Audio of Ethel Merman doing Rose's Turn on CLOSING NIGHT OF GYPSY!

[Nickira Margherita]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:02am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp7S_awm5GU

tell me this isn't one of, if not THE most exciting/important/amazing broadway audio bootlegs that has ever surfaced.
Ethel Merman--Rose's Turn closing night

[Nickira Margherita]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:03am

...not sure why i posted the link twice.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:16am

This was recorded an a reel-to-reel tape machine in the orchestra pit. Probably one of the earliest bootleg audios to survive.

Its a tough listen. You can hear Ethel fine but the rest of the caat you really have to strain. And from being copied so many times some tapes are running a bit fast.

Her definitive take of Rose's Turn can still best heard on Columbia's OBCR. No one - not even Lupone - brought that much intense anger into the number.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 7:59am

Apart from Angela Lansbury, who did it better than everyone :P

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 8:16am

This posted recording is running way too slow!

I've heard the ones that run fast, as well. Whoever posted this one overcompensated for the fast speed, and now she sounds like she's slogging through mud on Quaaludes. It should be an easy fix. Just match it to the actual key of the music. That would be the proper speed for playback.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 11:32am

^ That's not as easy as you'd expect.

There are better copies of this floating around.


AAAAAND, it's actually not one of the earliest. Almost all of Kaye Ballard's flops have recordings (Golden Apple, Royal Flush, and Rueben, Rueben), there are two live songs from the OLC of Guys and Dolls, and there is an audio of Carol Channing in the 1952 tour of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

In fact, I think the earliest is a recording (albeit not a great one) of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 1:43pm

Apart from Angela Lansbury, who did it better than everyone

Well Lansbury played more of Rose's hurt and less the anger. But it is what she did AFTER the number, bowing and bowing even after the actual applause subsided. Arthur Laurents also gave her more to play at the very end when Rose looked back at the stage and runway and all the lights went out. They didn't come up with that idea for Merman and none of them had faith in her to pull it off. Even Sondheim was surprised that she made far more of the subtext of "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

That is why many actresses love the role... so many possibilites......

[sparrman]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 2:13pm

This is less than a half step flat, based on the OBCR. The "you either have it/or you've had it" section is in the key of Ab on the OBCR, and it's pretty squarely between G and Ab in this bootleg. So, very close to the correct speed. This of course is based on the supposition that she performed it live in the same key as on the recording, but I'd think it more likely that the show key would be *lower* than the recording, not higher.



Updated On: 10/2/10 at 02:13 PM

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 2:23pm

this is beyond amazing....

[allofmylife]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 2:37pm

This brought chills to my spine and tears to my eyes. As someone who say "Gypsy" as a very small child, it's amazing to hear it once again, fifty years later. Time to go buy some Geritol......

[beaemma]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 3:56pm

Angela Lansbury's Rose is still my favorite, and I've seen all the Broadway Roses except Merman, who was before I was old enough to be getting to New York alone. Lansbury did bring more hurt to "Rose's Turn" than the others, but her handling of the musical portion was also more complex than that. There was anger, regret, confusion. I found it emotionally boggling, and the acted portion afterward absolutely froze my blood! I haven't seen anything like the delusion and defeat before or since. And, yes, she also definitely brought amazing complexity to "Everything's Coming Up Roses." A performance for the ages!

[twinbelters]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 4:29pm

Much like listening to the boot of the first performance of Little Shop of Horrors, what fascinates me most is hearing the audience reaction to fresh and brilliant material. Thrilling stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 5:29pm

Weren't the keys lowered for Merman after she burst a blood vessel singing the score? Thought I read that somewhere.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/2/10 at 5:38pm

It sounds like someone ran it through Audacity's noise reduction and slowed it down too much. The one I have is much higher. Actually, too high.