More Than a Gilmore Mama

AMENDED: Avid fans of Kelly Bishop rightfully called me to task on a factual element having to do with the song "At The Ballet." What kind of editor am I?! The kind that corrects errors or, in this case, amends text to remove them. My apologies to the fans who nailed me and, of course, to Kelly....now, onto this here post.

She played the ultra-spoiled and under-appreciated matriarch in the unfortunately canceled Gilmore Girls. She also played the "yes, Jerry Orbach" wife and mother in Dirty Dancing, which, incidentally, was uncomfortable to watch with my basketball team and strange coach at the age of 14 in Westwood, Calif.

She's Kelly Bishop and she's fun to watch. But I have to report that, although I may be slow to the knowledge trough, I not long ago (a few months now, but I kept the excitement to myself) discovered that she starred in the original production of the hit Broadway musical A Chorus Line.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hEG42wjVkc]

The video's not the best quality, or very long, but it's from the mid-70s. She won a Tony for her role in 1976, beating out Patti LuPone. (Although, damn, Patti kicks ass, too. Can I get some Sweeney Todd action? Maybe another post.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVqBvvZNlnA]

Fourteen years later, it looks like, Ms. Bishop appeared with other members of the cast on "The Donahue Show" and performed the song:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cPBWzsQ5zo]

Pretty sweet. That's a production I'd have loved to see; but I was three. And just to belabor the point, here's the cast performing "One" at the Tony's that night:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5yIiG3ip4]