The Bette Midler version of Gypsy is up there with the best productions of this show.

[Chowd95]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 2:12am

Change my mind.

The cast (Midler, Christine Ebersole, Peter Reigert, Ed Asner, Cynthia Gibb, Andrea Martin, etc) were all amazing. The orchestra killed it too.

"Get Yourself a Gimmick" and "Rose's Turn" were just brilliant.

Updated On: 4/14/18 at 02:12 AM

[binau]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 7:53am

It looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head so many times. Not my favourite. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 8:31am

Why do you WANT an argument? Like what you like.

I didn't hate it, but not my favorite.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 8:32am

Don't agree. Just watch Bette's letter scene and compare it to Patti's and Roz' and you'll find nothing on Bette's face to indicate any emotion at all.

To me, that scene sums up the core of Ross's character.

To me, the production is poorly directed.

Updated On: 4/14/18 at 08:32 AM

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 8:59am

Agreed, Dollypop.
A spectacular cast that could have made a great production. However, IMHO it needed firmer direction. (Most specifically, to restrain Bette's tendency to mug) From what I recall reading, the director was dying of AIDS at the time of filming and wasn't able to do his best work.

However it IS a solid version and is closer to the original stage script than the Roz Russell movie.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 10:05am

What makes this 1993 CBS TV movie adaptation of GYPSY special is the fact they used the original 1959 book as its script.  Arthur Laurents is credited as screenwriter for this adaptation.  Also, all the musical numbers were performed live not pre-recorded, so there's that over-the-top element to Bette's performance as she was singing full-out on set.  

The director was Emile Ardonlino, who directed the films DIRTY DANCING and SISTER ACT, as well as as winning the 1984 Best Documentary Oscar for his documentary HE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE DANCIN' about famous ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise (Broadway's Charlotte d'Amboise's father).  Yes, he was ill during the filming and sadly passed away weeks before the GYPSY aired on television in December 1993.   

Also of note is that Barbara Harris was originally cast as Tessie Tura but for unspecified reasons was fired.  Though Bette was pivotal in her casting, its been rumored she had her fired during rehearsals.  Christine Ebersole replaced her.   

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 10:17am

It's also worth noting that the success of the TV version of Gypsy paved the way for a new generation of musicals on television. When producers Craig Zadan & Neil Meron were starting out in Hollywood, they've spent time going to every single studio about doing a movie musical. But whenever they made that pitch, they'd get thrown out by the executives saying "Musicals are dead, a thing of the past, no one wants to see them!" They later received a call one day from an agent who represented Arthur Laurents about doing a TV movie version of Gypsy. They took the project to CBS, and moved forward with Bette Midler in the starring role of Mama Rose. When the film premiered on December 12th, 1993, it ended up being a huge ratings success, even receiving 12 Emmy nominations (including Outstanding Television Movie).

Since then, we've seen TV productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Annie, South Pacific, The Music Man, A Christmas Carol, and Once Upon a Mattress. Yet, when the feature film adaptation of Chicago became the success that it was in 2002, Hollywood was suddenly interested in big screen musicals again.

Updated On: 4/14/18 at 10:17 AM

[Demitri2]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 12:01pm

^

When you review the list of Neil Meron/Craig Zadan titles (except for ANNIE) they're all pretty bad. Mathew Broderick was terribly miscast in THE MUSIC MAN and Jason Alexander wearing a bad wig as a romantic lead in BYE BYE BIRDIE? I think not. And let's not forget Glen Close in SOUTH PACIFIC. She looked  old enough to be Nellie's mother. I think most people in this chat room could've come up with better casting in the lead roles. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 12:08pm

Dollypop said: "Don't agree. Just watch Bette's letter scene and compare it to Patti's and Roz' and you'll find nothing on Bette's face to indicate any emotion at all.

To me, that scene sums up the core of Ross's character.

To me, the production is poorly directed.

 

Rosalind Russell has always been one of my favorite actresses from the 30's - 60s.  I loved her in so many movies.  Without a strong director, she had a tendency to overact.  I would always point to Auntie Mame and Gypsy as illustrations of that tendency.  With Auntie Mame, I always assumed that she didn't turn down her stage performance for the movies.  With Gypsy, I assume Mervyn Leroy got the performance he wanted, which was too over the top from the outset for me.  Her warmth still comes through, but the performance needed to be turned down a notch or two in the frenzy department...which is exactly what I thought of Midler's performance.  In some ways, I thought that Midler's was closer to Russell's than any other Rose I have seen  (Sadly, I never saw Lupone...I was all Gypsy'd out at the time, and working out-of-town for much of the run, I just decided not to see it, which I have regretted ever since seeing Warpaint (I am one of the ones who think she should have won the Tony that year).

Amusingly, referring to another post of yours, one of my favorite Russell performances was in A Majority of One, one of my all-time guilty pleasure movies.  I know it is not a good movie, despite the fact that it got excellent reviews when it opened, but I love it every time that I see it (except for the scenes with the Japanese houseboy, which are absolutely embarrassing to watch).  Her underplaying (!), her chemistry with Alec Guiness who was excellent in a role for which he would not be hired today (which I am fine with -- times have changed), and the message of the movie win me over every time.  I mention it because the two movies were consecutively released; one was an understated performance, the other was over-the-top (to me), and I enjoyed the understated one much more.

