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49 pages 1 hour read

Kelly Bishop

The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2024

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Themes

Personal and Professional Resilience

Throughout The Third Gilmore Girl, Kelly Bishop emphasizes the key roles of fortitude and tenacity in her life. The author suggests that resilience has been equally as important as talent in her show business career and that it has also contributed to her personal happiness. Although setbacks, challenges, and failures have marked her journey, she has ultimately overcome them.

From the memoir’s beginning, Bishop is open about the adversity she has faced in her life. Through her experiences, the author highlights how rejection, criticism, and professional setbacks are an integral feature of the show business industry. She also recounts a series of personal traumas, from failed romantic relationships to financial hardship (due to her first husband’s gambling debts) and losing her beloved mother and second husband. In describing her coping strategies, the author intimates that resilience involves not just enduring adversity but also learning, adapting, and moving forward with renewed purpose. For example, when her childhood dream of joining the American Ballet Theatre in New York was shattered, she was pragmatic and did not dwell on the failure. Needing to earn money, she learned new dance styles, becoming a Las Vegas showgirl and a chorus dancer in musicals. Similarly, before she reached the age when a dancer’s opportunities become scarce, Bishop transitioned to acting. Rather than perceiving such challenges as daunting obstacles, she embraced the “never-ending pursuit to learn, to find out what I’m good at and what I’m not, and to explore what I really love and what I don’t” (144).

The memoir emphasizes how crucial persistence and self-belief have been to Bishop’s eventual success. She never gave up despite being repeatedly rejected at auditions where show business contacts often superseded talent. She was also unafraid to assert herself and push for opportunities, believing that “The answer is always no unless you ask” (143). For example, she demanded the role of Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation after understudying for the part. The author’s experiences illustrate how persistence involves living through less-than-perfect situations to achieve one’s goals. She describes uncomplainingly undertaking many uninspiring jobs before ultimately earning life-changing roles, such as Sheila Bryant in A Chorus Line and Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls. This pattern is echoed in her personal life, where a series of disastrous relationships enabled Bishop to appreciate her compatibility with her second husband, Lee Leonard.

Gratitude and a positive outlook are also depicted as vital elements of Bishop’s resilience. As a dancer and actress, she was consistently thankful for the opportunity to indulge her passion for performing, even in the humblest jobs. Her positive perspective led her to leave A Chorus Line, despite loving the show, focusing on the potential exciting new opportunities ahead of her. Bishop’s inherent faith that things would work out is depicted as a form of positive manifestation, as her wishes were often fulfilled by unexpected opportunities.

The Third Gilmore Girl reminds readers that setbacks are a natural part of life and that the ability to persevere, adapt, and grow defines true success. By sharing her struggles and triumphs and revealing how she succeeded on her own terms, Bishop hopes to illustrate the power of resilience, positivity, and gratitude.

The Importance of Collaboration in the Arts

Bishop’s memoir presents collaboration as a cornerstone of the creative industries. Accounts of her participation in both screen and theater productions emphasize the synergy that occurs when talented individuals work together and combine their skills in complementary ways. The author suggests that this artistic coalescence is one of the most satisfying aspects of her career in show business.

In describing two of her favorite creative projects, A Chorus Line and Gilmore Girls, the author highlights that a significant factor in these shows’ appeal was their ensemble nature. Bishop felt like a part of artistic teams where everyone’s contributions were integral to the project’s success. Gilmore Girls, in particular, is portrayed as the ideal synthesis of artistic talent. Revealing how “from the moment we started rehearsing, we ‘got’ each other, and we trusted each other” (163), the author conveys the strong bond and chemistry between the cast. She also points to Amy Sheman-Palladino’s “smart, razor-sharp” script (158) as a vital aspect of the show’s enduring appeal. Bishop’s ongoing friendship and professional alliance with Sheman-Palladino after Gilmore Girls demonstrates how artistic collaborations can foster lifelong relationships that continue to enrich the creative process.

While the author’s depiction of Gilmore Girls centers on harmonious collaboration, Bishop’s interactions with A Chorus Line director and choreographer Michael Bennett highlight the challenges and complexities of creative cooperation. Bishop and Bennett respected each other’s talents, working on several projects together. However, their personalities and egos clashed on more than one occasion. Bishop left A Chorus Line when she believed Bennett withheld her raise to punish her for not participating in the Los Angeles tour. Nevertheless, the author also acknowledges an incident when she swallowed her pride and deferred to Bennett’s expertise. Initially objecting to her costume in A Chorus Line, she ultimately recognized that the nude-colored leotard enhanced her performance in ways she had never considered, underlining the importance of different artistic perspectives. Consequently, the author pays tribute to the late director’s positive influence on her creative development, asserting, “Trying to imagine how my life might have gone if it hadn’t been for the genius of Michael Bennett is an impossibility” (146).

Through Bishop’s reflections, readers gain insight into the delicate balance of trust, mutual respect, and compromise that defines successful collaborations in the creative world. Ultimately, the author suggests that magic occurs when diverse perspectives and talents combine, creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

The Fulfillment Derived from Artistic Expression

In The Third Gilmore Girl, Bishop emphasizes that performing, both as a dancer and an actress, has always been intellectually and emotionally meaningful. The author’s career in show business has been a deeply personal journey, giving purpose to her life. During highs and lows, artistic expression has provided a perpetual source of self-discovery, healing, and connection.

The memoir emphasizes the transformative nature of a creative career, as Bishop’s passion for performing afforded comfort and distraction during times of personal adversity. As a child, ballet offered a refuge from the school that she hated and her parents’ unhappy marriage. Dance classes are depicted as the only space where Bishop felt pretty, talented, and able to express herself. This pattern continued in her adult years, as dancing and then acting became productive channels for the distress caused by disastrous romantic relationships and grief over the loss of loved ones. Describing playing Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye after her second husband’s death, the author reveals, “It felt great to have something to look forward to again and to get out of my own head and into the head of this forceful woman” (218). The observation underlines how artistic expression provides a means to process life’s challenges and emerge stronger.

Bishop’s narrative conveys the fulfillment of exploring the full range of human emotions as a performer. She describes the satisfaction of playing prestigious and complex theatrical roles such as Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation. Meanwhile, in her account of her time on Gilmore Girls, she captures the fun of delivering Emily Gilmore’s cutting tirades, comparing the experience to “being turned loose on a playground” (177). The author also reflects on how artistic expression serves as a tool for connection, bridging gaps between people and fostering understanding. For example, while performing in A Chorus Line, she felt that the personal experiences explored in the musical “closed the gap between the stage and the audience and brought us all together as human beings” (81). The memoir also touches on the fulfillment of leaving an artistic legacy. The author describes her gratitude that Gilmore Girls has meant so much to viewers. The joy she experiences comes from knowing that her work has touched the lives of fans across the generations.

Ultimately, Bishop’s memoir celebrates “the privilege of people being willing to actually pay me to do what I love” (231). Having vividly depicted the fulfillment that she has derived from artistic expression, the author encourages others to enhance their lives by embracing their own creativity.

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