Ann Miller

but I did love...

I, I did also talk to, to Jesse Eisenberg, and that was really fun, and he revealed a little bit about Bernadette Peters and her casting and that she kinda didn't really know what movie she was in 'cause she has such a small part in it, and that it was kind of akin to Ann Miller in Mulholland Drive.

So when you hear this and haven't seen the movie yet, that's gonna give you a little clue about the kind of tone that, that the debut has.

But [laughs] I did love a moment at the final A24 party where the little smoking section and vaping section was outside of the building, but it was down these metal stairs with no light whatsoever.

Now, the whole show had been capitalized.

A whole cast was already assembled, including to Jammin' Bartlett from Little Night Music, Miller's son as the rock and roll star daughter, star to be David James Carroll as the son, Mark Jordan as Siggy, Lenora Nemitz as the ungrateful wife Marie, Michonne Peacock as Janet, the therapist's wife, Polly Rouse, best known as the Hanes commercial lady and the first Vera Charles and Auntie Mame as the old fan, And in the ensemble, future Tony winner Debbie Shapiro, nay, Debbie Gravett, nay, Debbie Shapiro Gravett.

Plus choreography from the incredible Tony Stevens.

If the show stopped now, it would be a massive problem.

No dice, no chance, etc., etc.

Lumbliner then came up with a novel idea.

Who said it had to be a man? And Jane Beaumont was looked at, but not Debbie Reynolds or Ann Miller or Ginger Rogers, who would have made the story very interesting with its older woman, younger woman dynamic.

But they looked at Liv Ullman, Ingmar Bergman's Liv Ullman, Bette Midler's I Never Miss a Liv Ullman musical, Liv Ullman.

Played by the great dancer.

Ann Miller.

Yeah.

Who was, of course, the landlady in Aunt Ruth's apartment, that strange place with the courtyard, yeah.

Philip Loeb as Timothy Hogarth from the collection agency who played Chico's part, without the accent, in the Broadway production.

We have an underused Lucille Ball and an underaged Ann Miller.

We have a lot of all three Marx Brothers on screen at the same time, which is always a joy.

Harpo's character actually gets a last name, a lovely new hat, and a lot of good bits.

Columbia paid $200,000 for You Can't Take It With You, which had been the highest payout for theatrical rights up to that time.

Also

featuring Ann Miller.

Also featuring Ann Miller.

So let's get to our Hollywood industry figures, aka, as I like to call them, the gatekeepers.

We have Justin Theroux as Adam Kescher, Anne Miller as Coco Lenoir, Adam's mother, Dan Hedaya as Vincenzo Castigliani, Angelo Badalamenti as Luigi Castigliani, and Monty Montgomery as the cowboy.

So, Zan, what did you make of our gatekeepers?

Oh, boy.

Ironically, MGM said if the movie was successful, they would make a movie musical out of it.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ann Miller.

"Ginny, they got me out here tappin' in Baja, Mexico.

Can't even drink the water." We flash-forward a few years later, and the songwriting team of Matt Dubay and Harold Car were making a name for themselves on Broadway with a musical called Happy Hunting, an Ethel Merman vehicle that was anything but happy.

... address the elephant in the room.

How do you put Anne Miller in a film that's a musical, and she plays a showgirl, and she doesn't dance once?

Once.

She doesn't dance once.

It's perfect opportunity.

Yeah, yeah.

I will, I will say that is the one time I feel like w- when, when sh- when June Allyson is on the train and we get that scene when Ag- with Agnes Moorehead and Anne Miller, that's when the energy comes up just a little bit.

Mm.