SOUND OFF: A Round-Up of GYPSY on Record

This week, both in memory of the real-life Baby June, June Havoc, who passed away this week, as well as a precursory introduction to a multi-part series critiquing the entire canon of all major Sondheim cast albums available in anticipation of the late April opening of the new review SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM (currently in previews at Studio 54), we are taking a listen to the various cast recordings of the major productions on Broadway/West End of GYPSY over the last fifty years. GYPSY was, of course, one of the first scores on Broadway boasting lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and whether a leading lady the likes of Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters or Patti LuPone, it is a score unlike any other before or since and a true pinnacle of not only musical theatre, but all theatre, on Broadway and beyond. Some may even say the greatest musical of all...

Nice She Ain't

GYPSY is one of, if not the absolute, best musical of the last fifty years, so little can be said about the show itself that does it any justice whatsoever in conveying the sheer magnificent accomplishment of dramatic musical theatre in the Broadway tradition that it unquestionably is. GYPSY not only has a perfect musical score, perfect lyrics and the very best book in all of musical theatre, but, furthermore, the sum of its parts is significantly greater than even these somewhat hyperbolically praised attributes individually. Much like Rose brings out the worst in her daughters, the opposite is true of GYPSY for Broadway buffs: GYPSY's brilliance is one thing we can all agree on. Starting with one of the most thrilling overtures ever heard on Broadway, all the way through to the groundbreaking and emotionally earth-shattering Finale, GYPSY reveals the absolute best material Broadway has to offer and no matter who is playing the Rose or the Herbie or the June or the Louise, the first notes of the Overture always bring us back to the birth of our love of Broadway. Never was there a score that paid equal homage as well as parodied the genre as well, and the slick and scrappy score, sly wit of Sondheim's lyrics, the acidic bite of Laurents's book even to this day are unequaled in their impact, precision and practicality in the story being told to us over the course of the show. Few scores are so rich, or three-hour-long musicals so enjoyable, that one wishes even the cut songs were included in performance, but such is the case with GYPSY. Indeed, whether intentional or not, GYPSY follows many of the tried-and-true rules of musical theatre and then breaks them, reassembles them and reveals an entirely new creation before our very ears over the course of the show. No matter who is performing the roles - and, as we shall soon see, some are quite a bit better than others - the show is virtually fool-proof and the innovations of Styne, Sondheim and Laurents are immeasurable if we are to hypothesize about how important GYPSY has been to most of the musicals that have come to Broadway since then. To cite some of the first lyrics from the unforgettable Act One finale "Everything‘s Coming Up Roses", a prescient phrase of Sondheim‘s own creation that has entered the cultural lexicon: "swell" and "great" don't even begin to describe the power of this show or the scope of this score.

Do You Like It? Well I've Got It!

GYPSY - Original Broadway Cast - 50th Anniversary Recording

SCORE: 10/10

Ethel Merman is Rose, no question about it. Her performance is almost incomparable, though for the sake of this round-up comparisons will have to be made, but Merman is only the first of many reasons that make the Original Broadway Cast Recording so invaluable. Masterworks Broadway have recently released a 50th Anniversary Edition that was painstakingly assembled by Thomas Z. Shepard and Didier Duetsch from the original masters and is a case of a remastered edition revealing intricacies and line deliveries never heard before, to thrilling effect. I would even go so far as to say this recording is actually an improvement upon not only the original mono and stereo releases, but also the various re-releases and remasterings that have been done over the years, which is certainly no small feat. This recording of GYPSY, or at least the original Broadway production - more than any other - is definitive, to most. From the thrilling Overture, to Sandra Church's delicate and demur Louise, to Jack Klugman's irrepressible and ingratiating Herbie, to the Merm herself, never has this recording sounded better and the slight additions and adjustments that have been implemented only make it better, stronger and richer. The exhaustively researched liner notes by Martin Gottfried, George B. Dale and Thomas Z. Shepard are illusory and informative and make purchase of the physical CD (as opposed to the iTunes release) a definite must, as do the lovely and rare production photographs and credits included in this glorious re-release, which is also attractively packaged. Additionally, the bonus tracks include an early demo of "Some People" performed by Merman herself, in addition to a few others, as well as two particularly fun and sporadically fascinating interviews with the late Jule Styne (courtesy of Michael Feinstein) and the original mind behind the madness of Rose & Co., Gypsy Rose Lee herself. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of GYPSY is an essential element in the library of every musical theatre fan - though this 50th Anniversary Edition is even better and worth the trade-up - and it has never sounded better or been more complete than it is here. Hats off to Masterworks Broadway for providing us lucky listeners with, truly, the absolute best of the best Broadway has to offer.

