Gypsy struggles on
Well, our local musical theater group is still trying to cast Gypsy. I went by the night of singing auditions and there were very few people there that evening. Weather was miserable the next night, so I didn't go by for reading auditions. All of the parts in that show that I could possibly play are non-singing roles, so doing a vocal audition for the show really didn't make any sense for me to try. I came home from work one evening last week and the Roz Russell film version of Gypsy was on Turner Classic Movies, so I sat down and watched it, just to refresh myself on the show.
The film is fairly true to the show, and has a great trio of dames doing the showstopping You Gotta Have a Gimmick. If you're not familiar with the show, this song is where three older strippers teach Gypsy Rose Lee that you don't need to be untalented to strip, just have an idea that makes you stand out from the crowd. One does a gladiator ballet while blowing on a trumpet, one claims to be a ballerina and does her act while wearing a butterfly outfit and the third has lights sewn into her costume and lights them up while doing her turn. The number is hilarious and almost always stops the show when performed. The film has the one of the two original cast members from the Broadway cast to reprise their role in the film. Faith Dane plays Mazzeppa, the trumpet blowing stripper with great brass and a whiskey voice. She's quite wonderful in the role. Apparently she is still alive and kicking and living in the Washington, DC area. When the Tyne Daly revival of the show came through town while I was still living there, she apparently came to see it and met the cast afterward. I don't know if she gave any tips to the gal playing her role, but I'd have loved to have heard the conversation.
The film is fairly true to the show, and has a great trio of dames doing the showstopping You Gotta Have a Gimmick. If you're not familiar with the show, this song is where three older strippers teach Gypsy Rose Lee that you don't need to be untalented to strip, just have an idea that makes you stand out from the crowd. One does a gladiator ballet while blowing on a trumpet, one claims to be a ballerina and does her act while wearing a butterfly outfit and the third has lights sewn into her costume and lights them up while doing her turn. The number is hilarious and almost always stops the show when performed. The film has the one of the two original cast members from the Broadway cast to reprise their role in the film. Faith Dane plays Mazzeppa, the trumpet blowing stripper with great brass and a whiskey voice. She's quite wonderful in the role. Apparently she is still alive and kicking and living in the Washington, DC area. When the Tyne Daly revival of the show came through town while I was still living there, she apparently came to see it and met the cast afterward. I don't know if she gave any tips to the gal playing her role, but I'd have loved to have heard the conversation.