it Adam was all frowny and going through the motions. Adam Levine abruptly, mysteriously leaves 'The Voice' after 16 controversial seasons

Sally in stageCabaret is supposed to be a bad singer (at least in the original, pre-film release, productions). Judi Dench isn't a singer and she was the original Sally in the West End production (1968), so I would think the actress isn't (wasn't?) required to be much of a singer to do the part. But anyway, I think most singers do have a coach, if only to help keep their voices in shape. Can you imagine expecting to see Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera and getting Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera? Still, I bet some people were upset about it. The last time I saw a production on Broadway an announcement was made just before curtain of all cast changes for that performance ("during this performance the role of Doctor Watson will be played by Basil Rathbone") and there was a slip of paper inserted into the Playbill with the same info. Do they still do this? (do Playbills still exist? I heard they went digital)

Marsha Mason apparently had a small hand in the success of A Chorus Line. In Every Little Step, the documentary about casting the 2006 revival of ACL, Marvin Hamlisch (wrote music) tells a story that when the original version of the show was in previews they were having problems with the audience reaction. Things were fine throughout but when it got to the end the reaction was flat and the audience seemed a bit angry. Neil and Marsha attended one of the previews, and afterward someone (Bennett?) told them about the problem. Marsha said that she thought it was because after all she'd been put through, Cassie (Donna McKechnie) didn't get a job - the audience was a bit upset about that. So the ending was changed (solely on Marsha's input? who knows), a smash was born, and Chicago's Tony hopes were doomed for that year. This little tidbit is also in the Wikipedia entry about ACL, but I first heard it in the documentary.

Well good, so happy with this decision. Congratulations Maelyn! I wish we could find out how much vote splitting came into play among the Blake/Country fandom. Surprised at Gyth coming in 2nd - I didn't think he was the best singer on Blake's team, not i recent times!

Thanks for this. However this show really needs to take a page from DWTS and do a one series year.

Turner Classic Movies aired the movie "Hollywood Canteen" Thursday night. At about the 90 minute mark a dance act comes on stage to entertain the (WW2) troops, and there was Joan McCracken (playing herself), fresh from Oklahoma on Broadway. Wow, she was good! That movie will probably be available VOD or on their website for a week or two.

Again, unsure where this should go. Does this mean Kelly is done on The Voice? Kelly Clarkson's New Talk Show Is Officially Coming to TV—Here's What We Know

OK thanks. That's what I'm hoping for, just that it's not the country guy who wins. 🙂