Did Judy Garland ever record Anyone Can Whistle?

[morosco]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 12:44pm

Seems like a perfect number for her.

Updated On: 7/15/20 at 12:44 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 1:30pm

Nope.  But she DID sing Sondheim on her fabulous CBS variety show: 

 

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 3:00pm

This just makes me upset we never got Judy's Rose. I know it just wasn't possible for many reasons, but imagine what Francine Gumm, vaudeville child star, could have done with Rose Hovick. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 3:11pm

nasty_khakis said: "This just makes me upset we never got Judy's Rose. I know it just wasn't possible for many reasons, but imagine what Francine Gumm, vaudeville child star, could have done with Rose Hovick."

Frances Gumm.  Not Francine.  Frances.  

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 3:28pm

It has long been rumored that one of the possible Rose/Louise pairings pitched to Warner when they first made Gypsy in '62 was Judy and Ann-Margret. Not so sure about the latter, but Judy would've been a beast. (Actually, funnily enough, when I read the screenplay written for Barbra much later, I tend to picture Judy in my head rather than Barbra for some reason.)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 4:19pm

Does the Barbra screenplay differentiate much from the stage libretto? And was that Laurents' work or someone else adapting it?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 5:12pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Does the Barbra screenplay differentiate much from the stage libretto? And was that Laurents' work or someone else adapting it?"

Richard LaGravenese was adapting the screenplay with Streisand.  Barry Levinson was attached to direct before the plug was pulled.  

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 5:27pm

I always love watching Judy perform! She's absolutely mesmerizing,but what I love most is that it's easy to see that she LOVED performing and was happiest when she was doing it. She had so much enthusiasm and joy that she made it fun just to watch her. It always brings a smile to my face.

I'm reminded of something Katrina Lenk said in an interview that I read online: "....I f***ing love what I'm doing." That also describes Judy to a T.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 7:16pm

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "It has long been rumored that one of the possible Rose/Louise pairings pitched to Warner when they first madeGypsyin '62 was Judy and Ann-Margret. Not so sure about the latter, but Judy would've been a beast. (Actually, funnily enough, when I read the screenplay written for Barbra much later, I tend to picture Judy in my head rather than Barbra for some reason.)"

It is funny, I have always been a huge fan of Rosalind Russell, although I am the first to acknowledge that she had a tendency to chew the scenery in some movies.  Gypsy is the only movie in which I really disliked her performance.  

Gypsy was filmed around the time that Judgement in Nuremberg was filmed.  Judy G received a well deserved academy award nomination for a small role, proving the raw acting talent was still there.  It is really a shame that no-one would take a chance on her for this; perhaps with a strong director who she trusted, and proper support, she could have gotten through.  We will never know; but, there is no question in my mind that she would not have been far superior to Russell.  Hell, she was great in a pretty bad movie (sorta) musical, I Could Go On Singing, which was released a couple years later.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 7/15/20 at 8:43pm

I often fantasize about Judy as Rose, and many other roles. Oh well.

In response to the original post, my dream Sondheim song to hear Judy sing would be Losing My Mind. I think it would be Earth shattering.

Those are some of the gayest sentences I’ve ever written lol

[joevitus]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 12:00am

nasty_khakis said: "This just makes me upset we never got Judy's Rose. I know it just wasn't possible for many reasons, but imagine what Francine Gumm, vaudeville child star, could have done with Rose Hovick."

Agree two-thousand percent. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 12:03am

One of the sad things about Garland's too-early death is that just a few years later there would have been so many Sondheim songs that would have been perfect for her. Off the top of my head: Being Alive, Ladies Who Lunch, I'm Still Here, Broadway Baby, Send in the Clowns. There is so much in the Sondheim songbook she could have performed definitively. 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 1:25am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Does the Barbra screenplay differentiate much from the stage libretto? And was that Laurents' work or someone else adapting it?"

Let me make that easier for you... (Check your PMs.)

[BJR]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 10:39am

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "It has long been rumored that one of the possible Rose/Louise pairings pitched to Warner when they first madeGypsyin '62 was Judy and Ann-Margret. Not so sure about the latter, but Judy would've been a beast. (Actually, funnily enough, when I read the screenplay written for Barbra much later, I tend to picture Judy in my head rather than Barbra for some reason.)"

How was the screenplay? Anything of note in its adaptation, or simply opening it up? (As if opening it up is simple...)

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 11:21am

Well, here's what I found to be of particular note, on the first go-round at least: 

* The film starts at Minsky's, more or less setting up the final scenes, and turns into a flashback (brilliant stroke of genius to justify Barbra's casting, not that I think it could've done the heavy lifting all by itself)

* "Momma's Talkin' Soft" is back in (a decision I'm surprised no other revival or filmed version has ever considered)

* There's some expansion to Louise's character and her relationship with June

* Rose and Herbie's relationship gets way more development without changing a word or a note (it's conveyed visually, or at least on paper it was meant to be)

* The farmboys number is broken up into two separate scenes and I like the way it's used (the meaning changes just slightly, but the first half is used brilliantly to underline Rose's obliviousness to the outside world)

Most of all, while it's not always word-perfect to Laurents' book, LaGravenese had a firm grasp of how to write in his style while introducing a new take. There are many dialogue exchanges that I forgot weren't in the original libretto, that's how innately he grasps how the characters speak. It was only the second draft (judging by the title page date, it may have been the draft he worked on at Barbra's house and finished before Christmas 2014, according to a Queerty interview), but it was rather strong.

If you wanna know more than that, I could always slide into your PMs like I have everyone else's.

Updated On: 7/16/20 at 11:21 AM

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 7/16/20 at 11:51am

nasty_khakis said: "This just makes me upset we never got Judy's Rose. I know it just wasn't possible for many reasons, but imagine what Francine Gumm, vaudeville child star, could have done with Rose Hovick."

Well, we don't entirely have to imagine it. Former child actor (and, in fact, child "Gypsy" performer) Bernadette Peters did it and, for my money, her experience informed every second of her brilliant Rose.