alxscrz2, it is unfair for people to say you have to wait till puberty to appreciate Merman's voice. That's nonsense. I grew up with cast albums of GYPSY, CALL ME MADAM and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and appreciated her voice long before puberty.
Your question is valid (and there have been plenty of reasonable responses) but the way you phrased did make you seem more like 12 than 18.
No one is saying you have to like her, but understand how important she was to the development of the musical comedy. Not just her voice and phrasing. Her persona was too big to play the traditional heroine, so authors had to find new ways to work her into the action. At first she was the wisecracking best pal of the hero but later when she became a star it was necessary to create believable romantic parts for her. With ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, Irving Berlin balanced her comedy songs with sincere romantic numbers like "I Got Lost in His Arms" to help create a fully fleshed-out character.
With GYPSY she was perhaps typecast as the loud, pushy stage mother but the role as written but the role was way more than just that and she made the most of it. Listen again to the ferocious anger she brings to her dialogue in the middle of "Some People" or all of "Rose’s Turn." Other actresses brought more pathos to the final number but Merman plays up the anger and that is what the part requires.
Still modern listeners don't really get her. Oh they love those awful screeches Idina Menzel belts out in WICKED but a genuine singer like Merman they eschew.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
