Gypsy - A Musical Fable (1959 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Gypsy - A Musical Fable (1959 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: One of the all-time greats, but it needs a new Kleigl light
Hit: 5 Stars
Despite its front-and-center place in the theatrical pantheon, one wonders if we can really do "Gypsy" justice anymore. A lot of termites have invaded the flats. For one thing it mysteriously morphed into a gay musical. That's because it's "about" an overbearing stage mother who was first played by a famous loudmouth. Well, that's simplistic. But "Gypsy" staged right is not about bossy broads; it's about vaudeville, and burlesque, and the heartache and triumph of reaching the top. It's also about stripping. We seem to have lost track of that given the long line of actresses who've tried in vain to overthrow Ethel Merman's memory: Roz Russell (too low-key and literary), Angela Lansbury (too British), Tyne Daly (too coarse), Bette Midler (too kitschy), Bernadette Peters...what's she doing there? Actually, she belongs there -- not as Mama Rose. Thirty-five years younger she could (and should) have played Gypsy. (John Simon, reviewing the misbegotten 2003 revival, noted a definite facial resemblance.) We forget too the stroke of genius that ends this show. Gypsy, having utterly wowed them at Minsky's, is "topped" by her own mother! So, this is a contest -- and a contest requires more than one person. What "Gypsy" deserves is two great actresses. Ethel Merman's hold on the memory of her part is safe. Now -- who here can tell me who played Gypsy? Natalie Wood, well, that's easy enough. But was she memorable? One thinks of how the real Gypsy denigrated Sandra Church. What this show needs is for people to stop approaching it as a strong-woman musical, and more as the story of a stripper's rise to stardom. Maybe the time has come to put the emphasis on Gypsy, and get comely actresses who know how to strip. Perhaps the writers of this unquestioned landmark chose the wrong work; they should have done William Wellman's "Lady of Burlesque" (based on Gypsy's ghosted mystery novel "The G-String Murders" -- there's a title!). That way it would have been all fun, and no overbearing significance, or stage mothers. Hmmm: Barbara Stanwyck as Gypsy? There's a thought.
But I've discussed the property when I should be discussing the cast album. There's little to say. People who call this the greatest show ever are being silly. Perhaps it is as an integrated whole. There are better scores. Indeed Jule Styne wrote better tunes; go back to his work with Sammy Cahn, and go back especially to that Harry James-Kitty Kallen immortality "It's Been a Long Long Time." Go back to Blue Eyes's renditions. No, I would not want to say this is better than "Show Boat." But it's still darned good. (Of the newly-renovated album it goes without saying.) The problem is, it could be better; and with Ethel Merman eternally ringing in our ears we know how difficult that will ever be. But we can always...have a dream.
Free Music Review: This Is The "Gypsy" Recording To Have: An Essential
Hit: 5 Stars
Love her or hate her, for all practical intents and purposes Ethel Merman (1908-1984) was the voice of the Broadway musical for more than thirty years: a larger-than-life, flamboyant woman with a larger-than-life voice that could rip a door off its hinges. Her roles are legendary, ranging from Kate in the Gerswhin's GIRL CRAZY to Reno Sweeny in Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES to Annie Oakley in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Near the end of her Broadway career she capped all previous triumphs with what most regard as her signature role: Mama Rose in the Sondheim and Styne GYPSY.
Although generally based on the life of celebrated stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, the play focused less on Gypsy and her sister actress June Havock than upon Mama Rose, the bombastic and endlessly determined stage mother from hell who propelled both daughters to stardom largely against their own inclination. By turns hilarious and monstrous, comic and tragic, Mama Rose was perhaps the only role that made full use of Merman's dramatic talents--and it didn't stint her on music either. GYPSY is one helluva show, and this remastered release of the original 1959 cast recording caputures it at full throttle.
There may be other contenders, but to my mind GYPSY has the single finest overture ever written for a Broadway play, an explosion of brass that sends chills up the spine. And when Merman explodes with her first number, "Some People," she puts chills on the chills! Although backed by a superior cast that includes Jack Klugman, it's Merman's show all the way, peaking with the frightening "Everything's Coming Up Roses"--perhaps the single finest example of denial ever found in a musical--and finishing up with the devastating "Rose's Turn." It is an amazingly powerful performance, more than deserving of all the accolades it received.
