Gypsy - The Greatest Musical of ALL TIME?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:04pm

I know many consider Gypsy to be the greatest musical ever. But I am curious what the people on here think.

I think the score is amazing - such a stunning score. The story is great, and I'm glad they made it into a musical - Momma and Louise are two VERY well developed characters.

So, I'm just curious what most of you think. Is Gypsy the best book musical ever?

[Marc Shaiman]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:06pm

YES

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:07pm

I haven't seen every musical ever written. I can only say that in my experience, yes. It is the best. Not one word is wasted, not one bit of business is unnecessary, evey moment is engaging. The score is brilliant, the characters are perfection.

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:09pm

i agree with raths point... i haven't seen every musical ever written so it's a bias judgement! I know a lot of people who dislike Gypsy! I personally think it one of the best musicals ever written, songs, characters, story and meaning... it's a classic. I'd put it in my top 10!

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:09pm

dreaded double post.... read on to see what the legendry Margo says!

Updated On: 7/18/05 at 07:09 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:09pm

If forced to choose just one, I think that Gypsy would probably get my vote. It's perfect in every way and with a great Rose, it's electrifying in ways few shows have even been.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:12pm

Y-E-S

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:14pm

INDEED IT IS!

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:15pm

After listening to Ethel the entire day yesterday, I have to say, I've fallen in love with it. (Not so much when Bernadette did it, but Ethel is amazing!)

[Thenardier]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:17pm

Watch me as I kick myself for turning down seats to see Bernie.

Good seats to.

Producer seats.

::kick::

::kick::

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:18pm

I liked Bernie, don't get me wrong, but Ethel, just... <333

[Thenardier]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:20pm

Yeah, well, Ethel was a not around when I had the chance to see it.

[Marquise]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:23pm

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.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:32pm

I must be the odd duck.......I saw this in 2002 with Bernadette and hated it.....though it was too long, didn't really like the songs.........and could have fallen asleep.

I thought the same thing about the movie.

For me, Show Boat, West Side Story, and Kiss Me Kate are all much better.

[gymman]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:35pm

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."

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:43pm

Gypsy- not a doubt in my mind...

... although Good Vibrations comes pretty close (kidding, kidding

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:50pm

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.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 7:52pm

Gypsy is definately one of the great standards to which most musicals are held to. What makes this show so special is not that it just has a great book and a great score, but that they fit seamlessly together.

[magruder]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 8:20pm

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.

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

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 8:53pm

Well, I saw the show and it was REALLY bad, But Mazeppa,Electra, and Tessie were AWESOME! I would pay to see a show JUST about them.

[TennesseeTwang]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:10pm

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.

[ZBraff]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:20pm

Im sorry but no. Gypsy was alright. There are just so many other musicals that are...better.

Anyway, West Side Story and Gypsy are two very different musicals. But if you must compare...in my opinion, West Side Story pulls ahead by a ridiculous amount.
But thats just my opinion.

[BwayBoy25]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:21pm

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

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:23pm

Your word is GYPSY.

May I have it in a sentence?

GYPSY- another way of saying the best book musical every written.

Sentence please?

Brooklyn was no Gypsy.

[Millie Lammoreaux]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:48pm

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"?