Patti LuPone GYPSY Cast Recording

For Christmas I received the cast recording of GYPSY starring Patti LuPone. I had seen the show last May and, for the most part, loved it. I just listened to the LuPone recording which I followed up by listening to the OBCR with Ethel Merman. I had seen the OBC in 1959 and 1960. So, how do the two albums measure up for me?

The LuPone album is more complete and it is great fun to hear the several songs that were cut, probably in Philadelphia where GYPSY was running past midnight. Since I have the Barnes & Noble edition I also get to hear the entract and the exit music, nice additions that I don't think have ever been done before. Also included is the final dialogue following "Rose's Turn" in which Rose tells of dreaming about a women's magazine with the headline "Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy". Louise then laughs which annoyed me in the theatre and continues to annoy me. Rose is trying to make amends and Louise just laughs. It is not in the original script and it is mean spirited to me, even if Rose may deserve it.

Back to the music. In the LuPone recording, everyone sings well but I remain disappointed in Patti LuPone's performance. She doesn't sound as good as she did in the theatre. For one thing she has too much vibrato. And her screeching at the end of "Rose's Turn" is just too much. She sings "Everything's Coming Up Roses" much too fast. The orchestra in the Merman recording is just as good and I prefer its tempos, possibly because I have played that recording countless times. The two most important songs for me are "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose'Turn" and Merman surpasses LuPone in both of them. In "Rose's Turn" there is supposed to be a stutter at the word "M..m..m..m..Mama" to accentuate the fact that this
number is actually a breakdown. LuPone does not stutter whereas Merman does, very effectively.

I'm still glad to have the LuPone recording because of the fine performances by everyone else; it's just that I was disappointed with Patti LuPone's work. I'm afraid that some members will consider my views as sacrilege.

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I actually didn't like this recording of gypsy. Patti yelled through out all the tracks she was in. We get the point that rose is troubled but Patti is makeing it seem like rose is just a angry women. I think Bernadette's recording of gypsy is the best. She put emotion into the songs and showed us how hurt rose was during rose's turn

Each to his own taste, of course. BrodyFosse, as long as you're not on the Lupone Can Do No Right bandwagon, I still think your opinions are valid.

I thought LuPone's performance was brilliant--some of the finest acting I've ever seen, musical or otherwise. I will say that I prefer my "Rose's Turn" a little more sung than LuPone does, but I am in awe of the detailed specificity she brings to each moment of the scene.

Gypsy9, how amazing that you were able to experience all those performances! It's funny: I've always found Merman's stuttered "momma's" to be just nonsenscial. I haven't the slightest idea what she's trying to do. Maybe I would have gotten it if I'd seen it live and in context. They just sound like noises to me.

But this is what I love about the theater: it can arouse such passions, positive and negative, and roles and plays are open to so much interpretation.

My thoughts on the new ending:

I think it is really a great concept, and works quite well after Gypsy leaves the stage because the ONE problem I had with it was that she did not make any physical contact with her mother. It made it seem unnatural and very cruel, when their conversation beforehand was not so. If she were to perhaps pat Rose's hand or cheek and then leave, the same idea of the staging would still read, but more successfully. (And I do like it)

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Updated On: 1/1/09 at 09:06 PM

Sorry I wasn't clear, but I didn't find it cruel either, and I see it the same way as you. But in the initial analysis, before she begins to walk away and give playful glances on exit, makes it seem otherwise. It was the initial execution that bothered me, and I think some people read it the wrong away because of the physicality (which I think is due to the direction).

I adore it, though. Because of the reasons you listed, I find it thought provoking, and it says a lot about what kind of relationship the two will have in the future.

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At one point during the discussion with the Gypsy cast at Barnes&Noble from the CD signing over the summer (I wasn’t there, but I found videos on youtube), Laura talks about the relationship between Rose and Louise as well as the laugh at the end. It’s in the first minute and a half of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6yV42rNgpQ&feature=related

I think she really sums it up nicely and that’s pretty much how I interpreted it myself. It’s pretty clear that Rose will never change, but Louise accepts it. While she has become her own person, she still maintains a relationship with her mother.

I prefer the LuPone recording to Peters, but I might be biased based on how I liked the stage performances. While Bernadette Peters is an amazing singer and perfect for Sondheim shows, I don't think she pulled off diva as well as Patti LuPone, which I also think comes across in the recordings.

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The scream on the recording is too much.

When I saw it live, it worked. She slid up to a more natural place that sound less "This is me....acting crazy" and more of a final explosion.

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Reginald Tresilian: The repetitious stuttering of mmmMama... mmmMAMA....mmmMama... was Stephen Sondheim's idea to illustrate Rose's breakdown. Merman asked Sondheim, "Do I sing that on the upbeat or the downbeat?" wanting her aria (as she called it) to be perfect. Incidentally in an extended interview that Frank Rich had with Stephen Sondheim, Sondheim said that Merman was very cooperative with him. And she referred to Jerome Robbins as "Teacher". So much for the Diva in her.

Regarding the ending of GYPSY, I want to quote from the original script, because it offers a look into how Rose and Louise will get along with each other, without the one sided laugh from Louise which simply doesn't sound friendly the way that Laura Benanti does it.
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Rose: You know, I had a dream last night.(She links her arm through Louise's as they start slowly across the stage) It was a big poster of a mother and daughter--you know, like the cover of that ladies' magazine.

Louise:-Warningly) Yes, Mother?

Rose:-Stops moving)Only it was you and me, wearing exactly the same gown. It was an ad for Minsky--and the headline said: (She traces the name in the air) MADAM ROSE--(Louise gives her a look; Rose catches it and, moving her hand up to give Louise top billing, says) AND HER DAUGHTER, GYPSY!(They both begin to laugh as they walk off).

THE CURTAIN FALLS
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Having them both laugh is far different than having just Louise laugh, in my opinion.

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Updated On: 1/2/09 at 07:26 AM

Although I enjoyed the bonus material, I was slightly underwhelmed by the LuPone Gypsy recording, having heard all the raves (much as I was underwhelmed with the South Pacific recording; I imagine both shows were much better live and the recordings do them no justice).

I don't have the Merman, Landsbury or Peters Gypsys, but I actually thought Tyne Daly's recording really revealed her great *acting* (albeit with weak singing). Wonderful emotion-filled "Rose's Turn."

Laura Benanti's moo moo moo-moo's, however, drive me into hysterics. More "muh" than "moo", she sounds disinterested in performing, so different from June's overexuberant performance, and so appropriate for Louise.

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Updated On: 1/2/09 at 09:58 AM

Now maybe I'm bias becuase La Lupone is one of my two idols (the other being sondheim) but I thought that while she is wonderful on the recording she is far superior live. Maybe its cuz I saw all the acting and build up to each moment but I felt that while it is probably overall the best gypsy recording the show live is far superior. Then again you could argue anything live is better than recording but I have sometimes gone in listening to a recording and been less than enlightend so who knows. That being said I really think each Gypsy recording should stand on its own. I know that it will always be compared to each other but of the 4 I have (Merman, Lansbury, Peters, Lupone) I think each is so differnt. Merman was the first and set the bar. In many ways I feel Lansbury surpasses that bar and adds some anger and much needed sass to the character. Her Some People is awsome. Peters added a massive dose of humanity and fault in herself and I don't think she was bad. Now maybe its bad but I dont know exactly what makes Lupone so good in the role. I dont know which definitive quality she brings. But she is just brilliant in the role. I know that it isnt a fair argument to make with nothing to support it but if you have seen the show youd understand. (end rant)

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