Gypsy help - "The Strip"

[binau]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 4:52am

Hey,

One of my favourite parts of Gypsy's stripping sequence is the "But I'm not a stripper, at these prices I'm an..[speaking of which how do you spell this word :P?].

Anyway, If I remember correctly it's on the 89 cast recording, 08 cast recording but not on London, OBC or 03 revival. (I'd have to re-listen so correct me if I'm wrong)

However, I notice this line is delivered differently in the 89 and 08 recordings. I much prefer Benanti's delivery however I was wondering how was this delivered in the OBC production and 03 revival? Was this a new interpretation from Benanti?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 5:40am

"At these prices I'm an ecdysiast" and the other words of Louise's monologue as she walks back and forth in her "strip" were not used in the original production and in fact do not appear in the complete original script. Laurents added that sequence later; it has been reported that he did so for the Angela Lansbury revival in London in 1973, however I saw GYPSY in London and don't recall that sequence being used. It certainly is not on the recording of the London production which is a poor recording in general; for example there are mistakes made by the orchestra in the overture. I saw Lansbury in NYC and again don't remember the monologue during the strip, but that could be my memory having a lapse.

The first time I remember the monologue was in the Tyne Daly production in 1989. Another change was substituting "Minsky's Garden of Eden" scene for "Minsky's Salute to Christmas" used in the OBC production. Laurents said in the 1989 recording liner notes that he switched Minsky's number because the Christmas scene wasn't funny. How wrong he was. I'm pretty sure he switched scenes because the Christmas scene used 15 showgirls which meant that it was more expensive to stage.

I personally don't like the monologue as written--I just find it boring. Laurents could have come up with some wittier lines for Louise.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 5:54am

"At these prices, I'm an ecdysiast" is heard on the London recording.

[binau]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 6:04am

Thankyou, Gypsy9! Insightful.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:04am

In the original 1959 Broadway production of GYPSY... there was no dialogue patter in Gypsy's strip -- it was performed just like it was in the 1962 film-version. Gypsy's now heard strip patter was added to the 1973-74 London revival by Arthur Laurents and used since. It also added a level of authenticity to the strip as that was the real reason Gypsy Rose Lee stood out from all the other strippers during her day, who just took their clothes off (with a gimmick) and that was it. The witty patter was Gypsy Rose Lee's 'gimmick'.

All recordings of GYPSY (except the recordings of the 1959 Original Broadway Cast and the 1962 film soundtrack), include the dialogue in Gypsy's strip. Even the soundtrack to the 1993 CBS TV movie version with Bette Midler includes it.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:54am

The Bette Midler Soundtrack's STRIP has no dialogue, the number just runs 2:34 on the recording.

And the 2003 recording does not have the ecdysiast part.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 8:44pm

I saw the London production and the strip patter was used there. The runway projected out into the audience and I vividly recall Gypsy doing that bit of dialogue.

Updated On: 1/21/09 at 08:44 PM

[gypsy4]

Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:24am

well the monologue adds a little more edge to the show.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:38pm

I really missed not having that ramp out around the orchestra in the Patti Gypsy. The strip patter seems to work so much better when she is breaking the fourth wall and coming much further out into the audience. For some reason I just feel like she is pacing back and forth when she is just working the edge of the stage and doesn't have that space to come forward further. I also was a bit upset that she didn't do the whole wrap herself with the curtain and walk with it bit as it closed. I guess I've just seen so many productions of Gypsy where she does that that I feel like it is as much a part of the show as say the trumpet between the legs bit.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 1/21/09 at 1:18pm

Louise wrapping herself in the traveler curtain at the end of her strip was her teasing the audience. Jerome Robbins directed it that way for the 1959-1961 production. There was no runway. Another bit of staging for the original GYPSY consisted of having the name GYPSY ROSE LEE in lights OVER the proscenium, not within the playing area. The lights lit up during Louise's various strips across the country. Then during "Rose's Turn" just the name "ROSE" was lit. The full stage was used during that final number, including the use of the actual brick back wall of the stage.

Updated On: 1/21/09 at 01:18 PM

[keeff]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 3:38pm

Here's a question: Is it considered a copyright violation to include the dialogue for "The Strip" if it is not in the "official" version published by Tams-Witmark?

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 3:40pm

^ Yes.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 3:42pm

The added dialogue was part of Arthur's unending crusade to diminish the parts of his shows created by Jerry Robbins and replace them with parts created by Arthur himself.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 3:42pm

<3

[keeff]

Posted: 4/13/11 at 3:45pm

I wonder how many productions around the country routinely insert the monologue without knowing they are committing a copyright violation--of Laurents' own dialogue in his own book!!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 3:01am

It's not in the currently licensed version?

I prefer the Xmas stuff too (of course that was originally accompanied by a full song which is a bonus on the Patti recording)--but it's no surprise that Laurents would do a smaller scale production number based more on dialogue (and I admit out of changes Laurents has made to shows he's done with Robbins, it's not ont hat bugs me all that much...)

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:19am

This link has some background to the origin of the word, and Gypsy's connection to it.
Ecdysiast

[keeff]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 9:08am

No, the current version authorized by Tams-Witmark is the original 1959 version. The 2008 libretto has been published by TCG, but according to the curt woman I spoke to at Tams-Witmark, the revival versions are "not for rent." Interestingly, look at Tams-Witmarks website advertising GYPSY:
http://www.tams-witmark.com/gypsy_news.html