49 pages • 1 hour read
Kelly BishopThe Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Bishop and stagehand Peter Miller married in 1970. In retrospect, the author realizes that, like her mother, she had internalized “the curse of spinsterhood” (67). Peter turned out to be addicted to gambling, and he stole from her to pay his debts.
A series of small speaking parts in Broadway shows fueled Bishop’s desire to take on bigger roles. However, she was concerned that she did not possess a good singing voice. Her confidence grew after watching Elaine Stritch in the musical Company. Although Stritch was not a natural singer, she gave a stunning performance. Bishop began to turn down chorus dancing jobs, waiting for acting opportunities.
Bishop’s friend, the choreographer Bob Herget, asked her to audition for the role of Anita in a touring production of West Side Story on the East Coast. At the same time, Peter accepted a stagehand job on a two-month touring production. Despite Peter’s gambling and infidelities, Bishop was reluctant to admit her marriage was a failure. Giving up the possibility of playing Anita, she instead accompanied Peter on tour. Tired of explaining to Peter that she did not want children, Bishop lied to him, claiming she had stopped taking her birth control pills.
Bishop returned to New York wishing she had taken the West Side Story role. Soon afterward, the show’s producer called, explaining that the current Anita was leaving and asking Bishop to step in. To pay off Peter’s gambling debts, Bishop had borrowed against her penthouse apartment through Actors’ Equity. Peter was responsible for covering the loan repayments while she paid all of their other bills. When she learned the loan was in default and Actors’ Equity was foreclosing on her apartment, Bishop began divorce proceedings to end the five-year marriage. After finishing West Side Story, Bishop was invited to the workshop for A Chorus Line.
Chapter 5 Summary
Before securing the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line, Bishop had to pass a singing audition with composer Marvin Hamlisch. She feared her voice was not good enough, but after she’d sung a couple of lines, Hamlisch confirmed she had the job.
Michael Bennett wanted Bishop to wear her least favorite outfit for the role: a flesh-colored leotard with high-cut legs and a revealing neckline. Bishop reacted angrily, pointing out the leotard was overtly sexy and would make her “pretty much disappear” (83) next to a co-star wearing red. However, Michael explained that when the lights went down for “At the Ballet,” the color would make her “look like a naked, vulnerable little girl” (83). Afterward, Bishop conceded that Bennett was right.
In 1975, many theatrical shows were struggling. Nevertheless, A Chorus Line was a hit at the Public Theater. The show was praised by theater critics and moved to Broadway. When performances sold out months in advance, A Chorus Line was hailed as “the show that saved Broadway” (85). Celebrities came to see it, including Bishop’s role model Elaine Stritch. When Jane, now happily remarried, flew in to see the show, Bishop was apprehensive. She worried about the lyrics of “At the Ballet” that referred to hating her mom for saying she would not be “pretty.” However, Jane responded to Bishop’s performance with joy and pride.
In 1976, Bishop and her best friend Priscilla Lopez were both nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. Bishop had also begun another ill-advised relationship with a man she pseudonymizes as “Kevin.”
Chapter 6 Summary
Bishop (still going by her birth name of Carole) applied to join the Screen Actors Guild as she wanted to undertake film and television work. When the Guild informed her that another member was named Carole Bishop, she changed her first name to Kelly.
On the night of the Tony Awards, Bishop was excited for Priscilla, the hotly-tipped favorite. Bishop was therefore shocked when her own name was announced as the winner.
Michael Bennett organized a tour of A Chorus Line in San Francisco and Los Angeles featuring the original cast. However, Bishop disagreed with his decision, pointing out that people who had booked tickets for the Broadway show months in advance expected to see the original cast. She stayed with the Broadway cast despite Bennett’s offer of more money and his implication that Bishop would miss out on career opportunities if she refused to go on tour. Her decision led to a rift with Bennett, and he refused to give her a raise when her contract came up for renewal. Consequently, Bishop left A Chorus Line to embark on a new acting career.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
As Bishop describes her early romantic relationships, she is introspective, reflecting on the lessons she learned from unwise choices. Directly addressing the reader, Bishop adopts a wry, self-deprecating tone: “If I sound as if I’m trying to justify the fact that I married this man, it’s because that’s exactly what I’m trying to do” (67). The author’s candid admission of her mistakes and vulnerabilities encourages readers to feel a sense of intimacy and connection with her. Bishop is happy to take responsibility for herself and has little interest in blaming others, often protecting others’ identities. For example, referring to her former boyfriend, she states, “I’ll call him Kevin because it bears no resemblance to his real name” (91). This discreet approach to depicting former lovers contrasts with “kiss and tell” celebrity memoirs, whose selling point is the revelation of scandalous details about their relationships. Similarly, the author’s description of her and Priscilla Lopez’s support of each other when nominated for the same Tony undercuts the expectation of “catty backstage sniping” (90)—a stereotype based on sexist assumptions of women’s competitiveness in show business.
Bishop’s personal and professional lives showed her personality’s contradictions. As a dancer, she continued to have a strong sense of agency and self-advocacy, as demonstrated when she left A Chorus Line because Michael Bennett refused to give her a raise. Despite loving the show, her conviction that she had “more than earned a raise” (103) made her unwilling to stay when she felt exploited. However, in her personal life, Bishop was considerably weaker, repeating the same patterns as her mother. The author admits that her first marriage was partially prompted by the cultural stigma associated with spinsterhood. Although her husband lied to and stole from her, Bishop tolerated his behavior, unprepared to admit the marriage was a mistake. From the vantage point of her older self, Bishop sees how the relationship eroded her integrity: Although she remained certain about not wanting children, she lied to Peter about stopping birth control rather than standing her ground.
In these chapters, Bishop’s apartment is symbolic of the disparity between her professional and personal life. Buying a “dream-come-true penthouse” (77) represents the fruits of her hard work and professional success. Conversely, the foreclosure of that apartment due to Peter’s gambling debts denotes how Bishop’s poor personal choices derailed her achievements. Aligning her private and public personas, Bishop uses the loss of her beloved apartment as the “long-overdue last straw” (77) that prompts her to divorce Peter.
For Bishop, the opportunity to work on A Chorus Line develops The Fulfillment Derived from Artistic Expression: The show is a blessing that arrives at precisely the right time in her life, distracting her from the pain of a failed marriage. It marks the first in a series of occasions where work helps Bishop to overcome potentially overwhelming personal challenges. The theme of The Importance of Collaboration in the Arts is also introduced in the author’s anecdote of arguing with Michael Bennett about her costume in A Chorus Line. As Bishop’s aversion to wearing the nude-colored leotard shifts to the realization that the choice is “a stroke of genius” (83), readers see her willingness to learn and benefit from the expertise of others. Bishop displays this respect for others’ professional input throughout the memoir. In doing so, she emphasizes that combining different talents elevates artistic production.
