and Best Choreography for Fosse.
Verdon would say that she was very disappointed in the show because she thought that they were really going to do O’Neill but it changed so much out of town. She says that in the end it was not one of her favorites but it really did more for her than any of the others. People discovered that Verdon could act and wasn’t just the “last of the red hot mamas.” She only stayed with the show for eleven months, and although this was partly to do with the opportunity to do the film Damn Yankees , she said that she was very glad to leave.
In a New York Times interview by Lewis Nichols (May 26, 1957), Verdon said she would like to do one more dancing job before she stopped. Verdon said that age does step in and in her case that would be pretty soon, and she didn’t want to do a musical show with a lot of dancing and have people on the way out say “But you should have seen her ten years ago.” She felt that she could get through one more but she didn’t want to grow shaky. Verdon supposed that she could do concerts indefinitely, but not ballet. Dancing required a lot of muscular energy and at some point the legs go. She didn’t think that she’d ever been any good at choreography since she did not think she was at all creative, but sometimes she could do something a little different to the steps than what a choreographer like Fosse proposed. Nichols disagreed with Verdon’s idea that she was not creative or a choreographer, particularly since the Damn Yankees program had a note that one dance was a collaboration between her and Fosse.
Nichols also wrote that she had practically no social life. He said Verdon seldom went to parties, and if she was at one, she froze at any suggestion that she dance or sing. Her main vice was reading. “Lately, it’s naturally been O’Neill, but for years I’ve read Odets, Saroyan, Strindberg.” She said she went through periods of reading biographies and historical novels: “I guess you could say that I get literary crushes, but it’s not planned reading.” Nichols commented that he thought her son Jimmy, 14, seemed a sad, woebegone little figure because she said that he had not inherited his mother’s ability to dance. Verdon disagreed, saying that her son was as happy as they come. She added that Jimmy played the saxophone, planned to go to Cornell and then wanted to travel west to be a cattleman. The theater was just not in his bones. That was for others in the family.
During the season, Verdon missed performances. The New York Times of May 29, 1957, reported that she was out on May 27 and May 28 for four performances due to a throat ailment. Her stint was divided among Ann Williams, who did the acting, and dancers Claiborne Cary, Pat Ferrier and Marie Kolin. Williams usually played Mrs. Dowling and Ferrier was Moll, and Cary and Kolin were in the dancing chorus. It is not known who filled in for these ladies in their roles for the performances. It was reported in the Times that Verdon returned to the show on June 3 after having had an acute sinus condition and bronchitis. However her absences apparently had the producers now seeking an alternate to lessen her arduous task of acting, singing and dancing. The Times reported on June 7 that Valerie Bettis had made a bid to act as Verdon’s stand-by. However on June 10 it was advised that Joan Holloway, who had followed Verdon in Can-Can , had been appointed as her New Girl in Town stand-by. Verdon left the show in March 1958 when she was replaced by Evelyn Ward, who appeared to be new to it.
New Girl in Town was one of many shows featured in an article in the Theater section of the Life Magazine edition of June 24. The article was titled “Big Run for O’Neill Plays. The late dramatist has his busiest season on Broadway and off–even with music.” New Girl in Town had joined three O’Neill plays already on the New York stage; Moon for the Misbegotten , The Iceman Cometh , and A Touch of
Verdon would say that she was very disappointed in the show because she thought that they were really going to do O’Neill but it changed so much out of town. She says that in the end it was not one of her favorites but it really did more for her than any of the others. People discovered that Verdon could act and wasn’t just the “last of the red hot mamas.” She only stayed with the show for eleven months, and although this was partly to do with the opportunity to do the film Damn Yankees , she said that she was very glad to leave.
In a New York Times interview by Lewis Nichols (May 26, 1957), Verdon said she would like to do one more dancing job before she stopped. Verdon said that age does step in and in her case that would be pretty soon, and she didn’t want to do a musical show with a lot of dancing and have people on the way out say “But you should have seen her ten years ago.” She felt that she could get through one more but she didn’t want to grow shaky. Verdon supposed that she could do concerts indefinitely, but not ballet. Dancing required a lot of muscular energy and at some point the legs go. She didn’t think that she’d ever been any good at choreography since she did not think she was at all creative, but sometimes she could do something a little different to the steps than what a choreographer like Fosse proposed. Nichols disagreed with Verdon’s idea that she was not creative or a choreographer, particularly since the Damn Yankees program had a note that one dance was a collaboration between her and Fosse.
Nichols also wrote that she had practically no social life. He said Verdon seldom went to parties, and if she was at one, she froze at any suggestion that she dance or sing. Her main vice was reading. “Lately, it’s naturally been O’Neill, but for years I’ve read Odets, Saroyan, Strindberg.” She said she went through periods of reading biographies and historical novels: “I guess you could say that I get literary crushes, but it’s not planned reading.” Nichols commented that he thought her son Jimmy, 14, seemed a sad, woebegone little figure because she said that he had not inherited his mother’s ability to dance. Verdon disagreed, saying that her son was as happy as they come. She added that Jimmy played the saxophone, planned to go to Cornell and then wanted to travel west to be a cattleman. The theater was just not in his bones. That was for others in the family.
During the season, Verdon missed performances. The New York Times of May 29, 1957, reported that she was out on May 27 and May 28 for four performances due to a throat ailment. Her stint was divided among Ann Williams, who did the acting, and dancers Claiborne Cary, Pat Ferrier and Marie Kolin. Williams usually played Mrs. Dowling and Ferrier was Moll, and Cary and Kolin were in the dancing chorus. It is not known who filled in for these ladies in their roles for the performances. It was reported in the Times that Verdon returned to the show on June 3 after having had an acute sinus condition and bronchitis. However her absences apparently had the producers now seeking an alternate to lessen her arduous task of acting, singing and dancing. The Times reported on June 7 that Valerie Bettis had made a bid to act as Verdon’s stand-by. However on June 10 it was advised that Joan Holloway, who had followed Verdon in Can-Can , had been appointed as her New Girl in Town stand-by. Verdon left the show in March 1958 when she was replaced by Evelyn Ward, who appeared to be new to it.
New Girl in Town was one of many shows featured in an article in the Theater section of the Life Magazine edition of June 24. The article was titled “Big Run for O’Neill Plays. The late dramatist has his busiest season on Broadway and off–even with music.” New Girl in Town had joined three O’Neill plays already on the New York stage; Moon for the Misbegotten , The Iceman Cometh , and A Touch of
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