The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Anatomy

Ok. The series has been around for a few months, but if you've missed it or if you never get tired of looking at the replicas of Gilmore Girls, then The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is for you.

The show created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (the same author of the adventures of Rory and Lorelai) is a real treat.

The ingredients that make it special are irony, brilliant dialogues, syncopated rhythm, a sparkling and hyper-colored setting in New York in 1958 and a female protagonist that you can not help but love, played by Rachel Brosnahan.

Miriam "Midge" Maisel is a young and cute middle-class Jewish girl who lives in the elegant Upper West Side with her two sons and her husband Joel, who dreams of a comedian career and, with the support of his wife, performs evening in the premises of the Big Apple.

Everything in Mrs. Maisel's life seems to proceed perfectly until she discovers that Joel has stolen her best number from a monologue by Bob Newhart, asks for explanations and finds herself dumped for a fervent secretary.

Shocked and a little drunk, Midge rushes to the local mythical Gaslight Cafe at the Greenwich Village, goes on stage and improvises a sharp and amusing monologue.

Suddenly the revelation comes: she is the real cabaret artist of the couple.

Thus begins a new adventure for the girl.

If you want to find out more, while everyone eagerly awaits the episodes of the second season, press play and immerse yourself in the Amazon series.

Feel like: Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Many of the frames of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" seem taken from the vintage covers of Vogue or Harper's Bazar, made by legendary photographers like Norman Parkinson, Richard Avedon, Saul Leiter or, better yet, Louise Dahl-Wolfe.

The talented Californian has not only documented the cultural and social changes of the twentieth century but has played an important role in defining the image of the modern and independent woman, laying the foundations of what would become fashion photography.

In this sector, in 1937, it was among the first to introduce colors with warm shades; to tell the female body with a more modern, relaxed, less pompous and typically American look; taking pictures outdoors, using natural light, and traveling a lot to set up his photographic sets, choosing international destinations like Cuba, Tunisia, South America and Spain.

Dahl-Wolfe's relationship with Harper's Bazar lasted from 1935 until his retirement in 1958, a period in which he worked closely with the iconic Diana Vreeland, made over 86 covers and discovered supermodels such as Suzy Parker, Jean Patchett, Evelyn Tripp and actress Lauren Bacall.

Dress like: Dior by Raf Simons

One of the many good reasons to look at the adventures of Mrs. Maisel is definitely her wardrobe.

The protagonist of the series of Amazon sports a series of dreamy colorful coats, so beautiful to make winter regret, but also clothes and accessories are stunning.

"Midge's look for me was an attempt to optimistically capture the spirit of a woman, who in spite of unfortunate events continues to assert her spirit to remain on her feet" - explained the costume designer of the show Donna Zakowska   

As her life unfolds her wardrobe allows her to continue her inner dialogue with life. It is an awakening of a woman's desire to express herself outside of predictable expectations, and remain true to who she wants to be rather than who she is expected to be. Her love of clothes, detail, and color would become tools for expressing her strength and identity [...] symbolize her capacity to not ever give in.

On an aesthetic level, all this translates into a rich tapestry of colors and silhouettes. The favorite colors of the young lady cocoon-like Cristóbal Balenciaga, low-waist dresses, suits, décolleté, but when she goes down to the Village she opts for black, trench, Capri pants, pencil skirts with pockets, dancers and headscarves in her hair. A more beatnik style that reflects the dichotomy between his life as a housewife and that of club goer.

Each outfit is the result of a long research and analysis on fashion magazines and photographs of the period.

"I was very intrigued by the color palette and the way colors were emphasized, through accessories and bags, in the shots of photographers like the great Saul Leiter", continues to explain Zakowska, adding inspirations for Midge's looks also Audrey Hepburn and designers like Dior and Jacques Fath

Think like: “Joan Rivers Confidential” by Melissa Rivers & Scott Currie, “We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy ” by Yael Kohen

What makes a comedian a good comedian? Is it paying your dues, appearing again and again and again on every sort of stage in front of every kind of audience, until you gradually, gradually acquire technique and a stage identity, which is not you but has your passion, your hurts, your anger, your particular humor?

It is a kind of birth, a process that is not painless at all?

Do women know how to make people laugh?

If you have any doubts, you should read Joan Rivers Confidential.

The book, edited by Melissa Rivers and Scott Currie, is a collection of photographs, correspondence, old newspaper articles, notes and memorabilia that belonged to the famous American comedian.

It is a kind of colorful and enjoyable old family album that, page after page, allows you to discover the life and the humor of a legend of the stand-up comedian.

Active more or less during the Amazon TV series, Joan is one of the first entertaining women to bring on stage, not an alter ego, a camouflage, such as Phyllis Diller, but herself, like Lenny Bruce and the other males.

Offensive, profane, poisonous, irreverently funny, to make his audience laugh, she did not spare anyone, neither the first American man of state, nor Elizabeth Taylor, nor Anne Frank, nor even herself.

Her philosophy?

"I mock everybody, regardless of race, creed or color. Every joke I make, no matter how tasteless, is there to draw attention to something I really care about" 

There is a lot of Rivers in Mrs. Maisel's character, but not only. In her, there are also Ali Wong, Tig Notaro, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman and many others, all women written about in "We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy" by Yael Kohen, a book that traces the story of the protagonists of the American comedy from the fifties until today.

Sounds like: "Come to the Supermarket" by Barbra Streisand

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel looks like a musical, even if it is not.

The characteristics to support it with films like La La Land are all there, from shooting techniques full of master shot to the hyper-colored 1950s setting, from the tight rhythm to the sharp beats, up to, above all, the refined musical choice.

What is missing (thankfully) are the sung dialogues.

In the soundtrack of the new series of Amy Sherman-Palladino, everything is designed to recreate both the atmosphere of the era and to underline the character and evolution of Midge.

There are songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anthony Newley, Ricky Nelson, Harry Belafonte, Charlie Parker, Edith Piaf, Perry Como, Nat King Cole or Barbra Streisand. His version of the piece of Cole Porter "Come to the Supermarket (In Old Peking)" accompanies a tour of the Maisel spouses by taxi to the Village.

Taste like: Beef Brisket in a Pyrex and Kosher wine

Love like: both Miriam “Midge” Maisel and Rachel Brosnahan 

Everything in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is delicious: costume, tight dialogue, sharp humor, the colorful 1950s setting and, above all, Miriam "Midge" Maisel. Much of the credit goes to her interpreter, Rachel Brosnahan, a young talent to keep an eye on and capable of excelling equally in the dramatic and comic registers.