The Third Gilmore Girl

by Kelly Bishop

Impossible as it seemed, Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban had written a song called “At the Ballet” that told the story of my childhood.

We all went back onstage and finished the ceremony with “One,” to a standing ovation, and thus ended a glorious night for me, and for A Chorus Line—twelve nominations and nine wins, including Donna McKechnie, Michael Bennett, Marvin Hamlisch, and Ed Kleban. Sammy Williams, who played the Nicholas Dante character Paul, won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante won the Tony for Best Book of a Musical.

1976 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for A Chorus Line, making Nicholas Dante the first Latino in history to win a Pulitzer. And in 1980, Priscilla won a well-deserved Tony Award for her performance in Tommy Tune’s Broadway musical comedy revue, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine,

When the time came to step aside again, I wasn’t sad anymore. It was as if I’d been given one last group hug I hadn’t even known I needed.

That it took my falling for someone else to compel me to break up

just the almost deafening stillness of a country paralyzed in shock from the sudden loss of our innocent, or maybe arrogant, belief that terrorist attacks only happen in faraway places but certainly never on American soil.

There was one member of the cast in particular who completely blew me away. Her name was Sutton Foster, in the role of former-evangelist-turned-cabaret-singer Reno Sweeney. Good god, she had it all—a terrific actress, a great singer and dancer, sexy and funny at the same time, and she had a lot to do with the fact that the cast of Anything Goes was so happy and had such fun together.

I’ve talked to many women who told me about binge-watching Gilmore Girls with their daughters, how it actually brought them closer and how exploring the dynamics between Emily, Lorelai, and Rory taught them lessons about their own relationships.

Inevitably, a time comes after a loved one has left when all the distracting busyness ends. Friends who’ve been right by your side through the crisis head home and get back to their lives as they should, lawyers and accountants get the postmortem paperwork signed and filed away, the silence becomes deafening, and the full force of ugly, excruciating, inescapable grief crashes into you until you’re afraid it might consume you.

Don’t cry because you think your best days are gone. Smile because you had them in the first place.

No way would I try to talk someone out of their dream, no matter what it is. Whatever it is, I believe you immerse yourself in it, work hard at it, express yourself through it, challenge yourself with it, give yourself every opportunity to fall in love with it, and explore the adventures that come with it. If it’s the right dream for you and it allows you to support yourself, so that you’re not pursuing your dream at someone else’s expense, it will probably last a lifetime. If it stops being enjoyable and fulfilling and you fall out of love with it—if it starts feeling like drudgery to the point where it becomes painful and depressing—there’s nothing wrong with saying, “Okay, what else do I want to do with my life?” and start pursuing that dream.

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