I've never understood Gypsy — Page 3

"Your smile insulted all of us!"

Agreed. And Joyce did it in Philly in 2005.

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Ok. If you don't get Gypsy, I'm sorry. You're really missing out. But to each their own. As far as hating Bernadette goes... I can't even fathom how you could even THINK such a thing. UGH. This thread stresses me out......

Wait, do you mean LITP as in Light in the Piazza? Just about everyone here loves the show!

And you know that Rose was a real person right?

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Of course I know Rose was a real person, its one of the reasons that it fascinates me.

And I guess I figured everyone here hated LITP just as much as the ATC peeps seem to.

Does anyone know what happened to June? Didn't she end up writing a book later on or something?

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You make an excellent point. I guess it's Russell's performance I'm reacting to, as I didn't feel that way about Bette Midler.

But you must admit its odd to have such a selfish lead role in a show.

But you're right, and I am trying to see what others see in Gypsy, because so many love the show, and its impossible to dismiss that.

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June wrote two memoirs Early Havoc and More Havoc by June Havoc. Direclty after eloping she and the guy she eloped with became a dance team and particapted in dance marathons. She did have contact with Rose and Gypsy years later. Her books are really fascinating supplements to Gypsy.

I didn't know June was still alive! lol.

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Before I go to join the others at the bar (which, interestingly enough is right across the street from the theater where Gypsy played) let me put in my three cents worth.

Firstly, Junior should be elevated from understudy to leading status just for the insightful comment.

I saw Merman perform Gypsy when I was about 7 years old. I don't remember the show that well but I certainly remember the overture (only the second I ever heard after "Camelot" on opening night in Toronto. My parents, who were in musical theater decided to throw me off the deep end - a trip to NYC). The first thing we saw was Gypsy late in Merman's run . I still remember her.

I spoke to my dad about the trip before Alzheimer's got him. He said the buzz that night began on the street outside the theater. All anyone could talk about was Merman. The lobby and into the auditorium, everyone knew they were seeing a classic performance and then that amazing overture. I remember that timpani roll and the trio of trumpets doing "I had a dream", the variations on the theme and the yearning of the vamp, then back into the main melody, the slide whistle and the descent into "You'll be swell..." How can anyone not be in musical heaven at this point? Then on and on, hit after hit until the hilarious rendidtion of "have an eggroll", the stripper music and that heavenly trumpet solo, the equestrian music and then once again that amazing triad on "I had a dream"

Nobody...NOBODY has ever written and orchestrated a better overture. It just does not exist. This piece of music alone is worth the price of admission.

And then the show started and there she was. In the audience. The god of musical theater. "SING OUT LOUISE!!!!" Right out here with the people. I was a little kid but I still remember the gasps and the whispers. "It's her!" People craining to see.

This really was the entrance-to-end-all-entrances.

As for the show itself, obviously, my admiration has grown as I've grown older. It has deepened and richened as I have come to understand the language and syntax of musical theatre. It has become as one with my fantastical childhood memories.

The book for this show is perhaps one of the greatest biographies ever put on stage (and believe-you-me, only HALF of what Rose did in real life is onstage. There's no mention of the fact that she killed a woman and got away with it, her lesbianism isn't discussed) because it tells Rose's story THROUGH THE STORY OF THE TWO DAUGHTERS which is amazing because ROSE'S LIFE WAS LIVED THROUGH THE LIVES AND CAREERS OF HER DAUGHTERS. That is an amazing technique to tell a story. I've never seen that done before or since.

The music is masterful, haunting and so evocative of the period and the life these girls lived. I can smell the backstage of every vaudeville theater, with the combination of cigar smoke and pancake makeup. I can close my eyes and see the tiny, cold dressing rooms and the steamer trunks, covered with labels from theaters in Topeka and Des Moines and filled with the performers entire lives. I get all of that from the music and we haven't even started talking about the lyrics yet.

Someone said there is no fat on the book. That's true. It's all meat and it's fabulously butchered and served up to us.

Listen to the overture again and imagine youself backstage at Klaw and Erlanger's Imperial Theatre in Poukipsie on a Wednesday afternoon with an audience full of weary salesman and sailors. If you can't conjure up your own image as that glorious music pours by, I am so, so sad for you.

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Best review of anything, allofmylife.

Ever.

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""I think he might like an all kazoo production of Les Mis..."

Don't say that too loud, Doyle just might use that for his next production!"

That was hilarious!

And God help the man who started this thread.

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I just think this is the epitomy of the Musical
Theatre while speaking about this the one i like the best that i
got to live is Bernadete Peters on tv Bette Midler.Hope this photo show's up, it expalian's a lot how I feel like in response to the question

Theatre people have always loved Gypsy more than general audiences, I think. The show is about the theatre itself, it has that incredibly quotable book and score, and the role of Rose is catnip for every musical theatre diva. But even with Merman, Gypsy was a hit, but not a My Fair Lady or The Sound of Music sized hit. I think it's because the show makes most audiences generally uncomfortable, since ultimately, Gypsy is about how parents destroy the lives of their children, and then the children get to take care of them when they get old.

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