Gypsy - The Greatest Musical of ALL TIME?

Let's not turn this into yet another Bernie vs. Ethel vs. Tyne vs. Bette vs. Angela thread please. There is another one for that purpose.

BACK ON TOPIC: If I had to choose one it would be a toss between this and WEST SIDE STORY so I can't really pick one.

Wow--that's a rare response. And I was bored to tears at "Showboat"--the whole thing is so creaky and disjointed.

And yes--I vote for "Gypsy."

I dunno, I see what everyone is saying about why Gypsy is so great and it probably deserves to be in the top 3, but for me nothing is better than West Side Story. I just think when you combine the strivings it made in terms of dancing and score/orchestrations, it just is...amazing.

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Though both undeniably great, I'd give a few points to Gypsy over West Side Story. West Side's book has not aged quite as well as Gypsy's, and while it once was topical and scary for audiences in 1957, all those "daddy O's" make it play like a period piece. Although Sondheim ranks on his lyrics for West Side, they are really quite fine, though he is just that much better with his Gypsy lyrics. Of all of the elements of West Side, it's the Jerome Robbins choreography and staging that really makes it go. Gypsy, though it also has very fine Jerome Robbins choreography, is not as dependent upon his touch to make it work. And while West Side was undeniably influential on Broadway choreography and the aspirations of the American musical, that speeding train momentum of Gypsy inherent in the writing is something that I think was even more influential, leading eventually to the seamlessness of the concept musicals of the 60s and 70s. You also have to give the writers of Gypsy points for one of the darkest messages of any "Golden Age" Broadway musical: your parents torture you all your life until they grow old and then, you get to take care of them. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" indeed.

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Updated On: 7/18/05 at 08:20 PM

I agree it is the best. Sondheim's lyrics, are brilliant.

What's so ironic is that the initial production was totally shut out at the Tony Awards. It didn't win a thing.

Just goes to show that The Tonys have inexplicable blunders in their history just like the Oscars.

as many have said...i havent seen EVERY musical ever written but based on what i have and what i know about the history of musical theatre...GYPSY is definetly one of the greatest shows...and when the casting is good...the show can be beautiful beyond words

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My first taste of "Gypsy" came 20 years ago at a community college production in Miami, and the show just floored me--that's how brilliant it is. I've since sampled Bette on TV, Bernadette on stage and Angela on CD, with each finding different depths and wrinkles in this endlessly deep and textured masterpiece. For my money, "Gypsy" is Broadway's all-time best, edging "My Fair Lady" by a nose--or is that "a Rose"?

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