On Wednesday evening, the Apollo Theater sat down for an exclusive collaboration with the cast and crew of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Apollo’s Digital Stage as they deconstructed the creation of Maisel at the Apollo, coming together to celebrate the impressive history of the world-famous theater.
In the third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the final episode centered around the World Famous Apollo Theater and the various performances there. This included a Moms Mabley set (played by Wanda Sykes), and a Hines brother dance recreation (Choreographed by Marguerite Derricks and performed by another tap-dancing brother duo – the Foreman brothers), as well as a stand-up set from character Midge Maisel (played by Rachel Brosnahan) and a musical performance from the character Shy Baldwin (played by LeRoy McClain and vocals by Darius de Haas). In this season three finale, Midge gets the chance to open for Shy Baldwin at the legendary theater, and shortly before she takes the stage, she stands by watching Moms Mabley nail a stand-up performance, the audience absolutely loved her. Midge receives a cold-hearted and uncomfortable reaction from Moms and her manager, upset that Midge has taken the prime performance spot for the night right out from under Mabley. Though the manager is less than thrilled, Mabley warmly welcomes Midge to the Apollo, as she knows the crowd won’t be a fan of her work in the slightest, and that Midge is sure to bomb.
For Wanda Skyes, playing the character is extra personal. “Moms is everything to me,” She said. “I mean, if I hadn’t been that little girl standing in front of the TV screen, seeing her on Ed Sullivan or whatever, so many shows she was on, I know I wouldn’t be a comic today. I wouldn’t be doing this. It was totally her.” Wanda described getting to play this part as, “A dream come true,” and “A way to say thank you to Moms.”
Rachel Brosnahan had a thought on both the simplicity and the complexity of the writing and how it seems to just fall into place with the emotion it’s given. “Similar to the conversation we’ve been having about Moms Mabley,” Rachel said, “When the words are said exactly as they’re written, it’s perfect. It is, you’re always right (and I hate it.) But it’s true, it comes to life with a whole lot less effort, when the writing is as brilliant as it is.”
Check out the full conversation about Maisel at The Apollo here!