Gypsy (musical)
Gypsy: A Musical Fable is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business mother." It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The character of Louise is based on Lee, and the character of June is based on Lee's sister, the actress June Havoc.
This article is about the stage musical. For the source book, see Gypsy: A Memoir. For the film, see Gypsy (1962 film).Gypsy
The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "Rose's Turn", "Small World", "Together (Wherever We Go)", "You Gotta Get a Gimmick", and "Let Me Entertain You".
It is frequently considered one of the crowning achievements of the mid-twentieth century's conventional musical theatre art form, often called the book musical. Gypsy has been referred to as the greatest American musical by numerous critics and writers, among them Ben Brantley ("what may be the greatest of all American musicals...")[1] and Frank Rich.[2] Rich wrote that "Gypsy is nothing if not Broadway's own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear."[3] Theater critic Clive Barnes wrote that "Gypsy is one of the best of musicals..." and described Rose as "one of the few truly complex characters in the American musical."[4]
Background[edit]
A musical based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee was a project of producer David Merrick and actress Ethel Merman. Merrick had read a chapter of Lee's memoirs in Harper's Magazine and approached Lee to obtain the rights. Jerome Robbins was interested and wanted Leland Hayward as co-producer; Merman also wanted Hayward to produce her next show.[5] Merrick and Hayward approached Arthur Laurents to write the book. As he relates, Laurents initially was not interested until he saw that the story was one of parents living their children's lives. Composers Irving Berlin and Cole Porter declined the project. Finally, Robbins asked Stephen Sondheim, who agreed to do it. Sondheim had worked with Robbins and Laurents on the musical West Side Story. However, Merman did not want an unknown composer and wanted Jule Styne to write the music. Sondheim initially refused to write only the lyrics but was persuaded by Oscar Hammerstein to accept the job.[6]
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
Baby June and Louise, the two daughters of Rose Hovick, play the vaudeville circuit around the United States in the early 1920s. Rose, the archetype of a stage mother, is aggressive and domineering, pushing her children to perform. While June is an extroverted, talented child star, the older girl, Louise, is shy. Their act has one song, "May We Entertain You", with June always as the centerpiece and Louise in the background. Rose has big dreams for the girls but encounters setbacks when her father refuses to lend her money for those dreams ("Some People"). When Rose meets a former agent, Herbie, she persuades him to become their manager using her seductive and feminine wiles ("Small World"). Through Herbie's efforts, "Baby June and Her Newsboys" becomes a top vaudeville act.
As the girls grow into adolescents, June and her act have a chance to perform for Mr. Goldstone of the Orpheum Circuit ("Mr. Goldstone, I Love You"). Meanwhile, Louise celebrates her birthday alone and wonders how old she is ("Little Lamb"). Rose rejects Herbie's marriage proposal and he considers leaving, but she asserts that he could never get away from her ("You'll Never Get Away From Me"). After an audition for T.T. Grantziger ("Dainty June and Her Farmboys/Broadway"), June is offered a place at a Performing Arts school. However, Rose turns this down, refusing to break up the act. Louise and June fantasize what life would be like if Rose were married and finished with show business ("If Momma Was Married").
A few months later, still on the road from show to show, Tulsa, one of the boys from the act, confides to Louise that he has been working on his own act and Louise fantasizes that she and he could do the act together ("All I Need Is the Girl"). Shortly after this, June is missing, and she explains in a note that she has grown sick of her mother and the endless tour and has eloped with Tulsa, with whom she will do a new act. Rose is hurt, but she optimistically vows that she will make Louise a star, proclaiming that "Everything's Coming Up Roses".
Act II[edit]
Louise is now a young woman, and Rose has built a pale imitation of the Dainty June act for her. Using all girls, Rose and Herbie try valiantly to sell "Madame Rose's Toreadorables" to a fading vaudeville industry. However, they are still together ("Together, Wherever We Go").
With no vaudeville venues left, Louise and her second-rate act wind up accidentally booked at a burlesque house in Wichita, Kansas, as a means to deter police raids. Rose is anguished, as she sees what a booking in burlesque means to her dreams of success, but Louise persuades her that two weeks' pay for the new act is better than unemployment. Backstage, Rose proposes marriage to Herbie. He asks her to break up the act and let Louise have a normal life, and she reluctantly accepts, agreeing to marry the day after their show closes. As they are introduced to Louise, three of the strippers on the bill advise her on what it takes to be a successful stripper, a "gimmick," something that "makes your strip special" ("You Gotta Get a Gimmick").
On the last day of the booking, the star stripper in the burlesque show is arrested for solicitation. Desperate, Rose cannot resist the urge to give Louise another nudge toward stardom, and she volunteers Louise to do the striptease as a last-minute replacement. Herbie is disgusted at how low Rose has stooped and he finally walks out on her ("Small World" (Reprise)). Although reluctant, Louise goes on, assured by Rose that she needn't actually strip but simply walk elegantly and tease by dropping a single shoulder strap. Shy and hesitant, she sings a titillating version of the old vaudeville song "May We Entertain You". She removes only her glove, but she speaks directly to her audience, which becomes her "gimmick". Louise becomes secure, always following her mother's advice to "Make 'em beg for more, and then don't give it to them!" With each performance, the song becomes brasher and brassier, and Louise removes more articles of clothing. Ultimately, she becomes a major burlesque star ("Let Me Entertain You").
At Louise's dressing room, Rose argues withe her daughter, now known as the sophisticated "Gypsy Rose Lee". Embittered, Rose reveals that the true motivation for all her actions has been to live vicariously through her daughters so she can chase the stardom she wanted for herself, not for her children. She realizes that she has driven away June, Herbie, and now possibly Louise. She displays the talent that could have been under different circumstances, as the name "Rose" flashes in neon lights ("Rose's Turn"). After her admission to Louise, mother and daughter tentatively move toward reconciliation in the end.
Dramatic analysis[edit]
In analyzing the character of Rose, Clive Barnes described her as "bossy, demanding, horrific".[4] Rich described Rose as "a monster".[2] Critic Walter Kerr commented that though Rose is a monster, she must be liked and understood.[13] Patti LuPone describes Rose: "She has tunnel vision, she's driven, and she loves her kids.... And she is a survivor. I do not see her as a monster at all—she may do monstrous things, but that does not make a monster."[14] Sondheim has said of the character: "The fact that she's monstrous to her daughters and the world is secondary... She's a very American character, a gallant figure and a life force."[15] Sondheim also noted, "Yet the end of Gypsy is not entirely bleak. Louise comes out a star and forgives her mother. There is hope for her. Rose does confront who she is in 'Rose's Turn.' There is a catharsis. It's not Rodgers and Hammerstein, but you feel maybe the mother and daughter will come to an understanding and maybe triumph over Rose's craziness and Louise's bitterness."[15]
Brantley noted that Rose is a "mythic character". She is "[t]raditionally presented as an armored tank on autopilot, which finally crashes only minutes before the final curtain".[1]
Bernadette Peters' take on the character was different: "Rose was a woman who was traumatized by her own mother leaving her at an early age. I think that longing for acceptance is what fuels all her ambition. In the end, when she confronts herself in 'Rose's Turn', she realizes she has failed her daughter just as her own mother failed her...and that destroys Rose. There is a vulnerability to Rose that makes her human, not just some loud and cartoonish parody of a stage mother."[16]
Productions[edit]
Original production[edit]
The original Broadway production opened on May 21, 1959, at The Broadway Theatre, transferred to the Imperial Theatre, and closed on March 25, 1961, after 702 performances and two previews. The show was produced by David Merrick and directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Ethel Merman starred as Rose, with Jack Klugman as Herbie and Sandra Church as Louise. Scenic and Lighting design were by Jo Mielziner and costumes were by Raoul Pène Du Bois. The orchestrations, including an overture,[17] were supplied by Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler.
Critic Frank Rich has referred to Robbins' work as one of the most influential stagings of a musical in American theatrical history.[2] The original production received eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, but failed to win any. The original Broadway cast recording won the Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album (Broadway or TV), and "Small World" was nominated for the Grammy for Song of the Year which went to Sondheim & Styne, popularized with a recording by Johnny Mathis.
When the show closed in March 1961, two national touring companies toured the US. The first company starred Merman and opened in March 1961 at the Rochester, New York Auditorium, and closed in December 1961 at the American, St. Louis, Missouri. The second national company starred Mitzi Green as Rose, followed by Mary McCarty. A young Bernadette Peters appeared in the ensemble and understudied Dainty June, a role she would play the following year in summer stock, opposite Betty Hutton's Rose. It opened in September 1961 at the Shubert Theatre, Detroit and closed in January 1962 at the Hanna, Cleveland, Ohio.
1973 London production[edit]
In 1973, it was announced that Elaine Stritch would be starring in the first West End production of the show. However, when ticket sales proved to be unsuccessful, producers hired the more familiar Angela Lansbury (according to Craig Zadan, "The ...producers were not able to raise the required capital on Stritch's name, and the promise of a new production...became ominously distant").[18] The West End production opened at the Piccadilly Theatre on May 29, 1973. It was produced by Barry M. Brown and Fritz Holt, in association with Edgar Lansbury (Angela's brother) and directed by the show's author, Arthur Laurents, with choreography reproduced by Robert Tucker. The supporting cast featured Zan Charisse, Barrie Ingham, Debbie Bowen and Bonnie Langford. Lansbury left the London production in December 1973 to tour the show in the US and was succeeded by Dolores Gray. The production closed on March 2, 1974, after 300 performances.
1974 Broadway revival[edit]
Prior to opening on Broadway, the Lansbury West End production had a 24-week tour of North America, starting in Toronto, and then travelling to many cities, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Boston.[19] The production opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 23, 1974, for a planned limited engagement, and closed on January 4, 1975, after 120 performances and four previews.[20] It was completely recast for the American tour and Broadway run with the exception of Bonnie Langford as baby June and Zan Charisse as Louise/Gypsy who played it in the West End with Ms. Lansbury. Maureen Moore (later Bernadette Peters' understudy as Rose in the 2003 revival) played the adult June, and Mary Louise Wilson was Tessie Tura. John Sheridan played Tulsa, for which he won the 1974-75 Theatre World Award. Angela Lansbury won the 1975 Tony Award.
1989 Broadway revival[edit]
A second revival had pre-Broadway engagements starting at the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts, Miami Beach, Florida, in May 1989,[21] and Tampa in May, then The Muny, St. Louis, in June 1989,[22] moving to the Los Angeles Music Center and Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, California in July 1989,[23] and then the Kennedy Center in August and September 1989, with several other venues prior to Broadway.[24]
The production opened on Broadway on November 16, 1989, at the St. James Theatre, and then moved to the Marquis Theatre on April 18, 1991, and closed on July 28, 1991, after 476 performances and 23 previews. Laurents returned as director, with Tyne Daly as Rose, Jonathan Hadary as Herbie and Crista Moore as Louise. Linda Lavin (on July 30, 1990) and Jamie Ross replaced Daly and Hadary respectively, with Daly returning to the production at the Marquis Theatre from April 18, 1991[25] until closing.
This production won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival and Daly won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.
Jule Styne, in a 1989 interview in connection with the California tryout, said: "About six months ago, Bette Midler wanted to buy it (Gypsy) for a movie. We wouldn't sell it. Because they'd only destroy it."[23] USA Today reported that "Both Liza Minnelli and Bernadette Peters say they would love to play it, but they weren't even approached for this production."[24]
2003 Broadway revival[edit]
A new Broadway revival began previews on March 31, 2003, and opened on May 1, 2003, at the Shubert Theatre. The director was Sam Mendes, with choreography by Jerry Mitchell and costumes and sets by Anthony Ward. Bernadette Peters played the role of Rose. The New York Times described Peters as "a surefire box office draw who nonetheless may surprise some Gypsy aficionados...How will the ladylike Ms. Peters fit into the role of Rose, a part indelibly marked by its brassy, belting originator, Ethel Merman?...'One of the main reasons I wanted to do the piece was to cast someone as Rose that was closer to Rose as she really existed,' Mr. Mendes said. 'She was a tiny woman. And she was a charmer. And so is Bernadette.'"[26] Laurents had talked to Mendes ("Roughly five years ago" according to The New York Times in 2003) about directing the revival, and Mendes said "he was surprised by the idea of casting Ms. Peters as Rose".[27] Laurents notes of his suggestions on this production are in his 2009 book Mainly on Directing 'Gypsy', 'West Side Story' and Other Musicals. In a 2004 interview Laurents said that Peters' portrayal of Rose was "brilliant, original, totally unlike any of the others" while criticizing Mendes for the "physical production" which Laurents said "was misconceived and hurt the show more than people realized."[28] Gypsy had begun previews with a virtually bare stage, but by opening night this had been changed to a minimalist set.[29] The cast featured John Dossett as Herbie, Tammy Blanchard as Louise, Kate Reinders as June and David Burtka as Tulsa. The production was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical; it won none.
