Streisand's "Gypsy" still on despite Laurents' passing

[chanel]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:53am

Good news.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2011/05/streisands_gyps_1.php

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:54am

Barbra gets the movie AND doesn't have to deal with him. Sounds like a win/win for her.

[Will42]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:55am

More like 'thanks to his passing'.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:55am

I may see it on DVD.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 12:06pm

Oh, dear! Well, it's not like Arthur really had anything to do with the other two film versions, so I doubt his passing really changes much for this production. What they need is a visionary director to give it some punch.

I swear, if they stage Rose's Turn with just an old broad bumping her way from one end of an empty stage to another, I'm going to scream. It works brilliantly on stage, but on film, you can't get much more boring than that. This is a woman's mental breakdown. Can we get a little more creative? How about she actually sees the audience and interacts with them a little bit? For some reason, I keep picturing Meryl Streep in Ironweed, when she sings that song in the bar, imagining that she's wonderful and everyone loves her, only for her fantasy to fade out as she shrieks the last few notes of the song out. It's a chilling moment!

I'll give this one a shot. Besides, it'll certainly be nice to see Gypsy back on the big screen in one way or another.

[JP2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 12:07pm

It was never off.

[Brick]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:10pm

^Sadly.

[N2Theater]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:40pm

It's being re-written, no Mama Rose, she'll be Grandma Rose.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 4:05pm

Hmmm... maybe this film remake will be a chance to see some of the cut songs restored, especially with the stars like Barbra and Tom Hanks that are being courted for this picture. "Nice She Ain't" would be a nice spotlight moment for Tom, as well as "Smile, Girls" giving Barbra another singing opportunity at the mid-section of the film (start of Act Two on stage), where her character is largely idling singing-wise... can't let La Streisand miss an opportunity to open her mouth.

ETA: It would also allow Sondheim to cut some of the numbers he considers more problematic (on stage even, never mind for film), such as "Have an Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone" (among that number's many other titles), as he makes such a big deal in Finishing the Hat over making his shows more film-ready.

Updated On: 5/7/11 at 04:05 PM

[nybearhugz]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:14pm

Do we really need to see a 70 year old playing the mother of young children...let it be already!!!!!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:28pm

I highly doubt this film will happen, but I'm still intrigued as to how it would do. It'll really come down to who directs it, I wonder who they are looking at to direct. Someone like Mike Nichols or Baz Luhrman (two very different yet really bright directors) would be great.

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:52pm

For some reason imagining Babs' voice singing Smile Girls just has me bent over with laughter.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:16pm

Herbie: Kevin Kline
Louise: Anne Hathaway
Dainty June: Anna Kendrick

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 12:22pm

Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, and allegedly Les Mis if that ever happens) was being looked at for the Streisand Gypsy last I heard. I agree Mike Nichols would be a better choice. Luhrmann has yet to do a musical piece grounded in realism on film; I would have to see how his Jesus Christ Superstar turns out to be sure.

As for the script, my ideal Gypsy film would trim the fat, and at the same time reduce a lot of the Laurentian B.S. that has come to surround the show with each revival.

* All the book cuts and score changes that don't include removing the "Small World" reprise in Gypsy's dressing room from the Encores!/2008 revival would be made. (At first I thought replace that reprise with "Who Needs Him?" but then I realized that's tipping the scales too far toward LuPone's more deranged unlikeable character^, and if Babs wants anything it's to be liked.)

^ Indeed one wonders why Arthur didn't make that change for the revival anyway since he tried like hell to make her as unsympathetic as possible.

* I'd restore the "Mama's Talkin' Soft" counterpoint so that song doesn't come out of nowhere during "Rose's Turn," and the film audience gets an opportunity to see just how much the two young girls comprehend their mother's conniving nature.

* I'd restore "Nice She Ain't" as a moment for whoever plays Herbie; he didn't sing much due to Jack Klugman's vocal inability during the original production, and Herbie has gradually been given more to sing in each revival, yet somehow "Nice She Ain't" has never returned. In my ideal script, especially considering the fact that Hollywood will court some kind of star to play opposite Ms. Streisand (at last count, it was Tom Hanks?), you need to give that star something to play to fill out the character and assuage their ego.

