Marvelous news! The creators of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have zeroed in on their next Amazon project, and it is an adaptation. Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will be trading in the world of stand-up comedy for the art scene. Here is what you need to know.
Published less than a year ago, in September 2018, Mary Gabriel’s book, Ninth Street Women, is already getting the adaptation treatment. Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will adapt the nonfiction book, per a THR exclusive. Like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it will take place in the 20th century.
Ninth Street Women chronicles five women who daringly entered the male-dominated abstract painting scene. In a departure for the times, they did so as those creating the art, not inspiring it. Those women are Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler. The book’s logline credits them with making game-changing strides in the field of art.
This should be an interesting series that will be quite an ensemble piece, as it follows five characters. Hence, there should be no shortage of story to cover on the show. Now, on to another question that should have an intriguing answer.
Will the show also feature the women’s spouses? Most of the female artists featured in Ninth Street Women were married to important men within the abstract expressionist movement. The women were trying to, and eventually succeeded in, painting their own way into art history, so it will be interesting to see if the series also deals with what it was like for each of them to make moves in that world alongside their prominent husbands.
For instance, Lee Krasner was married to Jackson Pollock from 1945 until his death in 1956. In the 2000 biopic Pollock, Krasner was portrayed by actress Marcia Gay Harden, while Ed Harris played Pollock, and the movie did, in fact, deal with some aspects of their marriage.
The four other women featured were also married to well-known abstract expressionist painters. Elaine de Kooning to Willem de Kooning, Grace Hartigan was briefly married to artist Harry Jackson and Helen Frankenthaler was married to artist Robert Motherwell from 1958 to 1971. And, it would add another layer to the story if we see how those various relationships impacted their journeys in the art world.
How much those relationships will play into the show’s focus might be a mystery until it finally airs. As will how closely the Ninth Street Women series will stick to its source material, but fans will know more as the show's production gets further underway.
Ninth Street Women will differentiate itself from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in that the latter is centered on a fictional character. However, real-life comedian Lenny Bruce is depicted as being one of Midge’s close friends in the comedy. Ninth Street Women, on the other hand, will focus more on real people.
Ninth Street Women is the latest project for Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino at Amazon. The duo has an overall deal with the home of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and this is the first project to stem from that deal.
There's no word yet on when Ninth Street Women might hit Amazon, but the third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is expected to premiere at some point this year.