Over the years the dark GYPSY has received numerous stage revivals and two film versions, with stars that included Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daily, Bernadette Peters, Rosalind Russell, and Bette Midler--but whatever their individual merits, this is the GYPSY to have: all else seems ashes and dust beside it. The bonus of additional songs cut before the play's opening simply make it that much more desirable, but in the end it is Merman, pure, unfiltered, planted at center stage and still able to blow the doors off the joint. An essential.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Free Music Review: Merman's performance of a lifetime
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1959, Ethel Merman possibly topped a long, illustrious musical stage career, when she created the role of Rose, in Gypsy.Anecdote tells that prior to anything else happening on the show, Ms. Merman was asked whether she would act, as previously she had tended to get by on her singing alone - but what singing.
The total perfectionist uses this show to give the performance of her lifetime, culminating with "Rose's Turn." When you realise that Rose is going through a nervous breakdown through this number, the sheer power of the combination of song and performer is almost to much to bear. I can only think of one other major musical that features a musical nervous breakdown, and Sondheim was there again, that show being Follies.
Sondheim himself makes a brief guest appearance on this CD, playing Rose's father (!) during "Some People," whilst she is begging him to lend her some money. She wants to use the money to further the career of at least one of her daughters, Baby June. Through this daughter, and later through other daughter Louise, Rose lives the life of fame that she always dreamed of for herself.
Many of the songs will be well known to many people, and it is always going to be interesting to hear them in their earliest legitimate recordings. One of the extra tracks here is "Mamma's Talking Soft," which was cut because one of the two daughters could not cope with singing on a bridge at the back of the stage.
This cast recording is monumental in the history of the musical, both for the show itself, and for Ethel Merman. This recording should be in every musical lovers collection for those reasons alone. The fact that the music, lyrics and performances are brilliant just adds to that belief.
Free Music Review: Glorious!
Hit: 5 Stars
With an intoxicating score by Jule Styne and ingenious lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, GYPSY is understandably considered one of the greatest musicals ever created. Though it didn't seem possible, this remastering of the 1959 recording is even more enjoyable than the original. Improved sound enables us to enjoy Ethel Merman's brassy voice and the orchestral details even better, and several delightful extra passages and alternate takes have been added. Also, two songs which were cut during tryouts are presented as bonus tracks. One of these, "Nice She Ain't", was supposed to be sung by Jack Klugman, and since he was not a singer he decided against tackling it (though it is a "talking song" and would have suited his limited range well). The other, "Momma's Talkin' Soft", is a sort of cynical comment on Rose's character and was meant to be sung by Louise and June in counterpoint to "Small World" in Act I. The loss of both of these songs from the first production was a colossal shame, and they deserve to be revived for future productions.
As other reveiwers have affirmed, this album crackles with the excitement of live theater, and allows us to hear character and storyline in addition to a mere succession of songs. One example of this occurs in Track 2, in which Baby June and Baby Louise audition for a vaudeville act. At one point in their duet, Louise enters a split second too late for the line "I'll dance when she's done" and is scolded by Rose, "You're behind honey, catch up, catch up!" The only reason she's "behind" is that June held her note too long in the previous bar. Rose, of course, is blind to this. Marvelous.
Enjoy this incomparable Broadway musical in a sparkling remastering!
Free Music Review: Everything's Coming Up Roses
Hit: 5 Stars
When Ethel Merman passed, I wondered if she'd be forgotten. So much a part of Broadway, she always seemed an East Coast phenomenon. She was also a belter and there's almost none of them around anymore. Then I realized how often she appeared on the Sullivan Show and other T.V. variety shows, that she'd had a nice Hollywood career too (twice) and that there was no one like her. So here we are all these years later and I still see something about The Merm or hear about her virtually every day. Her albums are coming out on C.D. and she is the measure to which Bernadette Peters is being held for "Gypsy." When you hear this original cast album you are reminded of just how unique Merman was and, besides being a total original, what a great singer and great actress she was (even if she herself didn't feel she was the actress she wanted to be). And that her talent and persona are timeless and will still be around 50 years from now. I know people who worked with her and almost everyone has a Merman story--she was evidently very tough but very funny, too, and gave out with terrific wisecracks and hilarious stories. I don't think great introspection or great subtlety were her strong suits, but it's significant her best friends at the end of her life were still the people she'd grown up with and knew before she even got into show business and that she was known for being wonderful to her parents. In "Gypsy" you hear a fully-realized artist at the peak of her powers, along with a superb cast delivering the best musical ever written. This C.D. belongs to no time period--it's eternal.