Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon - BBC4

Gwen Verdon Around 1950 — (Image credit: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Bob Fosse's wife, collaborator, dance partner and muse gets the respect she deserves in Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon

"If you’re very lucky you can find someone who dances it better than you ever dreamed it," choreographer Bob Fosse once said about muse, collaborator and former wife Gwen Verdon.

If Fosse/Verdon, starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams, has left you wanting to know more about the life and work of the multi-Tony winner, then Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon is for you.

Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon dancing — Doing their thing: Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon

This celebration of Gwen's talent is packed with Broadway stars, dancers, choreographers, former dance partners, all in all the sort of talking heads who actually know what they’re talking about.

There’s lots of footage of Gwen at her best, and even the odd fascinating "well I never" fact, such as Gwen having dubbed the taps for Gene Kelly’s famous Singin’ in the Rain dance, which was shot, as Hollywood tended to do it then, without sound.

TV Times rating: ****