Laura Benanti, Boyd Gaines - Gypsy - 2008 Original Broadway Cast

Stellar Cast Recording Showcases LuPone's Balls-to-the-Wall Turn as Mama Rose

I had a dream.
I dreamed it for you, June.
It wasn't for me, Herbie.
And if it wasn't for me,
Then where would you be,
Miss Gypsy Rose Lee?

Every Rose has her day, and Broadway diva Patti LuPone finally has her shot at what is probably the most celebrated female role in musical theater. I am going to be rather biased in my review since I just saw her perform it at the St. James Theater last week. Directed by now-ninety-year-old librettist Arthur Laurents (The Way We Were), the show may be almost fifty years old, twice-filmed, and in its fifth Broadway incarnation with this production. LuPone, however, singes any residue of cobwebs and soars in a no-holds-barred performance that unravels the raw, wounded emotional intensity inherent in a part as megalomaniacal as Mama Rose. It fits her like a velvet glove over an iron fist, and the cast recording from Time-Life Records captures her powerful verve with shimmering clarity.

In case you've been living in a closet, the story purports to be about Gypsy Rose Lee, a famous striptease artist who became a proto-Paris Hilton-type celebrity well before the days of TMZ and tabloid TV. I remember her afternoon talk show in the 1960's and had no idea about her past until I saw the 1962 film version of her life story. Natalie Wood played her in a most flattering manner, but it was Rosalind Russell who dominated as her bulldozer of a stage mother. But before the movie was the classic musical starring the Merm in full-throttle fashion as Mama Rose.

This show is what Broadway is all about. It just doesn't matter how many times or how many versions you see in your lifetime because Jule Styne's infectious music and Stephen Sondheim's clever, perceptive lyrics provide the perfect accompaniment to Laurents' perfectly paced book. The music is sensational starting with the classic overture and sprinkled with joyful numbers all memorable - "If Mamma Was Married" sung as a plaintive duet of yearning by Laura Benanti as Louise and Leigh Ann Larkin as Dainty June; the snappy "All I Need Is the Girl" brought to zestful life by Tony Yazbeck as Tulsa; the "Let Me Entertain You" montage that goes from innocently awkward to haughtily saucy thanks to Benanti's vocal versatility in the title role; and the terrifically bawdy "You Gotta Have A Gimmick" with Alison Fraser, Lenora Nemetz and Marilyn Caskey comically embodying the three strippers who teach Louise what it takes to succeed in the unique art of ecdysiasm.

But let's face it, the disc really showcases LuPone's shining hour. Every number she sings is a tour de force, and she knows it. The angry propulsion of "Some People" is counterbalanced by the comical "Have an Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone". She is joined by Boyd Gaines as put-upon Herbie on the gentle, heartfelt ballads, "Small World" and "You'll Never Get Away from Me". The story's one moment of genuine optimism is conveyed infectiously by LuPone, Gaines and Benanti on "Together Wherever We Go". Regardless, the two defining moments that close each act are LuPone's alone - the ferocious blind faith of "Everything's Coming up Roses" that finishes Act I in a grand crescendo, and of course, the phenomenal eleventh-hour finale, "Rose's Turn", which she fearlessly attacks with the abandon of a madwoman but always keeping in character. When she finished with her primal scream expressing a lifetime of resentment onstage, I couldn't get up fast enough to give her an ovation.

Six bonus tracks are included in the disc. All cut from the final production in 1959, they have been recorded with new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Two are vaudeville numbers that really do little to advance the plot - "Tomorrow's Mother's Day" and a number meant for the Strip sequence, "Three Wishes for Christmas". There is a comedy number, "Smile, Girls", which was considered for the opening of Act II" but understandably dropped. More interesting are a sauntering solo for Herbie which Gaines sings with aplomb, "Nice She Ain't" revealing his resignation about Rose, and the boldly bitter "Who Needs Him?", which LuPone sings when Herbie leaves Rose for good. It's intriguing to hear the juxtaposition of "Small World" with "Momma's Talking Soft" in which Baby June and Baby Louise comment on their mother's manipulative nature. While clever, it feels wrong to undermine the relationship with Herbie so early in the story and the resulting arrangement feels cluttered.

Broadway musical aficionados should have this on their must-buy list no matter how many previous versions of "Gypsy" are in their collection. Shows this great are rare indeed, performances as great as LuPone's even rarer, and recording it for posterity is a gift for us all. November 29, 2008

Simply FABULOUS!

I didn't think I'd like this recording as much as I did. I not only like it, I LOVE it! Highly recommended. Patti LuPone is sensational from start to finish. November 16, 2008

Lupone's Gypsy

We have have been waiting a long time for Patty Lupone to give us her interpretation of Mama Rose. She shines, she carries the show, but she does not overwhelm the rest of the cast. BRAVO October 30, 2008

EVERYTHING COMES UP ROSES!!!

I never got to see either Ethel Merman or Angela Lansbury on the role, but Rosalind Russell and Bette Midler would only hope to kiss the stage where Ms. LuPone stands. She's phenomenal, and you haven't seen this show if she's not in it. Best Gypsy Ever!!! Best Broadway Performer Ever!!! Period! October 29, 2008

one for the patti fans

I saw this on broadway, Patti LuPone was an interesting Rose, she's got star quality but Rose she ain't.
I thought her only really impressive performance in the show was Rose's Turn. This was a barnstormer, she tore the place apart and really deserved the spontaneous standing ovation that she received. It's a bleak production, with hardly any set apart from a crumbling proscenium arch, the emphasis very much on the tawdry side of the last knockings of vaudeville and the sleaze of third rate burlesque. The cast recording is worth getting simply for the bonus tracks, makes you wonder why they cut them, in particular 'Smile Girls' . You Gotta Get a Gimmick is sadly
lacking in percussion , not enough bump and grind, the rest of the tracks are fine if you dont mind Patti's vocal gymnastics. October 21, 2008

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