Gypsy [2008 Broadway Revival Cast]

by Patti LuPone

Overview

The third Broadway revival of the 1959 musical Gypsy closed on May 30, 2004; the fourth, chronicled on this album, opened on March 27, 2008, a gap of less than four years. Ordinarily, even a perennially popular show like Gypsy would be revived on Broadway only, say, once a decade. But few questioned the wisdom of mounting the show again in 2008, and it quickly became a hit before winning three Tony Awards. The reason, simply, is casting. The third revival featured Bernadette Peters in the starring role of Mama Rose, the maniacal stage mother to the girl who becomes stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, a casting decision that some questioned as inappropriate. Quite the opposite was the case with Patti LuPone, who plays Mama Rose here. LuPone has made a career of portraying relatively unsympathetic characters, starting with her Tony-winning turn as Eva Peron in Evita and including Mrs. Lovett, baker of the human meatpies in a 2006 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd. In her liner notes to this album, LuPone recounts her agreeing to appear in a 2006 production of Gypsy at the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago by saying that she knew "there were many people who wanted to see me play the part," a considerable understatement. That performance was followed by one as part of the City Center Encores! series of concert versions of musicals in New York in 2007, and then this production. Although the casting might seem perfect, however, LuPone had to actually go out and make the role her own, and she has, resulting in her second Tony Award. Her Mama Rose is full of pain and guile as well as bluster, just what the part needs. And, of course, it is sung beautifully. Happily, the star is accompanied by strong supporting performers, including Boyd Gaines as Rose's romantic interest Herbie, and Laura Benanti as Louise (aka Gypsy Rose Lee), both of whom also took home Tonys. Record producer Robert Sher and his associates seem to have realized that, even if LuPone and co. could make theatergoers forget all previous Gypsys on-stage, they had to compete with four previous cast albums, not to mention a movie and a TV soundtrack, and they have done so by making this, as the liner notes say, "the most complete recording of Gypsy ever." It is, in fact, more than complete in that surviving creators Arthur Laurents (who wrote the book) and Stephen Sondheim (who wrote the lyrics to Jule Styne's music) dug into their trunks and found a batch of cut songs, then had the current cast perform them. These tracks, two versions of "Mother's Day," "Momma's Talkin' Soft" (a countermelody to "Small World"), "Nice She Ain't," "Smile, Girls," "Who Needs Him?," and "Three Wishes for Christmas," open up the show in interesting ways. In particular, "Nice She Ain't" might have given Herbie more to do, if the original actor cast in the part, Jack Klugman, had had enough of a singing voice to sing it; Gaines does. "Smile, Girls" and "Who Needs Him?" are excellent songs, although it's easy to tell why they were cut, since they are essentially redundant in terms of the plot. "Three Wishes for Christmas" deserves to join the pantheon of perennially popular holiday songs, and now it may get its chance. With this material, the 2008 Gypsy is more than just another terrific recording of one of Broadway's best scores. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	08/26/2008
Label:	Time/Life Music
UPC:	0610583243123

Tracks

1. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Overture
2. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. May We Entertain You
3. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Some People
4. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Seattle to Los Angeles
5. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Small World
6. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Baby June and Her Newsboys/Let Me Entertain You
7. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Have an Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone
8. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Little Lamb
9. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. You'll Never Get Away from Me
10. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Dainty June and Her Farmboys
11. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Broadway
12. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. If Momma Was Married
13. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. All I Need Is the Girl
14. Gypsy, musical~Act 1. Everything's Coming Up Roses
15. Gypsy, musical~Act 2. Madame Rose's Toreadorables
16. Gypsy, musical~Act 2. Together Wherever We Go
17. Gypsy, musical~Act 2. You Gotta Get a Gimmick
18. Gypsy, musical~Act 2. The Strip
19. Gypsy, musical~Act 2. Rose's Turn
20. Gypsy, musical~Tomorrow's Mothers Day (cut from Gypsy)
21. Gypsy, musical~Mother's Day (alternate version) (cut from Gypsy)
22. Gypsy, musical~Small World/Momma's Talkin' Soft (cut from Gypsy)
23. Gypsy, musical~Nice She Ain't (cut from Gypsy)
24. Gypsy, musical~Smile, Girls (cut from Gypsy)
25. Gypsy, musical~Who Needs Him? (cut from Gypsy)
26. Gypsy, musical~Three Wishes for Christmas (cut from Gypsy)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Patti LuPone   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bill Bateman   Vocals
Laura Benanti   Vocals
Marilyn Caskey   Vocals
Gypsy Pit Orchestra   Orchestra
Gypsy Cast Ensemble   Choir/Chorus
Sami Gayle   Vocals
Leigh Ann Larkin   Vocals
Patrick Vaccariello   Conductor
Tony Yazbeck   Vocals
Lenora Nemetz   Vocals
Emma Rowley   Vocals
Boyd Gaines   Vocals
Alison Fraser   Vocals

Technical Credits

Steven Suskin   Synopsis,Liner Notes
Patti LuPone   Liner Notes,Actor
Sid Ramin   Orchestration
Laura Benanti   Actor
Bas Hartong   A&R
Jonathan Tunick   Orchestration,Supervising Orchestrator
Jule Styne   Composer
Tim Mitchell   Assistant Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Adam Long   Editing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Stephen Sondheim   Lyricist
Robert Sher   Mixing,Editing,Producer,Package Concept
Mike Jason   Executive Producer
Robert Ginzler   Orchestration
Joan Marcus   Cover Photo,Photography
Serino Coyne   Logo Design
Arthur Laurents   Book,Stage Director
Susan Winslow   Project Manager
Paul Kolnik   Photography
Jason Buell   Associate Producer
Olivia Kim   Editorial Research
Brandon Wardell   Producer
Sean Patrick Flahaven   Music Consultant
Daniel Troob   Orchestration
Joseph Weiss   Consultant
Martin Pakladinaz   Illustrations
Sami Gayle   Actor
Betty Wahlberg   Dance Arrangement
Sabrina Colao Blaiklock   Project Manager
Joshua Clayton   Orchestration
Tony Boggs   Assistant Engineer
Mike Vecchio   Assistant Engineer
Lenora Nemetz   Actor
Darrell McClanahan   Mastering
Donald Oliver   Music Preparation
Philo Barnhart   Illustrations