Gypsy MOVIE question

[skb2010]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:08am

Is it any good? I know it won't be near as good as seeing the show live, but if that isn't an option, will the movie disappoint or impress?

[tazber]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:10am

I saw the movie before I knew anything about the musical so it was first exposure to it. As such, I loved it.

[skb2010]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:12am

Great news. I've seen clips of the stage show with LuPone, but it would be nearly impossible to get to NY to see it.

Thanks taz.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:18am

I too enjoyed the film. For me too it was my first exposure to the musical. Despite what many have said, I think Roz Russell was a good Rose. It's been years since I've seen it, but I believe that the overture was abridged for the movie.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:20am

There's two. The orgina with Roz Russell. And the TV remake with Bette Midler.
The original is better, but the remake is more faithful to the stage show. Roz acts the role wonderfully, but most of her songs were dubbed and are in much lower keys. Bette sings the songs great, but her acting and overall performance is pretty awful.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:26am

My main gripe with the Roz movie is that they made a huge plot change that makes zero sense. I'm no Bette Midler fan, but I would say go with the TV movie.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:29am

I like the movie quite a bit. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's still a very effective film. See it on a big wide screen TV if you can.

The three leads are excellent. I'm even okay with Roz's dubbing by Lisa Kirk. The keys are low, but they work well for her. And Natalie Wood is still the best Gypsy I've ever seen.

It's also a chance to see much of Jerome Robbins' original choreography for the show, plus the original Broadway Tulsa and Tessie Tura, both terrific.

And I love watching the two stars-to-be playing June: Ann Jillian as Dainty June and Morgan Brittany (billed then as Suzanne Cupito, which was her real name) as Baby June.

[skb2010]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:41am

Alright. I guess I am going to see the original then. Thanks!

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:51am

I like the Bette Midler more than the original for too many reasons to list now. (I'm going to bed as soon as I'm done with this post.) If you really want to know what the stage version is like, watch the made-for-TV version first.

BTW, Besty, the original Broadway Mazeppa, Faith Dane, is also in the Roz Russell movie. Today, she is a political "activist" in DC who keeps running for mayor but never comes close. She's a real character!

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:52am

Go with the Warner Bros. 1962 big screen version if only for Natalie Wood's legendary performance as Gypsy Rose Lee.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:56am

Yeah, Wood's "I'm a pretty girl, Mama!" always gets me.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:57am

Miss Penny, isn't the original Mazeppa the same woman who tried to sue Arthur Laurents for ageism when he did not see her for the role in the current revival?

Rav, pardon my memory, but what is the "huge plot" that was changed for the feature film?
The Russell film was my first introduction to GYPSY and I did love it. I still think it's one of those movies that can be quite enjoyable, yet I find Russell's Rose to be a deranged cracked-out version of Russell's own Mame Dennis.
My main issue with both films is that I always think of how brilliant they could have been...and how brilliant they are not.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:59am

I think Rav is referring to Herbie and Uncle Jocko being one and the same. In the play, they're two different people.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 9:46am

Thanks, Miss Penny, I had a brain fart. It was MAZEPPA, not Tessie Tura that was from the OBC. Maria Karnilova (the original Tessie, and also the original Golde from Fiddler On the Roof) didn't do the movie of Gypsy. Although you can see her as a saloon gal in the movie "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in a dance-off competition with Debbie Reynolds!

Oy, too much trivia!

I liked the movie Tessie quite a bit though... Betty Bruce. She had replaced Maria during the original run.


EDIT: Isn't it kinda bizarre to think the same actress originated the roles of Tessie Tura and Golde??? And won a Tony for the latter. Hard to imagine!

Updated On: 8/6/08 at 09:46 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 9:55am

I think the original movie still gets too bad of a rap. As others have said, Russell is quite good in the role, and yes, it's one of Natalie Wood's finest performances.

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:00am

Here is the Together number that was cut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdIh6AR6_QU

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:16am

Here's the original thread about Faith Dane.
Original Mazeppa Sues for Age Discrmination

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:17am

And here's a YouTube video someone made of Roz Russell's "Rose's Turn" with Merman dubbed in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P80dh0Qmv-o

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:52am

...and it's terrible! WAY too much and too big.

Which is why Lisa Kirk's voice works better for Roz's dubbing, and in general for a film version of Gypsy.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:00am

"Rose's Turn" can never be too big for me. It's like a Wagnerian aria, something Brunnhilde would sing.

I'd love to have seen Birgit Nilsson or Kirsten Flagstad or Astrid Varnay do it.

Here she is, boys! Here she is, world! Here's Deborah Voight!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:04am

Only if it's in 3D, and she reaches out and bites off my head during the big finish.

Which is what Merman would have been like on film.

But I sure wish I'd seen her as Rose on stage!

As for that picture, I never knew Divine was in A Little Night Music!

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:04am

That's not Harvey?

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:08am

that looks like a cross between pat carroll, harvey fierstein and divine. SCU-AIR-EE.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:20am

I detest the Midler version. By all means, see the original theatrical film version. It isn't just Russell who's better, everybody is better. Cynthia Gibb is the only equal of the original film, imo.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 1:23pm

I agree...Gibb was the best thing in the tv film.