Lansbury Gypsy — Page 3

Didn't Sondheim also refer to Merman as "The Signing Dog" or am I insane?


And Miss Lansbury is spectacular in those clips.

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Lately I have been going though all the different message boards on which people spoke of the Angela Lansbury Gypsy footage. Which one was the one here? It is not any more on Youtube. Does anyone have a copy? Thanks!!

Updated On: 4/4/15 at 03:17 PM

I would love to see it (the photograph)!! It would be fantastic to see it!! Thanks for the other information as well!

Updated On: 3/1/15 at 12:39 PM

Great to see this thread bumped up. I saw the Lansbury "Gypsy" in London in July 1973. I still remember the night, oddly balmy, even humid, strange for London, and the electricity inside the theater (it had just opened that spring). Thrilling. Later saw it in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center, where it was good but slightly lost (it belonged in the National, and they didn't yet put many musicals in the Eisenhower, "Annie" was the first I believe.) Then, post B'way, I saw her on the Guber circuit do it in the round, and she gave the same brilliant performance. She played Rose anywhere and everywhere, and it's easy to see why, to this day. I've always compared everyone since to Lansbury. Still my favorite, though I must admit it was my first. I never saw the whole Russell film. So if she's my gold standard, it's understandable.

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Thank you very much indeed! Talking about photographs, I have very recently come across this, which might be interesting to discuss: it looks (to me at least) to be a screen-shot taken from a video. The blurry quality, and also the fact that it is in colour makes it look like it was a video. Does anyone know anything about this 'video'?

Updated On: 4/4/15 at 03:49 PM

I also love this thread. Did anybody on this board actually see both Merman and Lansbury in the role? Would they care to compare the two of them in the role?

Rude.

Some kind soul has uploaded this today. Was the OP talking about this video?

Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury (Original 1974 Broadway Revival): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeChe6bFvzU

Bonus: Dame Angela as Mame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJXPmgEiMrw

Updated On: 3/8/15 at 04:05 PM

"The funny thing I never was a huge fan of the Cast Recording."

As many posters here know, I worked with most of the original company on a production in South Florida shortly after the Broadway production closed.

THEY were very unhappy with the cast recording. Fritz Holt (Broadway PSM and the director of our production) told me Jule Styne decide to conduct the recording himself. Per Holt, Styne slowed all the tempi down until the score lost its drive.

Now I dearly love Jule Styne (and got to meet him briefly in later years) and his music, but composers conducting their own work tend to want every brilliant flourish heard--and they are willing to slow the tempi to make sure none of their darlings are missed.

This is hearsay, of course, but that's what I was told. Alas, it kept me from buying the Lansbury CD, which now costs a small fortune used.

Updated On: 3/8/15 at 10:14 PM

I don't mind the slowed tempos on the London Cast. What I do mind is Angela Lansbury. While fabulous on stage and in the Mame and Dear World cast recordings, she really can't live up to Ethel Merman even a little bit in terms of vocal talent, brass, and even emotion. I know it sounds crazy, but I hear way more emotion on Merman's recording of the score than on Lansbury's.

^ Agreed. Thinking about Fritz feels like looking through a photo book from a distant past.

I did not see Lanbury, but did see all the other performers who played Rose on Broadway including Merman. Ethel was a force of nature without Angela's thoughtful approach. But it was a thrill to hear Merman sing those songs, and get every laugh in the comedy bits. I can not imagine Merman agreeing to the extra bows, or anyone having the guts to even ask her.