On Sept. 22 and 23, Fordham acted as the background of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The show’s cast and crew set up on Edward’s Parade along with cameras, microphones, monitors and other necessary equipment. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is a TV show set in New York City in the late 1950s to early 1960s and follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel as she becomes a comedian.

According to Leslie Timoney, director of conference services, Fordham was used to film a scene at Midge Maisel’s college reunion. Timoney said that “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s” team needed a quad surrounded by older buildings to achieve the look they were going for, which brought them to Fordham. However, Timoney is not sure how much of the campus will be able to be seen.

“When I looked on the monitors, the garden party looked like it could be anywhere,” said Timoney.

Preparation for the shoot was done a few days prior as crews came to Fordham to set up a tent and install generators and electrical equipment on Edward’s Parade. Given that the show takes place in the early 1960s, Timoney said that signs of modern life had to be disguised.

“This episode took place in 1961, so we had to remove air conditioners, replace VIP parking with period cars, turn off the tower bells, turn off the stadium lights, turn off the Coffey Field PA system, hide Maisel bathrooms, hide Maisel generators, make sure the street cable runs were safe for students and work with the construction crew,” said Timoney.

Timoney said it would have been ideal to have filmed during the summer without students. However, that was not possible.
“Ideally, we’d love to film over the summer when there is less activity on campus. But to be in this business, you need to allow some filming during the academic year,” said Timoney.

Members of the campus community reported that the filming on campus caused disruptions for students, faculty and staff. While the cameras were rolling, students were prohibited from walking around Edward’s Parade in certain areas so they would not be in the background of the shot. For many, this was an inconvenience when trying to get around campus for classes or daily life.

“I was trying to go from Eddies to the [Marketplace], and they wouldn’t let me cross the street in front of the student center for about five minutes,” said Joseph Ryan, FCRH ’24. “[It was] annoying because it didn’t seem to be in the shot at all.”

According to Timoney, the television crew tried to avoid this problem by filming during class periods, however, sometimes, a scene took a little longer.

“On typical productions, cameras roll for 5 minutes at a time. ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ rolls film for 6-8 minutes with 20-minute scene setups in between shooting. We were hoping to be able to shoot twice in each class period but sometimes it fell into the 15 minute class change,” said Timoney.

Despite students’ frustration with the filming, the crew was happy with the students, faculty and staff’s cooperation according to Timoney.

“The crew was so impressed with how quiet our students were, especially by the fountain when we were all watching the lawn game filming. As a matter of fact, Maisel stayed on schedule both days thanks to the cooperation of Fordham students,” said Timoney.

Regardless of the inconvenience, Ryan also thought it was cool that “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was filming on Fordham’s campus.

“I think it’s cool that they filmed here. I just wish they would have made it more clear where they didn’t want us to walk,” said Ryan.

Ryan also added that he “might” watch the show when it comes out. During the taping, students, staff and faculty got to see actors in costume and what an active set looks like. Some students even took pictures with the star of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Rachel Brosnahan, who plays Midge Maisel.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is not the first piece of media to be filmed at Fordham. Fordham has been in other notable productions such as “A Bronx Tale,” “The Exorcist” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.” Timoney said that this episode of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” should be coming out on on Amazon Prime in late February or early March.