The series presents a series of facts that reflect an inner look at the romantic and creative partnership of two of the world's most famous innovators. Events begin by living with the romance of the famous dancer and influential director, Bob Foss. The elephant presents the relationship between Bob Foss and Gwyn Verdon, one of the greatest Broadway entertainers of all time, where it seems that the relationship has sparked great controversy.
Scenes play out as if viewers are seeing them from inside the director's head, experiencing the swings between his hyperego and his crashing insecurity... These moments are ingenious, and they bring a vibrant theatricality to the series.
There's a lot of meaning packed into that brisk title. Fosse/Verdon is about a partnership, one that, over the course of three decades completely reinvented musical theatre and film.
As Gwen Verdon, Michelle Williams is very nearly perfect; she nails Verdon's look, her vocal affectations, her way of moving; her conflictedness and loyalty, her frustration and codependency. It's a stellar performance.
"Fosse/Verdon" is a claustrophobic series as opposed to an epic one. What's mostly missing is the thrill of opening night, the chorus line, the music, the whole glorious space of the theater.
At it's core, it is about a relationship between two supremely talented but also deeply troubled performers. And that narrative wisely explores the connections between power and sexuality, neuroses and need, work and careers, lust and love.
Rockwell is fully invested in a role that challenges him well beyond the semi-caricature he played in Vice. Self-assured and brusque when calling the shots, he's otherwise an emotional adolescent, or sometimes an infant.