Just Try, And You're Gonna See

GYPSY - Original London Cast Recording

SCORE: 7.5/10

Angela Lansbury is one of the greatest dramatic musical theatre performers of all time, certainly a far more accomplished and acclaimed dramatic actress than Merman ever was, which brings a new resonance to the emotional and dramatic interworkings of the character of Rose never revealed before in this London GYPSY, which was directed by one of the show's authors, the formidable Arthur Laurents. While the supporting cast on this album fails to measure up to the original Broadway performers, there are many subtle details and moments enacted here that cast a whole new, significantly different light on not only the inherent drama of the show and the way in which the characters (and actors) interact, but the way we, as the audience, perceive it. To use an example: while it is impossible to go back and view her legendary performance in the role under the precise direction of Laurents, if we consider the eerie surreality of the end of Lansbury's wholly unique (and some would say definitive) "Rose's Turn" in which she continues to bow and soak up the applause - of the imagined audience in her mind and the rapt audience of the theatre itself on any given night - as the orchestra ends it, for the first time we see the wounded little girl desperate for attention and affection that lives at the core of the character, Sondheim's intentionally stuttered "M-m-mama" over the increasingly chaotic orchestration becoming the word of the psyche and body of Rose actually made real and emotionally tangible. Lansbury gives such a rich, studied performance that one could listen to this album a hundred times and still find grist for the critical mill - she is that good. It is a performance simultaneously so big and yet so subtle that one could even get peripatetic in their analysis of her portrayal, Lansbury stands so tall in the role. Technically, this album is one of the weakest discussed here and the orchestra is a little colorless and unexciting, but Lansbury more than makes up for it. Not until Bernadette Peters was "Small World" this sexy, and not until Patti LuPone was "Rose's Turn" as heart-stopping and visceral and moving. This recording is also missing a bunch of material but Lansbury's lean, mean machine of a performance is unforgettable and makes it essential listening.

Small World, Isn't it?

GYPSY - 1989 Broadway Revival Cast Recording

SCORE: 6/10

Far and away the least satisfying of all major GYPSY recordings, except for, perhaps, the soundtrack to the misguided and intermittently boring motion picture (intentionally not discussed here), the Tyne Daly production of GYPSY was lauded at the time for revealing that Rose is first and foremost an acting role, and even someone without the vocal chops to really carry it off the way Styne and Sondheim intended can still succeed if their will is strong enough. Never fear: Daly's is. Laurents also directed this revival and while Claire Moore and Jonathan Hadary are fine in their roles, they really don't put in anything more than solid work which is admirable but not astonishing or in any way revelatory. Daly was in poor voice, with a cold, at the time this recording was made so perhaps it is unfair to really compare her to the other Roses discussed here, but since this is all we have we must try. "Mr. Goldstone" is perhaps the most madcap and manic of any on record - and hilarious, to boot - with Daly making it even more ribald and over-the-top than it had ever been before. She is a fantastic comedienne and a stalwart dramatic actress and she uses all of both sets of skills with much success, though sonically there is a lot of rough road on the journey we take with her on this tinny, empty-sounding album. Her "You'll Never Get Away From Me" is arresting - and, dare I say it, quite sexual - and she manages to wring every last emotion and sentiment out of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", so for those two tracks alone she is to be commended. In the scheme of things, and GYPSY on record, the incompleteness and blandness of this recording - with the sole exception of Daly's blistering, brusque Rose - renders it the least recommendable of the bunch, alas, yet Daly is an entertaining personality with a unwavering grasp on the role and it is worth checking out if only for the curiosity factor provided by comparing this to the other cast albums available. Daly is damn good, but the recording is lacking.

