Capturing the essence of the interplay between two characters who are sending out their first sexual vibes to each other - while performing a song, no less - is challenging enough. But when one of them happens to be Michelle Pfeiffer, slithering around on a slippery piano singing "Makin' Whoopee!" in high heels and a dress slit up to there, well... hard work never looked so good.

Some of the technicians on The Fabulous Baker Boys declare that the piano on which Pfeiffer's Susie Diamond sang "Makin' Whoopee" actually blistered.

Of course, for her, it wasn't as hot as it looked. Pfeiffer wore knee and elbow pads during rehearsals, but for the real thing she was unprotected. She admits this "was rough on my knees." But says "the most difficult thing was climbing down at the end."

Premiere Magazine November 1989

Pfeiffer only had one choreography lesson. "A lot of people," says director Steve Kloves, "couldn't have gotten it in three hours."

"The moves were simple," says Pfeiffer, "We didn't want it looking like a choreographed dance. The dress had to be open enough so I could move in it, but closed enough so I wouldn't be flashing. My only concern was not flashing my knickers."

"Sure I enoyed it. Wouldn't you? It was a fun scene to do." grins Jeff Bridges.

"The thing that makes Jack uncomfortable is she's not your typical lounge singer. She's a little too bold." explains Pfeiffer, "Jeff's not one of those tormented actors who create a darkness on the set. When you're doing love scenes with actors, it's important to have a trust with them. And we had that."

Premiere Magazine November 1989
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"You get into the old rhythm you were in, and the same feeling." Pfeiffer says of her lip-synching.

The critics later asked Pfeiffer what it had been like to make love to a piano: "It's fabulous, you should try it sometime" she replied. "The audience was wonderful. It was a ridiculous hour, like four in the morning, and they had already been there for ten hours. It really felt like New Year's Eve."