Vermont Magazine | Page 45

Sherman: And you raised three boys here.
How old are they now?
Fosse: My kids are 20, 23 and 27.
Sherman: You had a very complicated
childhood and early adulthood. How did
you protect your kids from the world you
grew up in, but also invite them into the
world you grew up in - in terms of the
good parts?
Fosse: When Andy and I decided to move
to Vermont with our son (who was then
two and a half years old), it wasn’t a con-
scious decision of “We have to leave this
madness!” But I had the madness of grow-
ing up in the chaos. “The beautiful chaos,”
as I like to call it, of growing up in the
entertainment industry. And my husband
- when he was working at Lincoln Center -
said to me, “Let’s get out of here.” And that
rang true to me. He put those words on it
and identified it, but there was something
that rang true at my core, too. I was like,
“Okay, yeah, let’s get out of here.” And so I
think that was how, you know, we protect-
ed the kids. We just moved here and did
Vermont things. And then I showed them
the wonderful, beautiful fun parts. They
had music lessons. We were always very
involved in big school musicals at the local
elementary school. My kids grew up tap
dancing and playing the drums and the
piano and various instruments. We read
lots of really great literature out loud. They
were always painting and drawing, and we
would go visit my mom.
Sherman: I know you suffered tragedy as
an adult, as well. Can you tell me about
that?
Fosse: My husband was killed by a drunk
driver. And then my mother moved in
to help me raise the children. And eight
weeks later, my kids found her dead in
bed. My kids were one, four and eight at
the time. I don’t know that anybody has
the tools to deal with that. I don’t know
how else to say it, but I had not developed
the tools to handle that kind of tragedy
and trauma. I was new to the town. I
didn’t have any family here. I hardly had
any friends. We had just moved into this
house, like, a year before. And so what I
was acquainted with was numbing out. I
wasn’t used to asking for help.
Sherman: So how did you find your way
after going through that? Your story is
quite profound: You went through this
horrible trauma of your husband being
killed by a drunk driver and you had three
young kids. Your mother came to Vermont
to help you - and instead, eight weeks later,
your kids found her dead in bed. I mean,
that’s almost a Bob Fosse joke, right? It’s
almost a situation he would think of as
humorous. It’s like the zip up bag at the
end of All That Jazz, right? So, I guess my
question is -
Fosse: (laughing) Your question is, “Did
you put on Ethel Merman singing, ‘There’s
No Business Like Show Business’ as they
carted your mother’s body out of the
house?” No. No, I did not.
Sherman: I know yoga has played a big
party in your recovery. Can you tell me
about that?
Fosse: There are different ways to fill [a]
void. Service to others. Creative endeavors.
I’m a bikram yoga teacher now. And, for
me, being of service in this specific yoga
practice is moving. It changes your brain.
I think I’ve been doing it regularly enough
and long enough that I’ve completely
settled down my nervous system and can
breathe through uncomfortable situations.
And I can talk about death and tragedy
Damn Yankees as captured by the legendary Al Hirschfeld
© The Al Hirschfeld Foundation.
www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org
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