Marvelous news for Mrs Maisel fans! Series four is coming soon
Brigit Grant heralds the return of TV series the Marvelous Mrs Maisel and talks to her father and mechutanim!
Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
Cue the drum roll and sound the shofar… She’s back. Our favourite Jewish housewife and mistress of the ballsy barb and bountiful brisket returns to Amazon Prime on Friday night, and it’s not a day too soon.
Truth be told it’s actually two years late, and that’s because, well, we all know why, so let’s not pour pandemic misery on the season four premiere of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
In the absence of mirth-maker Midge, who first grabbed our attention by turning her husband’s affair into a career opportunity as a stand-up – much has happened. And it is still happening, as the cultural discourse (largely between networks, terrified casting agents and job-seeking thesps) about who can play a Jew directly impacts on MMM as hilarious Hebrew Midge is played by non-Jewish Rachel Brosnahan.
Are we bothered? No, but seriously are we? Hasn’t Brosnahan proved herself sufficiently as the jesty JAP to silence the protestors? That the actress grew up in Chicago and went to lots of barmitzvahs is enough for most of the show’s fans, who were challishing for something upbeat and loved the ‘spotted on location’ pics of the cast in costume when filming started last year under Covid restrictions in New York.
A few months earlier Caroline Aaron, who plays Midge Maisel’s mother-in-law (the formidable Shirley), invited me to Zoom and moaned about the delays like the rest of us. “In order to keep everyone invested in the story they showed one episode every week from Season 3 and while it was on cast members had to live tweet. You know, those sort of ‘inside the set’ facts the fans enjoy.” As it turned out Caroline enjoyed it as much as the fans – “but I was laughing so much I forgot to tweet.” But thrilled as she was to be re-joining the Maisel gang after Thanksgiving, Caroline was worried about the wardrobe. “I told them ‘you better giving me some warning so I can lose the weight.’ I have been noshing in lockdown to make myself feel better. Eating never disappoints.”
With Donna Zakowska’s magnificent period clothes, an intrinsic part of the series’ appeal, the move from the fitted fifties to the even more clinging sweaters of the sixties would make any eater nervous. But not Midge. The stand-up with a passion for fashion is set to make the most of 1960 and as the sell line says: “claim her creative freedom.”
It’s hard to imagine how the housewife, who made her comedy club debut drunk on 11% Manischewitz wine and flashing her bra, could be more creative, but it would give any father cause for concern. Which leads us to the fathers, one of whom is an ex-in-law but still a presence in her life because of the grandchildren Ethan and Esther and her ex, Joel (Michael Zegen).
When an invite came to talk to the two dads about the troublesome titular comic and the new series, it was perfect timing. Until I was told it would be a ten-minute chat which was far from perfect.
How would 600 seconds be enough to ask Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub) about the ’Joel fiasco’ or his new job as The Village Voice theatre critic and then quiz Moishe (Kevin Pollack) about the schmutter business and sleeping “in the buff” beside Shirley?
To then be unable to follow on with more questions about the sterling careers of these two esteemed actors was a travesty, but there was no negotiating on the 10 mins, so I had to Zoom literally and this is the condensed conversation between Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak and me.
ME: Great to meet you both. It’s a great honour. I’m a huge fan of the show. We haven’t got much time so we have to talk very fast.
KP: We’re used to that.
(TS nods and smiles)
ME: Who in your opinion is the best father?
KP: Between the two characters? Well, Mosh is just riddled with love while he’s yelling and screaming, whereas Abe seems very stern and difficult to get along with.
TS I would have to agree with that.
(KP laughs)
KP: I honestly think that Mosh is the better father. I mean both of these guys have a certain level of pragmatism and they’re kind of no-nonsense guys, but I think Moshe has a little bit more of a centrifugal force of patriarchy in that character. I see Moishe as a protector and caretaker through all of his bluster. And so I have to say, you, sir, are the better dad.
ME: If you had to give Midge the same advice your fathers gave to you, what would it be?
TP: Oh, I would say as Abe, what my father told me: “Save your money.”
We all laughed.
KP: Explore and pursue whatever makes you happy?
ME: That’s lovely.
KP: Yeah, it’s very difficult to find any happiness in life, especially off your own making. Tony and I and the rest of the cast have talked often about a level of gratitude that we have for our lives and careers based on the happiness we draw from work. And that we get to make a living pursuing something that makes us happy.
ME: How happy would you be if your own children wanted to be stand-up comedians?
They both laugh.
KP: Ah well, I started out in stand-up becoming professional at age 17. And it’s been an entire life. In my case, my children are two cats. So I would be wildly impressed if either one of them could tell us one damn joke. But yeah, how do you feel about rejection? Would you like it on a moment-by-moment basis, and unavoidably in your face? That’s what waits for you on the stage as a stand up. Here’s what you think is funny. And here’s what the audience thinks is funny – it’s a very immediate thing. Tony has done a great deal on stage and he’s a Tony Award winner, so he can tell you what it means to live and die on the stage. To bare all in front of a live audience.
TS: Brutal. Yeah, it can be. I have two daughters, and Josie did go to California Institute of Arts thinking she would follow in her mom’s (Brooke Adams) and my footsteps. Once she got out of school and spent a year or two doing the rounds trying to get representation and auditioning, she realised that it was not for her. She loves the work, she’s a very industrious kid and very bright and she did not want to spend a lot of her life waiting for someone else to determine what her path was going to be or the work she would get or not get. And so she took a hard right turn and pursued another interest of hers – writing, which led her to various other things. And she’s a writer today. We did not discourage the stand-up path for her, but we did encourage her to move off it when it didn’t work for her.
ME: Dare I sympathise with anyone who becomes a writer?
They both laugh.
ME: Does Mrs Maisel creator Amy Sherman Palladino, as matriarch, let you have views on where your characters go?
KP: I think the overriding answer is that Rachel Brosnahan as Midge probably has the most to say, because after all, the entire show is really her journey. And I think they do spend a goodly amount of time allowing her to weigh in. And I think for many of us, I’ll speak for myself, they’ve always been open to any input. But what they have created and written from word one through to four seasons, is just a cut above almost anything I’ve ever read or been a part of. So in that regard, I learned pretty early on to be challenged by whatever comes your way with this part. It has been the most challenging and the most rewarding work I feel I’ve ever done, honestly. So yeah, I feel a sense that we’re allowed to participate in the creative process, but at the same time, I kind of want to stay out of the way.
TS: Well, yeah, we have a lot of trust in our creative team and in our writers, although I will say that there have been moments – not many – where I have had discussions when certain lines or just a moment didn’t feel completely consistent with what we’ve established. I could count these times on two fingers. But I did feel that I could go to them and say could we make an adjustment here? I feel like this might be a little jarring. And they’ve really been open to our input and feelings.
At this point a two-minute warning appeared in the chat box and I expected to hear the warning music played at the Oscars.
ME: Have you ever left the set still wearing the costume? It must be tempting.
KP: It’s difficult to go home in clothes from the early 60s but I’ve certainly coveted several things and specifically the shoes, because they can live throughout generations more than giant lapels.
TS: I have not, but it’s still early.
We all laugh.
The ten minutes was up and though I didn’t get to ask who they hoped would be Midge’s new beau. Among this season’s new faces, Milo Ventimiglia as ‘a well-dressed man with a dog in a park talking to Mrs Maisel’ seems a more likely suitor than Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander, who only has a cameo. Evidently he plays Asher, an old friend of Abe Weissman, but I never got to ask Tony about that. I’ll add it to my list for Season 5.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel premieres Friday 18 February on Amazon Prime
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