Electra in new production of Gypsy

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Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 4:53pm

Can someone please explain to me why Electra walks around the stage as if she is constipated, or attached to a zimmerframe? I'm afraid I've only seen snippets of the show, so don't understand the thinking behind this portrayal. I guess you need to see it in the context of the show to appreciate it.

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 5:00pm

I think that it is because she is playing such an OLD stripper - which slows her down in and of itself - and also her line "I NEVER HAVE TO SWEAT TO GET PAID" where she is just going through the motions.

Thats the best I can come up with it - but I think it works really well from that angle. I sure gives a laugh to YOU'RE EVEN YOUNGER THAN I WAS WHEN I STARTED STRIPPING

You learn to play the straight man, the lines become routine - never really saying what you mean - but i know the scene will change :)

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 5:09pm

it also has something to do with her being electrocuted so many times.

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 5:28pm

I thought she was great.

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 6:15pm

it's hysterical, and that's almost reason enough isn't it?

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 6:18pm

Those "stripper" scenes always get the biggest laughs.

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 06:18 PM

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 6:47pm

The choreography is the funniest I've ever seen. The night I saw the show Electra practically stopped the show with laughter. It is funny for so many reasons. She is either old, drunk, can't move, doesn't feel the need to move because of her lights, high, exhausted. Who knows? This coupled with her slurry, flat delivery of the song and the audience, myself included, is just howling. The choices Marilyn Caskey makes are just brilliant on so many levels.

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re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 6:53pm

Caskey is absolutely hilarious in the role.

And I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's because she is so utterly invested in believing that this role is as incredibly odd and ridiculous as she plays it. Which is key in pla characterature ying any of the three stripper roles in GYPSY. You have to be careful not to be a or a cartoon...and if you are, play it with the same investment you would if you were playing Lady Macbeth.

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 7:05pm

WickedRocks is totally right. Marilyn is not playing a caricature. She is a true to form busted old stripper and somehow it all just comes together in a hysterical way. It is almost as if she isn't playing it for laughs. She is not over the top in any way and manages to destroy the audience with laughter. Pure genius.

#10

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 7:12pm

The obsering eye will detect that this Electra also blinks a great deal. It's as though sh'e had too much electric shock therapy. (Have you noticed the shots of electricity zooming into her head in the headdress?)

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#11

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 7:29pm

While the strippers scene always get the biggest laughs of the show, I still think the current one is the most enjoyable since each characters bring out something totally different.

"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!" -Family Guy

#12

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 7:46pm

I wasn't a fan of the song "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" before, but seeing these three actresses do the song in this production is great, ESPECIALLY Marilyn as Electra. Her portrayal was so unexpected to me, which made it even more hilarious. I was cracking up, along with the rest of the audience.

#13

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 8:12pm

It's probably my favorite scene in this revival. Those three women don't get enough praise for their characterizations! After Fraser and Nemetz (who's also brilliant as Miss Cratchitt), Caskey provides such a stark contrast; she's so minimal that you really have to listen closely. I don't know how she does it, but it's working.

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#14

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 11:46pm

The best Electra ever. I immediately took it as too much electricity going through her system coupled with the fact that she's been doing it a lot of years and is just too tired to put much into it any more. It was inspirational!

#15

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 11:47pm

I agree with the "she's been doing it forever and just doesn't feel like moving" theory.

And I thought they got adequate recognition for it the night I saw Gypsy...they all got as much or possibly a LITTLE less applause than LaLupone after Rose's Turn.

#16

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/3/08 at 11:53pm

Doesn't anybody remember Julie Halston's remarkably similar take on the role 5 years ago?

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#17

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 12:52am

I remember Julie Halston's portrayal, and I thought that is where the idea for the characterization came from. Anna McNeely played the role differently in the last Arthur Laurents-directed production. A lot of people were noting the similar portrayals when this revival first opened.

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#18

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 1:08am

My first thought seeing this Electra was that Laurents stole Mendes' concept and took it just one step further.

Mendes production was a snoozer except for two things:

1. Having June sneak a smoke in Gransinger's office.
2. Electra barely moving during GIMMICK.

What great ones do the less will prattle of

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 01:08 AM

#19

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 11:50am

Thanks, I was just curious, as I hadn't seen the whole production. I like the idea that she's been doing it forever, and is going through the motions, also that the electricity is affecting her ability. Haha! I great idea.

I must admit, while I love most of the cast, I think Tony Yazbeck is a terrible Tulsa. He is too old, too well built and his performance is flat. I don't see the desire and enthusiasm that drives him to leave, seeking bigger and better things.

Patti is sublime. No need to say anymore.

#20

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 12:27pm

I agree with Angus. I enjoyed David Burtka's Tulsa much better. He was boyish, charming, and sweet. Yazbeck appears too old and doesnt strike me as endearing in any way.

#21

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 4:47pm

Which version of Gypsy was David Burtka in?

#22

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 4:52pm

^ 2003 revival with Bernadette Peters.

#23

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 4:59pm

Are you guys serious? Tony Yazbeck was GREAT, and I thought he was a good fit for the role.

Plus, how could he be "too well built" for the role?

edit: Haha, wow, I was NOT thinking.

"He found something that he wanted, had always wanted and always would want— not to be admired, as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe; but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable." -F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 04:59 PM

#24

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 5:22pm

It's Tony Yazbeck and yes he is GREAT, however I did hear David Burtka's version of Tulsa on the CD and he sounds really good.
I thought Heather Tepe was really good as baby June too.

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 05:22 PM

#25

re: Electra in new production of Gypsy

Posted: 9/4/08 at 5:47pm

I must admit, while I love most of the cast, I think Tony Yazbeck is a terrible Tulsa. He is too old, too well built and his performance is flat. I don't see the desire and enthusiasm that drives him to leave, seeking bigger and better things.

If you've only seen snippets, how can you claim that Tony Yazbeck is terrible and that his performance is flat? At least see the entire show before you make a claim like that. I think Tony is so charming and the perfect Tulsa. And his dancing is beautiful.

"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife

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