Obscure "Gypsy" question

[marknyc]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 4:49pm

Every time "Gypsy" is revived, I always hope that someone will restore the numbers that were cut before it opened, just so we could see what the show would be like with them re-inserted. I know that "Mama's Talkin' Soft" and "Nice She Ain't" are included on the Merman CD, but has anyone ever released the verse to "Some People"? The story is that it was written but that Merman refused to add it when it was given to her at the last minute, saying "Call me Miss Ice - the show is frozen!"

So does the verse exist? I met Stephen Sondheim once, but forgot to ask him!

Gypsy videos

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:37pm

First of all that story is about the new lyrics Irving Berlin tried to add to the bridge of "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Second of all, she did not say "Miss Ice." Miss Ice is not funny.

The correct punchline is "Call Me Miss Bird's-Eye, but this show is FROZEN!"

Third of all, Merman sings the verse on the album Merman Sings Merman.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:40pm

Not "There's No Business Like Show Business". The "Miss Bird's Eye" comment apparently happened on Call Me Madam.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:43pm

And for those who don't know, "Bird'sEye" was the name of one of the first companies to sell frozen food, which really makes the line both domestically sweet and tartly funny.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:48pm

MAMA'S TALKIN' SOFT and NICE SHE A'INT ain't on my Merman CD.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:49pm

They are on the OBC Re-issue.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:53pm

Damn, why didn't anyone tell me?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 5:58pm

They are not sung by Merman though.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 9:45pm

I would say that it's because the show is perfect the way it is and adding those songs would just make the first act longer. And adding "Mamma's Talking Soft", which is sung counterpoint to "Small World" would mess around with a very nice moment.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 10:14pm

Oh I don't know about that. Don't get me wrong, I love "Small World" as it is. But if the child actor in the original production not had a fear of heights, the Small World/Momma's Talking Soft quartet could have very well remained in the show, and we'd know it no other way. Considering that the show is called Gypsy, the number as originally written focused much more attention on young Louise and June's reaction to Rose's courtship of Herbie, with some rather barbed comments from Baby June in particular, both toward her mother and sister.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 10:46pm

Good "dramatic point" smaxie, and could be true, (it's the one in most books) but I heard Ethel may have thought the girls were drawing a little too much attention.

[BobPopa]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 10:57pm

What is widely considered one of the greatest musicals of all time..you don't mess with it

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 11:00pm

While that is true. Arthur did change some things for his new production. Cut a scene, cut a reprise, and changed a few lines. And he re-staged the ending.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/31/08 at 11:04pm

that Arthur; he's so daring and sexy.

[marknyc]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 12:19am

Of course, "Miss Birds Eye" - much funnier. I could swear I read it about "Some People" in a Merman biography, but I'm not known for having a great memory, so...

Thanks for pointing out that the verse has been recorded - I never knew that! Been wondering about it for years, and it's great to finally hear it.

I know "Gypsy" is sacred to many (including me), but I'd still like to see it with the cuts restored. Even if they make it worse, it's always educational to see classics presented in new ways. And I like "Mama's Talkin' Soft"! It makes the "Mama's talkin' loud" line in "Rose's Turn" more meaningful.

[marknyc]

Posted: 8/1/08 at 12:22pm

A little web searching found a number of variations on the Miss Birds Eye story - but most attribute it to "Call Me Madam":

One amusing problem occurred, however, when Berlin tried to fix a 'dummy' lyric that Merman had been singing all along in The Hostess With The Mostes', while the songwriter waited for final inspiration to hit. When Berlin came in to her dressing room on the last night on the road and presented Merman with a finished lyric, she promptly showed him the door. 'Forget it, buddy', she told him. 'Call me Miss Birds-Eye. The show is frozen'.

When Call Me Madam was previewing in Boston, the authors kept re-writing until it got on leading lady Ethel Merman's nerves. As she later told it "They never stopped trying to add a joke, tidy up an exit, improve a punch line. I went along with the tinkering until the Thursday before our New York opening, when the show was supposed to be frozen -- meaning no more changes. Still they continued making a change here and there until I faced them down, saying, "Boys, as of right now, I am Miss Birdseye of 1950. I am frozen. Not a comma!"