Grab a cozy blanket and a big mug of coffee coffee coffee because Gilmore Girls is back! Well, sort of. On September 17, The 92nd Street Y, New York gave fans of the beloved series the perfect fall gift: a conversation between on-screen mother-and-daughter Kelly Bishop and Lauren Graham. As the audience erupted in applause, the two came together on stage to discuss Bishop’s new memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl. It was a perfect way to welcome the chill in the air and beginning of the —ber months.
Unlike the precarious relationship between Lorelai and Emily Gilmore, Graham and Bishop could not love each other more, making the evening of stories and iconic banter one to remember. The talk began with both actresses singing each other's praises of one another, and also of Gilmore Girls and Bunheads creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (who also wrote the revised book for the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress). Sherman-Palladino, who wrote the foreword for Bishop’s memoir, is known for her wordiness and musicality, something that drew both actors to the television show. “She is a writer who likes every word as written and when it is as musical as her writing is, it's like learning a song, it really does carry you," stated Graham.
No stranger to the world of musical theatre, Kelly Bishop, who began her career as Carole Bishop, made her Broadway debut as a dancer in the 1968 cast of Golden Rainbow, followed by the Jerry Orbach-led Promises, Promises, and 1971’s On The Town. Then came A Chorus Line.
Graham, who last appeared on stage as Miss Adelaide in the 2009 revival of Guys and Dolls, shared, “I had only ever heard the cast album, but [A Chorus Line] was the first musical that I had known to feel like real people talking. It felt personal and I know it was.”
When asked to talk about becoming Sheila, for which she won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Bishop responded, “I was in the chorus, I was a really good dancer. Unfortunately, I worked a lot because I was good. But, I really wanted to be an actor, and it's pretty difficult if you're not a singer. And I'm not a singer.” Bishop said that being in A Chorus Line was thrilling, stating that she got to play herself mixed with other women she had worked with in her career. And she sang the now-classic, "At the Ballet." “It was so exciting, and it was so clear that the audiences were just going mad for us…It was the best thing in the world."
Bishop went on to share that A Chorus Line's Michael Bennett played a role in changing her name from Carole to Kelly, saying that she had a bit with a fellow cast member where they would pass each other in the hallway and greet each other as different characters. “I had one who was particularly obnoxious. Her name was Kelly Westbrook, and she was a very spoiled rich girl," recalled Bishop. "She'd say, ‘Because dad said, I can't have my fourth horse, so I really want a fourth horse.’ And so, this little group I was a part of, they started calling me Kelly. And then Michael started calling me Kelly. And of course, if Michael called me Kelly, he was God, so I left it like that.” Bishop recalls seeking out Bennett’s thoughts on when to change her name. She recalled that he responded with: “Don't change it until after the Tonys." But then, during Tony Awards rehearsals, "Someone from the Tony committee came trotting down the aisle, and asked, ‘When your nomination is announced, would you want to be Carole Bishop or Kelly Bishop?' And I said, Kelly. On national television, what better way to say I'm changing my name…I didn't run that by Michael. I'm sure he was a little miffed, but it worked for me."
Of course, there had to be some Gilmore Girls questions. Graham asked Bishop how she met the late, great Edward Herrmann—who played Bishop's husband (and Graham's father) on the television show: “So you’re in A Chorus Line, you’re the toast of the town, you win the Tony, and there’s a picture that I love of you and Ed Herrmann." The photo of the two of them was from 1976 Tony Awards, where the two met decades before their on-screen pairing in Gilmore Girls.
Bishop exclaimed in response of that photo: “I didn’t know him, I don’t think I knew of him, we said, ‘Hi, congratulations, nice to meet you.' And that was it. Who knew what 20 years later would bring?” Bishop remembers actually meeting Herrmann for the first time in a photo studio in New York as they took the photograph that would become the painting that hangs over the fireplace in the Gilmore home.
Though Bishop headed to the silver screen following A Chorus Line, she did make periodic stops back to Broadway—her credits include Precious Sons, Six Degrees of Separation, Bus Stop, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Proposals. Most recently, she was seen as Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt in the 2011 Anything Goes revival. However, she looks back on Gilmore Girls as being what she is proudest of, saying fondly, “And what makes me feel really happy is Lauren Graham."
When asked what her excites her now and what she wants to do next, Bishop was clear: “I want to just keep acting, I want to act until I die. One of the best roles to play would be Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music…Wouldn’t it be neat to die on stage and have the curtain come up and everybody's ready for the curtain call and I’m lying on the floor? I just think that would be really superb acting.”
Through the audience's laughter and cheers, Graham shared her love for Bishop, “This friendship means so much to me. I really do feel the world placed us together to play mother and daughter. It's some cosmic like gift to get to know these characters and get to know each other as friends. It's something I'm really thankful for, to say the least." Graham then wrapped up the evening, tearfully reading an excerpt from Bishop’s memoir where she recalls seeing Hamilton during its Off-Broadway run at The Public Theater, on April 16, 2015. Her eyes were drawn to a dancer in the ensemble. Here is the excerpt:
“At some point while I watched her, I was blindsided, out of nowhere, by a deep ache of sadness as the thought hit me: that used to be me up there. Then just as suddenly, the same thought hit me with the greatest wave of joy and gratitude: that used to be me up there!...There were lots of tears and hugs on that stage, followed by all of us mingling around, giving me a perfect opportunity to walk over to that young chorus dancer, the girl I used to be. ‘I'm so excited for you,’ I told her. ‘This is thrilling, I know what it's like, and I want you to relish it, inhale, live it, grab every moment of it. You're so talented, and I don't want you to ever get to a point where you think I don't really feel like doing the show tonight. Do it. Give yourself a chance to be adored one more time, because you will be, and you'll carry this exquisite experience with you for the rest of your life.’ To this day, when I occasionally fall into that sadness trap I think back on that night and that lesson: Don't cry because you think your best days are gone. Smile because you had them in the first place."
Tony Award winner Kelly Bishop's memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, is available here.
Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop
