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;">The role of Mama Rose, the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee and June
Havoc, in the musical "Gypsy" is a challange to every musical actress
and these are just a few who faced the demanding role.
Gypsy is a musical with
music by Jule Styne, lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim,
and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Gypsy is based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee,
the famous striptease artist,
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.
The musical contains many songs that became popular standards,
including
"Small World," "Everything's
Coming up Roses",
"You'll Never Get Away from Me," and "Let Me Entertain You." It is
frequently
considered one of the crowning achievements of the mid-20th 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[1] and Frank Rich.[2] Rich even calls
it the American musical theatre's answer to King Lear. Theater
critic Clive
Barnes wrote that "Gypsy is one of the best of musicals..." and
described
the character of Rose as "one of the few truly complex characters in the
American musical...."[3]
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.[4] 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. Although Sondheim
initially refused to write only the lyrics, he was persuaded by Oscar
Hammerstein to accept the job. The creative team was in place.[5]
In analyzing the character of Rose, Clive Barnes described her as
"bossy,
demanding, horrific...."[3] Rich
described Rose as "a monster".[2] Critic Walter Kerr commented that
though Rose is a monster, she must be liked and understood.[6] 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."[7] 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."[8]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."[8] Sondheim also
noted, "Yet the end of
 | |
| Original Broadway Cast Album | |
|---|---|
| Music | Jule Styne |
| Lyrics | Stephen Sondheim |
| Book | Arthur Laurents |
| Basis | Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee |
| Productions | 1959 Broadway 1962 Film 1973 West End 1974 Broadway revival 1989 Broadway revival 1993 US Television 2003 Broadway revival 2006 Chicago 2007 Encores! Summer Stars 2008 Broadway revival |
| Awards | |