In this penultimate episode of "Fosse/Verdon," the focus is on the rehearsals and the opening of the Broadway production of the Kander and Ebb musical "Chicago." From the outset, the approach was to mount a vehicle for Gwen Verdon. With Fosse's heart attack, the production was delayed for four months. Gwen footed the tab to keep the cast in tact during the down period. Now, Bob has returned and, of course, he plans to place his own stamp on the show.
In the early rehearsals, Bob clearly wants a dark interpretation. "No smiles!", he barks at the dancers. He also creatively devises artistic choices to deal with the diminished capacities of an aging Gwen Verdon, who was stretching beyond her limits in playing the young Roxie. Bob slows down the pace of one of her songs, and he places her in a chair as ventriloquist's puppet, in order to avoid strenuous dance moves.
The best scene in the program is a rehearsal where Bob listens to a new song written expressly for Gwen as a show stopper finale. But, recognizing Gwen's vocal limitations, he suggests trying the "Nowadays" number as a duet with Chita. This is too much for Gwen, who blows her cookies. Her tirade goes well beyond a temper tantrum. The abuse she heaps upon her husband is somewhere approaching the domain of the sadistic in its cruelty. Yet, the unflinching Bob has his way in the end, and the song works best as a duet.
The second half of the episode is not as lively when the drama turns back in time to the period when Gwen and Bob are trying to have a baby. Bob's sperm count is low; as the doctor indicates, they just aren't good little "swimmers." The couple discusses adoption and learns about a possible child on the way from Rochester. But, at the last minute, Gwen discovers that she is pregnant. The program leaves it up in the air as to whether the child is Bob's. Little Nicole Providence Fosse is welcomed into the world.
"Chicago" opens to a stinker of a review from the New York Times critic, though Gwen is praised. Still, the show is doing good business until a snag is hit when Gwen's voice is damaged after "swallowing confetti." Gwen undergoes surgery and is replaced by Liza Minnelli, to booming business. Bob restores some of the deleted scenes for Liza that were too demanding of Gwen's legs. After Liza's smash run, Gwen returns to the show. Liza has left a kind note on the mirror of Gwen's dressing room. Gwen tosses the note in the trash.
The program follows the pattern of the series as a whole in the depiction of its two subjects. Bob is typically portrayed as a task master, making extreme demands on his performers, yet getting brilliant results. This is apparent in one scene where one of the chorus members describes the brilliance of Bob's direction. By contrast, Gwen is, for all of her talent, a maniacal egocentric. For "Chicago," the production is to be all about her, not about the show. The enduring partnership of Fosse and Verdon is a kind of creative symbiosis. But it reveals how the two artists approach their craft often from antithetical positions.
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