Fosse & Verdon Book No. 5 - 60 Interviews in 60 Months

Between January and June of  2026, I completed 60 interviews for my book about Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon! That averages out to 10 interviews per month, but wow…it felt like more than that! 

Before I could interview anyone, though, I first had to get in contact with them—and that was a project in and of itself. I tracked Fosse dancers down on Instagram and Facebook and sent “cold” emails introducing myself and my project. Sometimes my messages went unread for weeks. Other times, I got an immediate and enthusiastic “yes!” And still others responded with some healthy skepticism: 

“Who are you and why do you want to know about Bob and Gwen?”

“Haven’t there been enough books written about Bob already?”

Well, I don’t blame them for wanting to know the answers to those questions! I explained my deep reverence for the dancers of the past and why I believed this book would be different. Rather than another biography of Bob that tells the story fact by fact, date by date, headline by headline, my book is going to contain a lot of heart. The special moments shared between dancers in the rehearsal studio. The little stories that a biographer might gloss over, but that actually mean the most to us dancers.

Slowly, one by one, they began to agree! (Thank goodness for Zoom. I could host up to three interviews in one day—with dancers speaking to me from LA, Chicago, Florida, NYC, and beyond!) I was nervous to speak with some of these dancers—some of them are quite famous!—but the conversations always relaxed into a warm camaraderie.

Just as I hoped, being a dancer myself gave me a special connection with my interviewees. Despite the decades between us, they understood that I had a mutual understanding of what it meant to be a dancer in New York City. Interviews that I anticipated would last 30–45 minutes regularly stretched to two hours or more!

I would sit at my kitchen table in my NYC apartment, listening to these dancers tell incredible stories about working with Bob and Gwen, and get chills as I imagined what it must have been like to be in the studio with them. Those were the magic moments that told me I was on the right path.

I knew these stories would make a great book. And I can't wait to share them all with you. Which Fosse dancers or actors do you hope have stories in my book? Let me know who you're hoping for, and next week I'll reveal a list of some of my most exciting interviews! 👀