'Fosse/Verdon' Recognized with Three Golden Globe Nominations
This year, the Broadway stars aligned to bring the story of legendary director and choreographer Bob Fosse and his (sometime romantic, sometime) partner Gwen Verdon to the small screen.
The final episode of FX's Fosse/Verdon aired back in May, but in the age of streaming, it's never too late to catch up on a well-reviewed TV series. Before you dive in, here's what you should know about the show.
It's gotten some rave reviews.
And as a result, it's been nominated for an impressive number of awards. The HFPA honored the miniseries with three Golden Globe nominations: Michelle Williams is up for Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television; Sam Rockwell is in the running for Best Actor; and the show overall cinched a Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television nomination.
Earlier this year, Fosse/Verdon was also in the running for 17 Emmy Awards. Among them: Michelle Williams for best leading actress, Margaret Qualley for best supporting actress, and a nod for overall outstanding limited series. Williams ended up taking home the trophy, securing the show's only win at the Emmys.
Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams lead the cast.
Rockwell stars at the perpetually troubled Fosse, with Williams opposite him as the talented (and perennially under-appreciated) Verdon. And that's not all: Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood) plays Ann Reinking, and Aya Cash (You're the Worst) portrays Joan Simon, among many more talented cast members.
The show imagines what it was like to work on some of Hollywood's most iconic films.
With help from Sam Wasson's biography Fosse, as well as Fosse and Verdon's daughter Nicole Fosse (who served as an executive producer on the series), Fosse/Verdon recreates Hollywood history. Viewers get to peek at the rehearsal process for Cabaret, Fosse's evolving choreography for Sweet Charity, and more.
Plenty of real-life people are portrayed, including the likes of Liza Minnelli, Dustin Hoffman, Shirley MacLaine, and Chita Rivera.
But at its core, Fosse/Verdon is about its titular couple, and their long, complicated relationship.
At the Television Critics Association press tour, Fosse/Verdon executive producer Thomas Kail and showrunner Steven Levenson said that the show hoped to restore Verdon's rightful place in history—and reveal the unsavory parts of Fosse and Verdon's relationship to do so. In his semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz, Fosse glossed over these details.
"We know enough to know what [Fosse] left out, the things he embellished, the things he might have glided over, now we have the task of telling it in our voice from our perspective," Levenson said. "We’re amending the story that he told there and reinserting Gwen [Verdon], who we think is of primary importance."
Interestingly, it was the rise of the #MeToo era that convinced Levenson to tell Fosse and Verdon's story. "There are so many troubling aspects of this story," he said. "And it was right around then that this incredible explosion of the truth, in this industry in particular, came to light. It suddenly felt like, oh, no, we have to tell this story... We're looking at what was marginally acceptable in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, and how vastly different that is now."
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