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Each week onFosse/Verdon, Michelle Williams is giving one of the most fascinating vocal performances on TV.
While she had a dialect coach, Williams figured outhow to play Verdons vocal disintegration on her own.
She had this very unusual breathy, raspy voice, but it was still resonant, Williams said.
To get that to a point where it feels seamless just takes so much practice.
To vary the voice, she had several clips from different moments in Verdons career on reference.
I have an iPod with me, and between takes, it was my idol, Williams said.
I wanted to be faithful to who she was and faithful to the people that knew her.
She loved to be who people wanted her to be, and that performer lived onstage and offstage.
when shes told that shes pregnant in one scene.
Nicole gave me this other tip, that [her] mom would accentuate odd words, Williams said.
Rather than calling it BROADway, she would say BroadWAY.
Instead of calling Verdons star vehicleNEW Girl in Town, she called itNew GIRL in Town.
Wouldnt you love to have dinner with her?
One of the most technically impressive scenes in the show comes after Verdons vocal surgery.
She herself hasnt had her vocal cords sliced, and had to guess at how it might affect Verdon.
It was just pure imagination feeling through what she wanted to say to him.
I thought of it as not Gwen, but Gwens fantasy of herself, Williams said of the character.
Concept aside, Williams promises it was also very fun to perform.
I was tap-dancing on a piano!
It was like Id died and gone to heaven.
