{"id":2102,"date":"2016-12-31T15:24:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T15:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2018-08-23T18:40:02","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T18:40:02","slug":"diva-alert-6-gwen-verdon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/diva-alert-6-gwen-verdon\/","title":{"rendered":"Diva Alert #6: Gwen Verdon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diva Alert #6: Gwen Verdon<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by Jackson Upperco<\/p>\n

December 23, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font>

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Welcome back to Diva Alert, Performer Stuff\u2019s series on Great Dames from the Golden Age of Broadway. In these posts, we\u2019re taking a look at some of the American Musical Theatre\u2019s most legendary ladies, along with their seminal stage triumphs.<\/p>\n

A four-time Tony Award winner, this quivering redhead became the muse for one of the greatest American choreographers of the 20th<\/sup> century. Together they revolutionized dance on Broadway and created a style that defines several of the country\u2019s most acclaimed and performed shows. In addition to her fancy footwork, this diva projected an impish vulnerability and a loveable sense of humor, making her one of the most beloved ladies of the Broadway stage. What a talent, what a legacy! What a\u2026 Gwen Verdon.<\/p>\n

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The daughter of an MGM electrician and a dance teacher, young Gwen Verdon took up ballet as a means of strengthening her rickets-riddled legs. In several years, she overcame her handicap and became skilled in several forms of dance. This expertise led to her being hired as the assistant to Hollywood choreographer Jack Cole. But performing was always in Verdon\u2019s blood, and her first big break came on the Broadway stage in Can-Can<\/i> (1953), in which she performed a ballet, upstaged the star, and won a Tony.<\/p>\n

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Verdon\u2019s next success came as the vampy Lola in Damn Yankees <\/i>(1955), where she met choreographer Bob Fosse \u2013 her future husband, who\u2019d soon make her his muse \u2013 and won yet another Tony. She would also win Tonys for New Girl In Town <\/i>(1957), a musical adaptation of Anna Christie<\/i>, and Redhead <\/i>(1959), which Fosse directed and choreographed. However, Verdon is probably best known today for two roles that never won her Tonys \u2013 Charity in Sweet Charity <\/i>(1966) and Roxie Hart in Chicago <\/i>(1975), the original productions of which were both choreographed and directed by her husband.<\/p>\n

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Having become known for Fosse\u2019s iconic style, Verdon continued to teach and choreograph his method \u2013 even after they were emotionally estranged. In addition to directing and instructing, she spent her last two decades popping around the entertainment world, earning critical raves for her performance in the film Cocoon <\/i>(1985). Gwen Verdon died in 2000 at the age of 75 \u2013 but thanks to the moves she and Fosse pioneered, her spirit lives on every time someone brings new life to Lola or Charity or Roxie.<\/p>\n

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Verdon\u00a0Roles You Should Know<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Claudine in Can-Can <\/i>(1953)<\/h4>\n