In his review, Ben Brantley in The New York Times wrote that "the surprise coup of many a Broadway season...Working against type and expectation under the direction of Sam Mendes, Ms. Peters has created the most complex and compelling portrait of her long career...There have been many illustrious successors to Merman as Rose...Only Ms. Peters, however, can be said to have broken the Merman mold completely."[30]
Gypsy twice set new box office records for the Shubert Theatre. Its gross of $853,476 for the week of June 9–14, 2003 was the highest ever gross for a non-holiday week and the subsequent June 15–21, 2003 box office gross of $874,397 represented the highest gross for a show in Shubert history.[31] However, The New York Times announced that Gypsy would close on February 28, 2004, stating: "Gypsy sold well for most of 2003. But by early January [2004], with tourists gone and local theatergoers staying inside during a brutal stretch of weather, the production's sales grew increasingly weak. More important, the show's advance sale, the main indicator of a production's staying power, began to shrink rapidly. It stood at less than $2 million yesterday."[32] After an increase in the gross, the show's closing was postponed indefinitely, but Gypsy finally closed on May 30, 2004, after 451 performances and 33 previews.[33] The production is believed to have recouped a little more than half of its $8 million investment.[33]
2008 Broadway revival[edit]
Patti LuPone first portrayed Rose in Gypsy at the Chicago Ravinia Festival in August 2006, directed by Lonny Price and accompanied by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.[34] It began as a concert production but evolved into a full-fledged production featuring Jerome Robbins' original choreography (recreated by Bonnie Walker) and even a live lamb.[35] Excitement was generated around LuPone playing the role of Rose and producers were eager to see Price's production, with the hope of moving it to New York. Jack Viertel, the artistic director of New York City Center Encores! saw the production and was so impressed that he contacted Arthur Laurents, requesting that he direct a new production of the show for a new summer "Encores!" program.[36] From July 9 to 29, 2007, the show was presented at New York City Center with LuPone once again. Directed by Arthur Laurents, the production also featured Laura Benanti as Louise, Boyd Gaines as Herbie and Leigh Ann Larkin as June. Nancy Opel, Marilyn Caskey, and Alison Fraser played the strippers Mazeppa, Electra, and Tessie Tura (Lenora Nemetz assumed the role of Mazeppa / Miss Cratchitt for the Broadway transfer.)
LuPone recounted in her memoirs that, when Laurents began directing this production, he based his direction initially on the 1989 revival, "because, I think that in Arthur's mind, the Tyne Daly Gypsy had been the last successful production." However, the cast "questioned Arthur relentlessly about...the scenes", and he "tossed the old prompt book out and freed" the actors to explore.[37]
The Encores! production was a success, and despite Ben Brantley's somewhat negative review of LuPone's performance in The New York Times, the show transferred to Broadway, where it opened at the St. James Theatre on March 27, 2008. Brantley gave the production a rave review, praising LuPone, Laurents and the rest of the cast, and describing the characterizations in the production:
Recordings[edit]
There are recordings of each of the Broadway and London productions, as well as the film and television productions. The original 1959 and revival 2003 cast albums each won the Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Show Album.
The original Broadway cast album was Ethel Merman's first recording in the then-new stereophonic sound technology. Motion pictures recorded in stereo had been steadily made since 1953, and stereo was first used on magnetic tape in 1954, but it was not until 1958, a year before Gypsy opened, that it became possible to use this technology on records.
The 1974 Broadway recording was not an actual recording of the Broadway revival, but a remix of the London Cast recording of 1973 with a new recording of "Some People".
The 1989 Broadway cast recording was released in 1990.[76]
The 2003 Broadway cast recording featuring Peters was released August 19, 2003.
The 2008 Broadway cast recording featuring LuPone was released August 28, 2008.
The 2015 West End cast recording was recorded at Angel Recording Studios in London on 9 March 2015 and was released on 27 April 2015.
Other performances[edit]
The 2001 Royal Variety Performance featured Cilla Black, Paul O'Grady (in his Lily Savage persona), and Barbara Windsor singing "You Gotta Get a Gimmick".