So Much More Demurer

GYPSY - 2003 Broadway Revival Recording

SCORE: 8/10

This production will always hold a special place in my heart if only because it was the first production of GYPSY I saw on Broadway and my first exposure to Bernadette Peters live. Sure, director Sam Mendes made myriad missteps in his navigation of the material and the evening did not come together the way his directorial concept seemed to hint that it would - perhaps the barren brick wall at the back of the stage by the time "Rose's Turn" was sung was his idea of nothingness and an empty emotional wasteland for the character, but, if so, talk about heavy-handedness - but Peters is totally idiosyncratic and unlike her predecessors in many, even most, ways, and makes Rose all her own. While Daly hinted at the sexual swagger inherent in the character, Peters makes that her major selling point - and sell she does! As well as beg, borrow and steal. Not since Merman has Rose seemed as much a huckster, both willing to sacrifice anything to make her dreams come true and stepping over anyone else to make them come alive for her own selfish reasons. Tammy Blanchard was positively fierce onstage, giving a sentimentality to Louise merely hinted at by Church and Moore and creating a cultured, if affected, Gypsy in the final "Let Me Entertain You" that is decidedly 21st century, but also quite delightful. Also, this is one of the best acted and most complete "Let Me Entertain You (Strip)" so Blanchard and the producers are due kudos for those things, as well. Also a bit too knowing and modern, and a bit too beaten and disaffected, is John Dossett's Herbie, who otherwise sings the role well but leaves little impression, though he is certainly better than some other Herbies we have had throughout the decades. This revival was designed around Peters and catered to her status as one of the premiere interpreters of the Sondheim canon - due in no small part to her creation of the roles of Dot/Marie in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and The Witch in INTO THE WOODS - and the focus here is on the lyrics, even more so than the music or book. A great GYPSY must balance all three elements equally and that is not the case here, yet Peters gives one of the most committed performances of not only any Rose, but of any actress on a cast album in the last few decades. Peters gives her Rose everything she's got and Blanchard is near-perfect as Louise, yet the recording is unsatisfying for many and at times lacks a certain spark. Special mention must be made to David Burtka, one of the very best Tulsa's on record with a delectable "All I Need Is The Girl". As I have stated before, I like this recording quite a lot and find more to like in it than many, but no one can say that Peters is anything less than spectacular. Bernadette Peters, along with Patti LuPone, is one of the last true great Broadway stars and we are lucky to be so blessed as to have other GYPSY recordings as good, if not better, than this exciting and, in the case of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", brilliant portrayal and considerate preservation of a controversial but accomplished production. Peters and Blanchard make this a definite must-own and the technical production quality of the album is sparkling and fresh-sounding.

If You're Real Good

GYPSY - 2008 Broadway Revival Recording

SCORE: 10/10

Patti LuPone, for all intents and purposes - and not unlike Angela Lansbury and Ethel Merman before her - IS Rose. A different Rose, an all-encompassing Rose, but a Rose all the same (even by another name). Her Rose is desperate, calculating, driven and a little bit crazy. Under the direction of Laurents, LuPone takes everything that all the other actresses we have discussed here gave to Rose and also adds to it her own inimitable spin on the character. The result is astounding. It is unlikely we will ever have a performer with both the sheer vocal force and indefatigable commitment to character the likes of which LuPone delivers here. This is, all hyperbole aside, a performance for the ages and anyone who saw LuPone live onstage knows what a powerhouse portrayal of Rose this is. You may not immediately like or even necessarily enjoy LuPone's Rose as mere entertainment at first, yet she commands our attention above all else. So many nuances, so much detail, so rich a meal this feast of acting is, not only because of LuPone but also in no small part due to the nearly equally innovative and interesting work from the lustrous Laura Benanti and wounded-hound-dog Herbie of Boyd Gaines. This is undoubtedly the best all-around and most complete cast album of GYPSY on the market and certainly the best representation of the score on disc to date, without question. As if the rich performances and stunning technical production were not enough, the album also contains every cut song ever written for the show, with the respective actors performing each in-character, and Jonathan Tunick's quite stunning and vintage-sounding new orchestrations for them knocking the whole package when collectively considered out of the park and into the sonic stratosphere. "Smile Girls" and "Three Wishes For Christmas" are so much fun and so ingratiating that I wish a production was allowed to include them just for the sheer fun of it. LuPone's "Rose's Turn" is definitive, even more so than Merman, and we should thank our lucky stars that the theatre gods are benevolent enough as to allow us to experience a performance of this magnificence and magnitude in our lifetime, if only on disc. With the sole exception of the Original Broadway Cast Recording, for obvious reasons, this is without a doubt the GYPSY cast recording for the ages. It succeeds in every way and I simply cannot recommend it enough, so if you have not devoured it yet, do yourself a favor and do so at the soonest possible time for this recording is truly timeless and a staggering work of genius in every conceivable way.

I Want Your Spirits To Climb

Whether you want the brass and ballsiness of Merman, the detail and precision of Lansbury, the brusque sexiness of Daly, the wailing wounded-bird of Peters or the mother of Mama's in LuPone, the long and winding roads of the many productions GYPSY has had over the years attest to the fact this is a musical like few others. Like Shakespeare, every production reveals something new about the characters, the drama and the meaning of the show. Is it about family? Is it about showbiz? Is it about the need for acceptance, whether by strangers, peers or family members themselves? Is it all of these things and more? I think so. GYPSY is one of the greatest landmarks in the history of theatre and you would be well advised to seek out all these recordings and find out for yourself what GYPSY means to you and why you like the recording you like. Like any great work of art, the individual interpretation varies greatly, but, no matter what, with a cast recording of GYPSY in your hands you will undoubtedly be "swell" and "great". And so much more. After all, GYPSY is the greatest musical ever written in the Broadway tradition.