“Were you hanging out there with Dean?”

JESS: Were you hanging out there with Dean?
RORY: I was not hanging out with Dean. We were both hauled in there to watch her try out material and we were sitting in the same area so we talked a little, and then we left at the same time. That was it. It was all by accident.

Jess confronts Rory with the knowledge that he knew she was with Dean, something she omitted when recounting the events of her day. Keeping this from him possibly reminded him of the all the times Rory omitted to tell Dean when she hung out with Jess.

Unfortunately, due to Dean’s temper and jealousy, Rory learned not to be transparent with her boyfriend – a legacy which Jess is inheriting (which he sort of deserves, since it’s because of him that Rory was most often lacking in candour with Dean).

Unlike Dean, Jess quickly recovers once he realises it was just by chance Rory and Dean spent some time together in public as part of a community event. He asks her to think about letting him know in future, because it’s a shock reading it off a flyer, and then he asks her to spill all the tea on Miss Patty’s show.

It’s seems like a much healthier relationship for Rory, from this perspective, as she no longer has to fear her boyfriend finding things out and putting a suspicious spin on them.

“I toted the barge, lifted the bale”

RORY: How was work?
JESS: I toted the barge, lifted the bale.

Jess refers to the show tune “Ol’ Man River”, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein III, from the 1927 musical Showboat. The song contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River. It is sung from the point of view of a black dock worker on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show.

Jules Bledsoe sang the song in the original stage version, and William Warfield in the 1951 film version. In 1928, Paul Robeson recorded the most famous version, which was sung at dance tempo; Robeson’s recording was recorded into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.

The lyrics say, Tote that barge! Lift that bale!, to indicate the hard work undertaken on the river by black workers.

“The woman taught me everything”

RORY: The woman taught me everything I’ve already forgotten about dancing, baton twirling and gymnastics.

We learned in “Rory’s Birthday Parties” that Miss Patty is Rory’s former ballet teacher. Apparently she also learned gymnastics and baton twirling from her. Rory is physically awkward and slightly clumsy – I can’t imagine she did well in any of these classes. It’s also amazing she managed to learn ballet and gymnastics, and still be that physically awkward!

Miss Patty’s Song

MISS PATTY: [sings] It’s a quarter of three, there is no one in the place, except you and me.

Miss Patty sings, “One For My Baby (And One More For the Road”, a hit song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 musical film, The Sky’s the Limit, where it was sung by Fred Astaire. It was further popularised by Frank Sinatra, who recorded it several times between the 1940s and 1960s.

Guys and Dolls in Beantown

MISS PATTY: I was a chorus girl in a bus-and-truck tour of Guys and Dolls. Beantown, I love that town. And there I was, me and the girls backstage after the show, and in she comes. And who does [Bette Davis] walk right up to, but little old me. And she sized me up, exhaled some smoke from that regal mouth of hers, and said, “Doll, you don’t got the high notes but you sure got the gams.” I’ll always treasure that moment with Bette and I wanna dedicate this song to her.

Guys and Dolls, a 1950 Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on several short stories of the 1920s and ’30s by Damon Runyon.

The musical received overwhelming critical acclaim, and praise for its faithfulness to Runyon’s stories. It won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and had multiple Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, and Frank Sinatra. In 1998, the original cast was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is considered one of the most significant musicals of all time.

Beantown, a nickname for Boston.

Bette Davis

MISS PATTY: Okay, here we go. Hey, did you know that I once met the great Bette Davis?

Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis (1908-1989), Hollywood actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. She won two Academy Awards.

Elaine Stritch on Broadway

MISS PATTY: It’s part stories, part songs. Kind of like what Elaine Stritch did on Broadway, but without the bitterness. My working title – Buckle Up, I’m Patty.

Elaine Stritch (1925-2014), actress, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films and television series. Stritch was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.

Patty refers to her autobiographical one-woman show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, composed of anecdotes from Stritch’s life, as well as showtunes and Broadway standards that mirror Stritch’s rise and fall both on and off the stage. It ran on Broadway from November 2001 to May 2002, after which Stritch continued to perform it at regional and international venues.

The Broadway production was recognised with the 2002 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event and the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. A recording of the show was released in 2002, and a TV documentary of the show was later broadcast, in 2004.

Shanghaied

MISS PATTY: Okay, now, for those who just arrived, I’m trying out some material for my one-woman show and I need some feedback. You are my randomly picked audience.
DEAN: Randomly shanghaied.

Shanghaied, previously discussed.

Both Dean and Rory are among the crowd who are forced to watch Miss Patty try out her material for her one-woman show. Note the older woman sitting behind them who seems to be observing them closely. This could be a sign the Stars Hollow rumour mill is at work.