ALL EYES ON: Donna McKechnie - Richard Jay-Alexander Talks With The Tony-Winning Star About The REAL Bob Fosse & Gwen Verdon

I have to begin this piece with a DISCLAIMER: Donna McKechnie and I are good friends and have worked together. There. It's also the reason she was the perfect person to talk to before FX debuts its new 8 episode series, FOSSE/VERDON.

Whenever people in our business get together, socially or working together, there is simply no end to the stories and knowledge that are shared by individuals or in groups. It never ceases to amaze me. But only ONE GIRL has THIS STORY ... and that girl is Donna McKechnie.

I recently rang her up to catch up on life and stuff and then thought to ask if we might schedule some time together to talk about Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Donna had first hand experience with both brilliant talents and at two very different times in her career. We also chatted about the upcoming FX Series, which would have friends and colleagues both onscreen and behind the scenes. For "our tribe" the fact that DEAR EVAN HANSEN's Steven Levenson is a primary writer, Thomas Kail (HAMILTON) is directing the majority of the episodes and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Joel Fields (THE AMERICANS) are Executive Producers is enough to make your brain explode. Neither Donna, nor I, have any idea what we might expect, but both of us were equally excited that it was happening and that video trailers and editorial pieces were just beginning to drop.

So, we made a phone date and this is what I learned, heard and found out. All of it equally interesting and exciting. And, if you don't know Donna McKechnie, let me tell you, she is an excellent storyteller and every single word matters and counts. Not surprising. She lived it.

We all know about Donna McKechnie's extraordinary career: the Broadway shows, Dark Shadows, HULABALOO, the TONY win, her famous dance-off with Debbie Allen on FAME, etc... and there is no end in sight as she heads to London for most of May and June. She just keeps working and is as glorious as ever. I should also state, right here, that she wrote a fantastic book, titled TIME STEPS (My Musical Comedy Life) and it should definitely be in your collection. But to know Donna is to know and understand, fully, that it is (and has always been) about the work. It's that plain and simple and certainly proved to be true in this extraordinary opportunity to play Charity Hope Valentine in the '80s tour of SWEET CHARITY, which came after the Broadway revival had closed. This was after her TONY win for Cassie in A CHORUS LINE and after Bob Fosse, unbeknownst to Donna, saw her in her return to Broadway to play the role again, in 1986,and went to see her in the show 5 or 6 times. She got offered the role. Fosse would be directing, but, get this, Gwen Verdon would be teaching her the role! Oh, by the way, he called her at home, on the phone. Just like that. She thought he was asking her to come in and audition, but he was actually offering her the role.

Donna had first worked for Fosse, on Broadway, in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. She shared with me, "I thought I was gonna be fired the first week because I had the flu and I don't think they saw a spark, because I had a 103 degree fever." Well, that didn't happen. I asked her when she first laid eyes on Gwen Verdon on a stage, and she said, "in SWEET CHARITY." She was certainly aware of Gwen prior to that, but the first time she saw her was onstage at The Palace Theatre. Before that, "she was our Dance Captain (she was between jobs) for HOW TO SUCCEED... at the Variety Arts Studio. I was in awe."

I asked Donna as a "rorshach test" what first came to her mind when I said "Fosse." Her answer, "Oh, My God .... Wiry." Then, "Gwen Verdon" and she first said, "Clown," then "I see her Eloquence" followed by "Elegance" and "Goofiness."

They both really loved Donna and, in those 25 years in between HOW TO SUCCEED... and Charity, Bob did call her to offer her PLEASURES AND PALACES, but she knew even then that she didn't want to get stuck in the chorus and turned him down. However, that stated, when Donna is telling me this, she uses the word "principal", not star and to me, that is very telling. As I stated earlier, "it was always about the work." She knew what she wanted. She had a plan! Well. Of course when Bob called about 'Charity', this time she said, "yes."

Donna admits to not really knowing about or understanding what really happened during the year that CHICAGO and A CHORUS LINE were in competition and the emotions that were flying over the Tony Awards situation that year. She was insulated and focused on her 8 show weeks and then wondered if this would create any sort of situation for her. She had no idea and just went to work.

Donna loved Bob's humor, the dryness. Years before, they were both on the same bus one night. She was still in awe of him and he was sort of shy, but felt comfortable talking with her. She, not so much, but she shared with me that he said to her, "You know, I've seen you over time and your dancing has gotten better and you now have a style all of your own." Well, as Donna says, "That was as good as another Tony Award." She comments about how she remembers how wonderful it was that he shared that with her. Another exchange she learned about later, was that Bob and Gwen were in the back of the house, watching a performance in Philadelphia, and he said to her, "We didn't make a mistake with her, did we?" pleased with the choice of their star. So, if there was hurt over the competition of the shows, it didn't seem to affect their commitment to McKechnie. Donna is not the kind of girl who says stuff like this, so I could hear in her voice, as we spoke, how much this all meant to her. And you could also hear her re-living these scenes as she told this story anew, in her own voice, and not on a written page. This is a kind of history that will be forever singular to her.

Donna and Gwen were both about the work. "Gwen was a comic genius," and shared "her" version of the closet scene with Donna (as opposed to Debbie Allen's, Ann Reinking's or Chita Rivera's) ... ALL of which Gwen knew! (Years later, all the Charitys would take part in a benefit, dividing up the performances. For that event, Cy Coleman wrote a special overture). As the two got closer, she told Donna that if she could make it through ACT I, she was gonna be O.K. Bob used to joke, "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You were in that show where everyone stood face forward, shoulder to shoulder," but Charity, of course, was an entirely different ballgame. Gwen taught Donna the show, and Bob would pop in, taking over the helm as soon as she learned the intricacies of the role. Donna would go home every night after rehearsals, exhausted and elated... working on every single detail over and over.

Bob and Gwen had great chemistry, with cute sparring, for Donna's benefit. You gotta remember they were separated but never divorced. Bob might ask (in front of Gwen) "Donna, are you gonna do her version or my version?" And Donna would answer, "Well, your version, Bob." And Gwen would say "My version." Donna laughs telling me this, then the tone changes and I know why. She is about to tell me something because I asked if Bob ever actually singled out her skills in this role. Now, Donna doesn't boast, but then told me that "One night he came into my dressing room and said, not since Gwen have I seen anyone take this role and keep improving and taking it to this place." She followed with, "That's about as good as it gets." For me, I knew exactly what she was telling me. There it is ... THE WORK ... "keep improving." This is Donna McKechnie throughout her entire career. It's never enough. She keeps pushing and wanting to be more excellent. When you read her book, this is obvious page after page, even during her run as Cassie. It was about the work. It was never about the A CHORUS LINE fever. It was about focus and taking care of yourself to give the best performance you could give.

Donna had never shared that exchange with anyone, but I asked. I also asked, "Where do you bank something like that?" Her response, "It's very personal."

Bob Fosse died on September 23, 1987, at George Washington Hospital, after collapsing in a D.C. street, from a heart attack. The revival of SWEET CHARITY was opening at the National Theatre, nearby. He was 60 years old.

Gwen Verdon died in her sleep, on October 18, 2000, at the home of their daughter Nicole.

Bob and Gwen were married for 27 years.

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