Lansbury Gypsy- Page 3
Lansbury Gypsy
#50re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 12/7/07 at 9:57pm
I remember reading that it was the Merm who tapped her foot. Sondheim said something to the effect of, "It was always hard to buy her with her foot going."
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#51re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 12/7/07 at 10:03pm
Didn't Sondheim also refer to Merman as "The Signing Dog" or am I insane?
And Miss Lansbury is spectacular in those clips.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#52re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 12/7/07 at 10:07pmI think he did. The two did not get along.
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#53re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 2/28/15 at 3:17pm
Lately I have been going though all the different message boards on which people spoke of the Angela Lansbury Gypsy footage. Which one was the one here? It is not any more on Youtube. Does anyone have a copy? Thanks!!
Updated On: 4/4/15 at 03:17 PM
#54re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 2/28/15 at 6:53pm
I think it's the same clip you can find in another current thread: it has sizable parts of "Some People", "Together" and "Rose's Turn" and, as Joey noted, cuts out just before the "silent bow."
Speaking of the bow, somewhere I have an 8x10 close up of Angela's face as she bows to silence. It's the image that comes to my mind every time I think of insanity.
#55re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/1/15 at 12:39pm
I would love to see it (the photograph)!! It would be fantastic to see it!! Thanks for the other information as well!
Updated On: 3/1/15 at 12:39 PM
#56re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/1/15 at 6:19pm
If I ever find it, I'll scan it and try to post it.
But speaking of insanity, you should see my garage!
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#57re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/1/15 at 6:46pmGreat to see this thread bumped up. I saw the Lansbury "Gypsy" in London in July 1973. I still remember the night, oddly balmy, even humid, strange for London, and the electricity inside the theater (it had just opened that spring). Thrilling. Later saw it in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center, where it was good but slightly lost (it belonged in the National, and they didn't yet put many musicals in the Eisenhower, "Annie" was the first I believe.) Then, post B'way, I saw her on the Guber circuit do it in the round, and she gave the same brilliant performance. She played Rose anywhere and everywhere, and it's easy to see why, to this day. I've always compared everyone since to Lansbury. Still my favorite, though I must admit it was my first. I never saw the whole Russell film. So if she's my gold standard, it's understandable.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#58re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/1/15 at 7:05pm
You're right about her amazing technique, Auggie. As I've probably said elsewhere, when we did the show in South Florida, we moved it from a 1200-seat house to a 3000-seat barn in a nearby city. The tech/dress was a disaster as everyone got used to the new space.
Except for Angela, who seemed to be giving the same performance, even though we all knew she had to be playing it bigger in the larger space.
#59re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/2/15 at 3:49pm
Thank you very much indeed! Talking about photographs, I have very recently come across this, which might be interesting to discuss: it looks (to me at least) to be a screen-shot taken from a video. The blurry quality, and also the fact that it is in colour makes it look like it was a video. Does anyone know anything about this 'video'? 
Updated On: 4/4/15 at 03:49 PM
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#61re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/2/15 at 4:50pmI also love this thread. Did anybody on this board actually see both Merman and Lansbury in the role? Would they care to compare the two of them in the role?
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#64re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/2/15 at 11:39pm
Fantod, I didn't see Merman in GYPSY (alas), but there's a quote in Craig Zadan's book, SONDHEIM & CO., that says, "With Merman it was chills, with Lansbury it was tears." (In context, it's clear the speaker (whose name I forget) means the audience's response.)
Like all such quips, no doubt the truth has been simplified for the sake of brevity.
#65re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 4:05pm
Some kind soul has uploaded this today. Was the OP talking about this video?
Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury (Original 1974 Broadway Revival): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeChe6bFvzU
Bonus: Dame Angela as Mame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJXPmgEiMrw
Updated On: 3/8/15 at 04:05 PM
Alan Henry
Team BWW Joined: 12/5/11
Showface
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#67re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:00pm
That footage is amazing!!!
I think we got a glimpse of the "look of insanity" GavestonPS was talking about.
Absolutely magnificent!
P.S: That kind soul is 1971FolliesFan (who posts here and (s)he commented on this page! Thank you, 1971FolliesFan!
#68re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:14pm
"The funny thing I never was a huge fan of the Cast Recording."
As many posters here know, I worked with most of the original company on a production in South Florida shortly after the Broadway production closed.
THEY were very unhappy with the cast recording. Fritz Holt (Broadway PSM and the director of our production) told me Jule Styne decide to conduct the recording himself. Per Holt, Styne slowed all the tempi down until the score lost its drive.
Now I dearly love Jule Styne (and got to meet him briefly in later years) and his music, but composers conducting their own work tend to want every brilliant flourish heard--and they are willing to slow the tempi to make sure none of their darlings are missed.
This is hearsay, of course, but that's what I was told. Alas, it kept me from buying the Lansbury CD, which now costs a small fortune used.
Updated On: 3/8/15 at 10:14 PM
#69re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:34pmI knew Fritz from the La Cage days. I'd take anything he said as gospel.
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#70re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:36pmI don't mind the slowed tempos on the London Cast. What I do mind is Angela Lansbury. While fabulous on stage and in the Mame and Dear World cast recordings, she really can't live up to Ethel Merman even a little bit in terms of vocal talent, brass, and even emotion. I know it sounds crazy, but I hear way more emotion on Merman's recording of the score than on Lansbury's.
#72re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/8/15 at 10:55pm^ Agreed. Thinking about Fritz feels like looking through a photo book from a distant past.
#73re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/9/15 at 2:55pm
Yes, even though it has been circulating on Youtube since 2009, I thought I should upload this video, since it was in such (relatively) good quality compared to the others.
The latest Mame video I uploaded is from the 1983 revival, but I do also have a video with the bootleg home movies which are dubbed with audio music (I dubbed them with this, otherwise I would get copyright notices from Youtube, and not everyone would be able to enjoy these treasures), also a montage of Angela Lansbury singing "If He Walked Into My Life". Here are the two other links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-csGpVukmxQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JTTkxySS4
(PS: Yes Showface, I am a "he" :) ! ).
Updated On: 4/4/15 at 02:55 PM
#74re: Lansbury Gypsy
Posted: 3/9/15 at 7:22pmI did not see Lanbury, but did see all the other performers who played Rose on Broadway including Merman. Ethel was a force of nature without Angela's thoughtful approach. But it was a thrill to hear Merman sing those songs, and get every laugh in the comedy bits. I can not imagine Merman agreeing to the extra bows, or anyone having the guts to even ask her.