* Cut "Mr. Goldstone" -- Sondheim has complained long and loud about it, and with Arthur dead, it's the first opportunity Sondheim has to be the show's major cheerleader for what he wants to do with it. If the film gets made, Sondheim will campaign like hell to get this song cut, and likely win, with Hollywood's penchant for removing score material it deems unnecessary.

* That said, the repetitive "roll out a headline" vaudeville opener is bad enough being heard at least twice for June. We don't need to hear it in another guise for Louise, or today's film audience feels cheated. Maybe we catch the tail end of that number, and then when Louise trips up trying to do June's baton bit, the girls get discouraged, and Rose busts up the scenery with "Smile, Girls." La Streisand will not miss an opportunity to sing, and if she loses "Mr. Goldstone," she wants a number of at least equivalent value. Boom. Done.

* This is film, not stage. You can convey by film montage Louise going from awkward first-timer to world-class ecdysiast without too much of Arthur's "witty repartee." Let's put back Minsky's Salute to Christmas, and "Three Wishes for Christmas" along with it.

* "Rose's Turn" will look dead with some old biddy bumping all over an empty stage, so go with a motif based on Jerry Robbins' initial idea that "Rose's Turn" replaced -- the ballet featuring all the people Rose has stepped on or screwed over in her life. A nightmarish dream sequence Rob Marshall would be proud of.

Updated On: 5/8/11 at 12:22 PM

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 12:56pm

I agree with a lot of what you said. People need to understand that the show needs some severe work if it's going to be exciting as a film. Look at the two film versions already available! They're boring, dull, and stagey.

It IS possible to update this show to the screen without it feeling stage bound.

I'm not sure if a full blown ballet is what Rose's Turn needs. I remember hearing that one stage production attempted that and it failed miserably. I think that all eyes should be on Rose at that point. Like I said earlier, maybe put the audience into the mind of Rose so that we can see what she's seeing.

I'd like to see her work the runway and strip a little. Maybe have her rip off her coat to reveal a crazy strip teaser dress, like the one's Louise wears in her acts.

I like the idea of the "Rose" sign busting a few lights during the "For Me"s Sort of showing Rose's mind breaking down.

There's just so much that could be done with that number that's never been done before.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 2:25pm

What it really needs is some new songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber!

[finishmyhat]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 2:35pm

^Perfect. Right after Rose's Turn, we can hear strange music coming from the wings of the stage and then Louise will begin to sing a song about how bad she wants Mama's fabulous shoes. She'll even carry a little voodoo doll of Mama with her to toy with.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 3:46pm

I think we've solved it! haha

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:03pm

"Barbra--I'm telling you: You will make this movie ONLY OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:08pm

I'd pay cash money to see a Barbra movie made from Stevie Nicks's "Gypsy."

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:15pm

Changed my mind about "Who Needs Him?" -- if she can play it as desperate and clinging to the hope that Louise's success will fill the hole, praying that she won't miss him, rather than psychotic and angry, then it might be a good fit. The "Small World" reprise now seems a little too... rueful. Not upset, just too easily regretful, as if she was looking back on it much later from outside the scene, like she's already saying "Well, that's show business" a few scenes too early. She knew what she gave up and she's already washed her hands. "Who Needs Him?" conveys the desperation more for film.

Also, note that I didn't say turn it into a full-blown ballet, I said play with the idea behind the ballet. "Rose's Turn" as a nightmarish sequence is already the basic gist of Arthur's restaging of the scene with her bowing to no applause, so we spell it out on film a little more clearly. Think "Bye Bye Life" from All that Jazz, but less Fosse, more Robbins; less celebratory, more psychotic; less Lullaby of Broadway, more "Slaughter on 10th Avenue."

These thoughts take into mind the notion that audiences need shit spoon-fed to them. As a working producer, statistics show... they do. Sad as it is.

Updated On: 5/8/11 at 05:15 PM

[binau]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:21pm

For Rose's Turn, I think it would be cool to deceive the audience and make them believe she is actually singing to an audience...then at the end of the song..the house instantly becomes empty and the stage dark, and Rose seems vulnerable and pathetic...then Louise walks on stage. The real audience response would make the scene interesting and let Barbara 'perform'. I don't quite know how well this would work with her actually 'breakdowns' during the song, but still.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:35pm

That might be a bit too "I'm Going Home" from ROCKY HORROR.

[binau]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:35pm

I haven't seen Rocky Horror, damn.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 5:37pm

It's pretty much exactly what you described. lol :)