A different end to GYPSY

I cover number of local theatres for newspapers in the area. yesterday I attended a production of GYPSY. It was pretty good as community staging goes, with an energetic cast, and some really nicely done drops for each scene.

The show is going along beautifully, the actress playing Rose does a great "Rose's Turn" and the curtain comes down. I expect it will go up showing Rose bowing and blowing kisses leading into the final scene with Gypsy.

Nope...the curtain went up and the cast was onstage taking their bows!

Has anyone here ever seen a GYPSY where the end with "Rose's Turn?" I doubt this was allowed by the rights holder? I know community theatres can cut certain scenes and songs but this group is notorious for doing every scene - even in-one scenes originally meant to cover scene changes.

I was not impressed. What it said to me was that the producers had no clue what GYPSY is about.

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Updated On: 1/25/10 at 01:03 PM

It's kind of stupid, but I feel like the final scene really just makes explicit what "Rose's Turn" implies. It's not like it's completely senseless without that final scene.

Huh? You change the ENTIRE feel of the production without that final scene. Even though, I didn't like the production the one thing I will never forget and that still gives me chills about the '03 revival is the last few seconds, when Louise has left and Rose stops and looks back at the empty stage. She nods her head and takes a deep breath, knowing her time is over. That and her reconciliation with her daughter is needed to a point it's not even worth having a debate over. lol

Updated On: 1/25/10 at 01:18 PM

Is "Rose's Turn" really showing Rose in triumph? To me, it's showing Rose at her most deluded. Maybe it is triumph, but it's definitely a false triumph.

I agree that you need the final scene to tie it all together. Rose needs to reconcile with Louise, and it needs to be made clear that she understands it's over for her. Which is why the most recent revival didn't get it quite right. By ending the show with Rose reaching up for her name in lights, it gives the impression that she is going to keep striving for her own fame. And that, of course, invalidates the past three hours.

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I think the revival would have been better with Rose subtly reaching out for the sign just before she walks off instead of the frantic grasping.

Oh that is just fcked up...

Yeah, I heard something along the lines of him cutting it when the production was at Encores.

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Lol no. He never cut the final scene.
At Encores! Rose and Louise walked off together at the end.
On Broadway, Louise walked off while Rose stayed on stage. The "Rose" sign came down with some light bulbs unlit, and Patti reached and grabbed at the sign. I loved it.

Only things Arthur cut were the "faux rape" scene, and the "Small World" reprise.

Updated On: 1/25/10 at 09:42 PM

During the Goldstone scene to get out of a hotel bill Rose locks herself & the manager in a room where she makes it seem like he is raping her. She hits him with a pillow & rips open her nightgown & runs out of the room.

Cutting the final scene of Gypsy gives me no closure with the characters. as for the production of annie thats just plain cruel.

"as for the production of annie thats just plain cruel."

LOL. I think the curtain should rise again and we find the girls are actually in a Dickens-esque workhouse being beaten by their masters.

"During the Goldstone scene to get out of a hotel bill Rose locks herself & the manager in a room where she makes it seem like he is raping her. She hits him with a pillow & rips open her nightgown & runs out of the room.
"

It makes me cringe about this..

Arthur claimed the Mendes production was bad because it had 'no walls'.

His production had 'no walls'.

So how does he solve the apparent problems of having 'no walls'?

Cuts the scene. Great job..

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