If you’re having a bit of fun and want to stop the show, it’s a good bet to have Jane Krakowski come in, getting off the rafters and doing circus acrobatics sexy and perfectly fine.
That’s exactly how Krakowski’s latest episode begins “Bells and Whistles,” the number one. Schmigadoon! It seems that the Tony Award-winning star has no more bells and whistles to shoot until the end of the episode. She swings on the trapeze, tap dances, roller skates, sings complex lyrics at a speed that will impress Nicki Minaj, and performs perfect splits for the grand finale.
Early in the episode, her character, Bobbie Flanagan, says, “There’s very little I can’t do,” heralding an abundance of song and dance. “They’re also boring people. Or you look bad in any suit.”
Krakowski is more humble when talking about the number with The Daily Beast’s Obsessed. “I’ve exhausted my special skills résumé,” he says with a laugh. “I even had to include the things I lied about.”
In Season 2 of Apple TV+ Schmigadoon!Premiering new episodes every Wednesday, Krakowski’s Bobbie Flanagan is a mix of characters from the fictional musical-theatre universe. Chicago. She’s a bit Roxie Hart and a bit Velma Kelly. And since he’s the lawyer tasked with rescuing Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) from bogus murder charges, he has a lot of Billy Flynn. The name Bobbie is a nod to another musical from that era, Stephen Sondheim. Companyrecently premiered his Tony Award-winning portrayal of a female lead (“Bobbie” instead of “Bobby”).
The series revolves around a struggling couple, Key’s Josh and Cecily Strong’s Melissa. They stumble upon a magical town where everyone thinks they’re in a musical, pretending to be the regular types of characters made famous by iconic shows. In Season 1, this was Schmigadoon, which channeled Golden Age musicals starring townspeople like Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Ariana DeBose, and Krakowski. Oklahoma!, Music ManAnd carousel.
Season 2 finds Josh and Melissa once again searching for a solution to their relationship woes, this time featuring familiar faces (the Season 1 cast returns) referencing the darker, more pessimistic shows of the ’60s and ’70s Schmicago’. they also find. Chicago, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Chorus LineAnd Pippin. The worlds of those productions should not make sense together. Thanks to showrunner and music writer Cinco Paul, they somehow make it, and they brilliantly do, as Krakowski’s trick in Episode 3 attests.
“When we heard we were going to do Schmicago, we couldn’t help but think, what role will Cinco write for me this season?” says Krakowski. Broadway obsessives would likely adore the star as Roxie Hart, a role that anyone familiar with Krakowski’s talent knows she was almost born to play. Subverting that expectation instead of doing it Schmigadoon!“It was a very smart choice for Cinco,” says Billy Flynn’s version.
A Broadway obsessive himself, Paul knew what he was doing when he was writing the part for Krakowski. “Bells and Whistles” is a clear homage to Billy’s big number of “Razzle Dazzle” from 2010. Chicagothat he sang about putting on a show that would distract the jury from the truth.
The impressive finished product doubles as a retrospective of Krakowski’s entire Broadway career. He skates like he does on stage. Starlight ExpressIt was the show that made its Broadway debut in 1987. In 1989, she tap dances and wears soft shoes. grand hotelGaining Krakowski his first Tony nomination. Fast-paced with expert articulation, the rap-like line references the tape tape presentation of “Unmarried Day.” CompanyIn 1995 he starred on Broadway. He loves meIt should come as no surprise that it can nail slits.
And even though she’s made her entrance from beams before – she won a Tony for her performance in the 2003 production dangling from silk. Nine– first time doing this on a trapeze.
“I said to Jane, we want you to do this trick in the courtroom, where you show off whatever talent you have. What else do you have?” says Paul. “He said, ‘I was inside. Starlight Express, so I can skate. I said perfect. We’ll get you skates. And he said, “You’re bringing me down on the trapeze, but I want to learn some tricks.” He did too! Then all of a sudden she swings from him. No doubles. This is Jane, 100 percent.”
What did it take to get all this out? “I’m obviously a human miracle,” Bobbie says in the episode – something hard to argue with about Krakowski himself.
In a conversation with Obsessed, Krakowski explained the big issue, the countless musical theater references, and why he’ll keep coming back for so many seasons. Schmigadoon! like he’s going to have it.
What was your reaction when you learned that Season 2 will be themed “Schmicago”?
I was very excited that Cinco was always on his mind. schmigadoon It would be like act 1 and schmicago It would be act 2. These are the decades that I grew up watching and that affected me deeply. Especially the female lead actors of the musicals of the period: the women of Fosse, Gwen Verndon and Chita Rivera; A Chorus Line; Ann Reinking. All these women who are not smart, who are weird. They were confident in their sexuality. They were willing to show both and live in that world. I have to play a female lawyer who holds press conferences with fishing nets and suspenders. I wish I could live that loud every day.
In Season 1, the referenced music, characters, and shows all had the same style of music and costumes. But this season, with Schmicago, Cabaret meeting A Chorus Line meeting Sweeney Todd— three shows that are aesthetically and musically different. What was it like being a part of that Broadway mix?
It was a mix I didn’t see coming, and a mix I didn’t know I really needed until I read it. Cinco somehow puts it Annie with Sweeney Todd in the most ingenious way. I thought, why hasn’t anyone done it before? Now I can never see it. Cinco somehow finds a world where Sally Bowles can meet Sweeney Todd, and there can be heartfelt feelings and an emotional connection. This is somewhat surprising.
I think musical theater fans were shocked that it worked so well.
I think if you don’t know or dislike musical theatre, you will still be entertained by Schmicago. But if you know musical theater, you’ll love it on another level. I am that fan.
When musical theater fans heard about the Schmicago concept and you came back for it, many thought you’d probably send Roxie Hart. How did you react when you found out you were going to play a version of Billy Flynn?
It surprised me a little. When we heard we were going to do Schmicago, “What role will Cinco write for me this season?” You can’t help but think. A very wise choice for him. I’m Bobbie Flanagan, which “Bobbie” is obviously a call to the latest. Company The revival in which Bobby is played by a woman. It just lives on many meta levels. There’s a lot of Roxie in Bobbie Flanagan’s number, but there are also musical references to the “tits and ass” number “Dance 10, Look 3”. A Chorus Line. When I heard that, I said, “Oh, I’ll try to make that stamp.”
This issue is one of the biggest hits of your Broadway career.
I’ve exhausted my special skills résumé. I even had to include the things I lied about.
Ha! What skills are these?
I think horseback riding has been on my resume for a long time. I rode a horse once.
Certainly!
I’ve never done trapeze. This was a first for me. The script said, “Bobbies enters through the ceiling on the trapeze,” but then I had to get down. He told Cinco, “Hey, if I learned a few tricks, do you think you’d let me film them?” I asked. He said he was an actor, so I went to trapeze school for a few lessons, to see what I could learn or what I could do physically, but before I got to shoot day.
I was going to ask: How many of the tricks did you suggest and how much of that was Cinco knowing about your Broadway background and putting you in trouble?
Some were written in the original script because he knew I was making them. Some openly nod to past musicals. there’s a hello for me Starlight Express Broadway debut. And then some are iconic ChicagoLike the model from the movie “Both Reached For the Gun”. I’ve always wanted to do the “Hot Honey Rag” dance. Even if I only do it in my living room, I always wanted to learn. So it was a great pleasure for me to take a step or two there.
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