ability. When she had to sing, Verdon said, “I was so scared that my legs wouldn’t hold me,” so she asked if she could sit as she sang. Some sources say that she sang “Pennies from Heaven,” others the Porter song from the score, “If You Loved Me Truly.” Verdon supposedly saw Porter wincing, and she assumed that he hated her. She didn’t know that he was actually wincing from the pain of his legs that had been crippled in a horse-riding accident. Verdon didn’t know about his legs but learned that something was amiss when Porter made his way to the stage with the aid of two canes, and she noticed that he was wearing spats. When he told her that he liked her breathless voice, she responded, “I’m not breathless—I’m scared.” Verdon danced the cancan, and then read for the part of Claudine. She says she read the scene with the stage manager and she found it silly. Verdon was told that she was meant to be an ingénue; someone her mother had told her was always the young, unknowing girl in a play or musical. However she asked, “Isn’t an ingénue something that was back at the turn of the century?” Verdon was told that that was when the play took place.
Her audition lasted an unusually long time, just under an hour. When she was finished, Abe Burrows, director and writer of the musical’s book, addressed her as Claudine. She had the part.
Verdon offered to dye her red hair black for it. Some sources say that Michael Kidd had asked her to do so when he first approached her but Burrows didn’t think that necessary and hired her just as she was. When she returned to the hotel she ordered room service for herself, because she had always wondered what it would be like to do so. When Verdon returned to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and told Cole that she got the part, Cole is said to have punched her. Apparently the punch came from his anger at the idea of losing her as his assistant although he was also glad for her. He would go to the show’s opening night and gave Verdon a pair of earrings that she would wear in every single show after. But this would not be the last time she would work with Cole.
Before leaving for Broadway, Verdon met Bob Fosse at a party hosted by Kidd. They knew each other from when she had worked on The Merry Widow and he was under contract but had yet to make a film. Another source claims that they met later when Verdon was working on The Farmer Takes a Wife . Although they were at different studios, it is said that dancers who worked regularly were familiar with their competition even at rival companies. Verdon would say that the dancers all came together to cook and eat. At the party, Verdon supposedly talked about how she felt that movies weren’t showing her off at her best. She cited how some of her screen dances had been cut, apparently at the behest of Hollywood’s Production Code. It amused her that she was considered too sexy to be on-screen because she didn’t believe it to be true. Verdon never thought of herself as sexy, since when she had to be, she just kidded it. She believed that she could get away with more on stage where there were no censors and that’s what appealed to her about the upcoming show. This was despite the fact that doing the cancan was old hat to her, since she had already performed it in On the Riviera and The Merry Widow .
3
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Can-Can
In Can-Can , showgirls in Paris at the Montmartre dance halls of 1893 introduce the scandalous dance of the title, and are charged with (and acquitted of) obscenity for performing it. Of the musical numbers, Claudine had a duet with the sculptor Boris, “If You Loved Me Truly,” and danced in “Quadrille,” “The Garden of Eden Ballet” and “The Apaches.” Verdon thought of the character as Colette’s Claudine with LaGoulue’s hair, but approached it from the dance rather than acting standpoint. She admitted that she gave Michael Kidd a hard time because she felt he wasn’t giving her enough
Her audition lasted an unusually long time, just under an hour. When she was finished, Abe Burrows, director and writer of the musical’s book, addressed her as Claudine. She had the part.
Verdon offered to dye her red hair black for it. Some sources say that Michael Kidd had asked her to do so when he first approached her but Burrows didn’t think that necessary and hired her just as she was. When she returned to the hotel she ordered room service for herself, because she had always wondered what it would be like to do so. When Verdon returned to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and told Cole that she got the part, Cole is said to have punched her. Apparently the punch came from his anger at the idea of losing her as his assistant although he was also glad for her. He would go to the show’s opening night and gave Verdon a pair of earrings that she would wear in every single show after. But this would not be the last time she would work with Cole.
Before leaving for Broadway, Verdon met Bob Fosse at a party hosted by Kidd. They knew each other from when she had worked on The Merry Widow and he was under contract but had yet to make a film. Another source claims that they met later when Verdon was working on The Farmer Takes a Wife . Although they were at different studios, it is said that dancers who worked regularly were familiar with their competition even at rival companies. Verdon would say that the dancers all came together to cook and eat. At the party, Verdon supposedly talked about how she felt that movies weren’t showing her off at her best. She cited how some of her screen dances had been cut, apparently at the behest of Hollywood’s Production Code. It amused her that she was considered too sexy to be on-screen because she didn’t believe it to be true. Verdon never thought of herself as sexy, since when she had to be, she just kidded it. She believed that she could get away with more on stage where there were no censors and that’s what appealed to her about the upcoming show. This was despite the fact that doing the cancan was old hat to her, since she had already performed it in On the Riviera and The Merry Widow .
3
----
Can-Can
In Can-Can , showgirls in Paris at the Montmartre dance halls of 1893 introduce the scandalous dance of the title, and are charged with (and acquitted of) obscenity for performing it. Of the musical numbers, Claudine had a duet with the sculptor Boris, “If You Loved Me Truly,” and danced in “Quadrille,” “The Garden of Eden Ballet” and “The Apaches.” Verdon thought of the character as Colette’s Claudine with LaGoulue’s hair, but approached it from the dance rather than acting standpoint. She admitted that she gave Michael Kidd a hard time because she felt he wasn’t giving her enough
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