Bunheads Premiere

The June 11th premiere of Bunheads was delightful and promising indeed, although it did have a scary ending!

Here’s what happens when Las Vegas showgirl Michelle Simms (Sutton Foster) is dejected enough to run off with an ardent admirer she knows she doesn’t love: his name is Hubbell Flowers (Alan Ruck) and she marries him. He takes her home to Paradise – yes, Paradise! That’s where he lives and he lives there with his mother, a little detail he neglected to inform Michelle of. “You live with your mother like a serial killer,” Michelle blurts out.

Hubbell’s mother Fanny (Kelly Bishop) is just as put out but not as put out as Truly (Stacey Oristano) who was in love with Hubbell. Fanny insists on throwing a wedding party for the happy couple, complete with bad wine with pictures of nuns on it, and Truly insists that Michelle wear a dress she intended to wear, as she weeps pitifully because the dress will look even better on Michelle than it would have on her.

The highlight of the episode came when Michelle busted up a little illegal drinking party Sasha (Julia Goldani-Telles) was about to have with Boo (Kaitlyn Jenkins), Melanie (Emma Dumont) and Ginny (Bailey Buntain), Fanny’s ballet students. The girls are all sweating an upcoming Joffrey Ballet audition, except Sasha, who has no doubts she can succeed and no qualms about lording it over the other girls. But sensitive Boo is convinced her body type will rule her out and Fanny hasn’t helped matters by telling her she has to face reality about her big bones. The girls question Michelle about her dancing experience and ask her what a real audition is like. First she regales them with tales of an audition she ran 30 blocks to show up for, only to find out it was for Dreamgirls and she was supposed to be black. But she got a callback anyway because she has “attitude.” Michelle tells the girls that they have to be ready to be anything the casting directors want — in an instant — after waiting 16 hours outside, sometimes in the rain! She decides to show them what it’s like. Boo was just adorable.

Fanny peeps in the door and can’t help but smile at the scenario herself. She and her new daughter-in-law have this one thing in common – love of the dance. They go out for a drink and bond over shots and Jim Croce.

The end is scary when Truly suddenly shows up, barely coherent and manages to relates that Hubbell went out to look for them and got in a car accident.

Possible Spoiler – Just a Guess

Wikipedia says that Alan Ruck has a recurring role as Hubbell, so either he survives or he’ll be popping by from time to time as a ghost.