The third season finale of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was a showstopping extravaganza that took place at New York’s historic Apollo Theater, and the series celebrated the legendary venue with a one-hour special that aired virtually at Apollotheater.org.
“A Marvelous Night at the Apollo” mixed clips from the finale highlighting comedy, musical and dance scenes and conversations with creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, titular star Rachel Brosnahan, Wanda Sykes (Moms Mabley), Sterling K. Brown (Reggie)—all whom are nominated for Emmy Awards—and LeRoy McClain (Shy Baldwin) and Darius de Haas (Shy’s vocals).
Sherman-Palladino revealed that her father, comedian Don Sherman, performed at the Apollo as singer Dinah Washington’s opening act. “The joy of doing this show is to show people the wonders of New York, and the Apollo is such an amazing piece of it,” she said. “The audiences at the Apollo are like nowhere else. [The “A Jewish Girl Walks into the Apollo…” episode] “is a love letter to the Apollo.”
“Being able to play Moms and walking out on that Apollo stage was a transcendent moment,” Sykes said, “For Moms to be on this amazing show, that you brought her back to life.”
Brown, who is also Emmy nominated for his work in “This is Us,” reminisced that as an NYU student, he lived near the Apollo and would ride the bus back and forth on 125th Street to escape his tiny unairconditioned apartment. “That’s the closest I’d come to the Apollo until ‘Mrs. Maisel,’” he said.
“It was such a pleasure to be part of this season because of the legacy of performance that the Black community and the Jewish community have that run parallel and are intertwined with each other, and also the civil rights pursuit, always being allies,” he continued. “The idea of somebody Black being anti-Semitic or somebody Jewish being anti-Black seems ike an anathema to me because we have a shared history of struggle and performance. I think that legacy of performance comes out of struggle, that need to entertain to put people at ease so that we can be safe. To see the worlds merge in such a lovely way and having been a fan of the show for the first two years, I’m very, very thankful.”
“Mrs. Maisel” is nominated for 20 Emmy awards, second only to “Watchmen” with 26. Find out who wins Sept. 20 on ABC.