Getting back to Bette Midler in Gypsy, of all the Mama Roses I have seen, Bette's reminds me most of Rosalind Russell's...I thought she was a little over the top from the first scene (I have not seen Imelda Staunton's performance, but it sounds like hers is similar and we know how wide the range of opinions are on her performance).  I have always assumed the director should have reigned (?) her in..  I have loved Bette in virtually everything she has ever done, just not Gypsy and -- in a extremely minority opinion -- Hello, Dolly (I loved the production, I loved everyone in the cast, including her warmth and comedic timing; I just thought her overall performance couldn't compare with Channing's, Bailey's and Murphy's.  (I even liked Streisand's movie performance better -- it was an 'all-in' performance to me, whereas I thought Midler's musical numbers were a little lackluster...I have written it off to her being tired the only night I saw it).

 

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 12:09pm

I find no intensity and passion in Midler's performance. Her performance feels lazy and often campy. It might a direction issue, but it's not a great performance. Wasn't Tyne originally going to reprise her performance in the television version? Her weak vocals aside, now that would've been an intense performance. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 12:25pm

ljay889 said: "I find no intensity and passion inMidler's performance. Her performance feels lazy and often campy. It might a direction issue, but it's not a great performance. Wasn't Tyne originally going to reprise her performance in the television version? Herweak vocalsaside, now that would've been an intense performance."

I just thought it was over the top from the getgo.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 12:51pm

 Wasn't Tyne originally going to reprise her performance in the television version? Her weak vocals aside, now that would've been an intense performance. 

No.  Gypsy Rose Lee's son Erik Lee Preminger had been trying to get this Bette Midler version going for about 10 years before one of the rights holders: Arthur Laurents, finally agreed to this CBS TV movie adaptation as it would be faithful word-by-word to his original book.  No other actress was ever considered.  

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 1:30pm

Demitri2 said: "^

When you review the list of Neil Meron/Craig Zadan titles (except for ANNIE) they're all pretty bad. Mathew Broderick was terribly miscast in THE MUSIC MAN and Jason Alexander wearing a bad wig as a romantic lead in BYE BYE BIRDIE? I think not. And let's not forget Glen Close in SOUTH PACIFIC. She looked old enough to be Nellie's mother. I think most people in this chat room could've come up with better casting in the lead roles."

Zadan & Meron didn’t produce the TV versions of Bye Bye Birdie nor South Pacific.

Updated On: 4/14/18 at 01:30 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 7:51pm

You should be a fact checker for Michael Riedel.  In that latest article -- I can't remember what it was about -- I noted a factual error very early in the article.  I seem to remember that he was several season off on a show he was talking about.  You'd keep him honest.

[David10086]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 8:05pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Wasn't Tyne originally going to reprise her performance in the television version? Herweak vocalsaside, now that would've been an intense performance.

No. Gypsy Rose Lee's son Erik Lee Preminger had been trying to get this Bette Midler version going for about 10 years before one of the rights holders: Arthur Laurents, finally agreed to this CBS TV movie adaptation as it would be faithful word-by-word to his original book. No other actress was ever considered."

Daly sat for a  TV interview quite a few years ago, and GYPSY came up (of course). According to Daly, CBS execs saw her  a few times in her final weeks at the Marquis Theater in June 1991. After one of her last shows, they went to her dressing room and talked about her doing the role as a TV movie on CBS the following season (92-93). She was thrilled with the idea, and both sides worked out a deal  over the summer...which was never 'finalized', She didn't give much worry to it, knowing the execs personally as CBS was her 'old home' for 'Cagney & Lacey', was always treated well by them at the network, and she knew projects take time and often go through delays. She was shocked to read in the trade papers months later that Bette Midler was going to star in the CBS movie - and CBS execs never ever called Daly to apologize or explain. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 8:59pm

To me, this version misses some depth I'd except from a screen adaptation. 

I know the Roz Russell film version has major issues, but I did think some the book changes it made from stage to screen were quite good and added depth to the characters even if there were other changes in the screenplay that were not good. One thing I think every stage version I've seen fails to sell to me is the transition from "Mr. Goldstone" to "Little Lamb". It always seems rushed and tonally off rather than organic. I read once that "Little Lamb" was extraneous and unneeded which felt like a crazy critique to me until I saw it on stage and clips of various stage versions and I understood what that person meant. That part was where I felt the screen version improved upon. In that part, "Little Lamb" was allowed to breathe and capture the screen at its own pacing rather than be rushed through.

Also, Sondheim was right about one excellent moment in the original film version. The close-up Natalie Wood as during "Gotta Get a Gimmick". We see Louise start to become Gypsy Rose Lee with a look and that movie captured it perfectly. There's NOTHING that gets close to that level in the Bette Midler TV version and it's sort of a waste because there are a lot of things one can take advantage of with a camera and can explore and provide a different insight from the stage and I felt the TV film version's film craft was pedestrian with Midler not providing much in the way of character.

Updated On: 4/14/18 at 08:59 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 9:22pm

David10086 said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Wasn't Tyne originally going to reprise her performance in the television version? Herweak vocalsaside, now that would've been an intense performance.

No. Gypsy Rose Lee's son Erik Lee Preminger had been trying to get this Bette Midler version going for about 10 years before one of the rights holders: Arthur Laurents, finally agreed to this CBS TV movie adaptation as it would be faithful word-by-word to his original book. No other actress was ever considered."

Daly sat for a TV interview quitea few years ago, and GYPSY came up (of course). According to Daly, CBS execs saw her a few times in her final weeks at the Marquis Theater in June 1991. After one of her last shows, they went to her dressing room and talked about her doing the role as a TV movie on CBS the following season (92-93). She was thrilled with the idea, and both sides worked out a deal over the summer...which was never 'finalized', She didn't give much worry to it, knowing the execs personally as CBS was her 'old home' for 'Cagney & Lacey', was always treated well by them at the network, and she knew projects take time and often go through delays. She was shocked to read in the trade papers months later that Bette Midler was going to star in the CBS movie - and CBS execs never ever called Daly to apologize or explain."

I knew I wasn’t going crazy, lol.