Laura Benanti Boyd Gaines - Gypsy 2008 Original Broadway Cast (23 tracks) +Album Reviews

PATTIS' TURN

Robert F. Powers | Quincy, Ma USA | 08/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Roses' Turn" is one of the greatest 11 0' clock numbers ever written for the stage and 50 years ago when Ethel Merman stormed Broadway in "Gypsy" she grabbed the song in a strangle-hold and never let it go.......until now. Patti Lupone roars through this nervous breakdown set to music like a diesel train until the track (pun intended) threatens to lift off the CD. Ms Lupone is simply amazing.

She also belts the first act finale "Everything's Coming Up Roses" with her almost psychotic determination to make Louise the neglected and seemingly untalented daughter into a star after June the perceived star runs off with a dancer from their vaudeville act to escape the clutches of Mama Rose. This song as performed is one of the scariest songs about optimism.

Rose also shows a softer side with "Small World" but even here she has ulterior motives as she seduces poor hapless Herbie a candy salesman into becoming the manager of her rag-tag vaudeville troupe. Boyd Gaines is excellent as spineless Herbie until he grows a backbone and leaves Rose when she pushes Louise into becoming a stripper.

Laura Benanti who I liked in "Nine" and "The Wedding Singer" sings the poignant "Little Lamb" where all she wants for her birthday is to know how old she is (Mama Rose purposely never counted the years).

The score by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim is loaded with other goodies such as "You'll Never Get Away From Me" "If Momma Was Married" "Together, Wherever We Go" "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" and "Let Me Entertain You" which is a appropriate cornball song Rose uses and uses and uses for her hilariously awful vaudeville routine for Dainty June and Louise. There is also a number "Mr Goldstone" where Mr Sondheim uses his clever lyric writing and in the course of a two-minute song manages to pair up the word stone with every kind of stone he could think of eg: grindstone, milestone, rhinestone, millstone and gallstone.

Does anyone really need another "Gypsy" for their musical theatre library? Yes you do when it's Patti Lupone And does Ms Lupone wrest the crown from the great Merman? Well...lets just say the crown now sits a little lop-sided but whomever you prefer, the dynamic Patti Lupone will not dissapoint you.

One little theatrical anecdote: It has always been rumored that when "Gypsy" was being rehearsed, Ethel Merman was threatened by the talents of the young actress who played the title role. She exercised her diva will and had the creators tone down her role. This accounts for the fact that Gypsy is nearly a supporting role. This incident was the inspiration for Jacquelin Sussans "Valley of the Dolls" where Patty Duke as Neely O'Hara was an up and coming broadway musical performer and is fired when Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson the star is worried that the young upstart may outshine her."

HERE SHE IS BOYS, A MUST HAVE FOR GYPSY FANS!!!

Frank | 08/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Patti Lupone's phenomenal performance as Mamma Rose is captured on this extensive recording, including songs that were cut from the original production.

If you have other recordings of Gypsy, you will still want this in your collection. Patti Lupone's Gypsy is the finest of the many recordings of Gypsy released over the last 30 years. Laura Benanti as Gypsy and Boyd Gaines as Herbie also lift this recording to must have status.

If you don't buy this recording for yourself, buy it FOR ME, FOR ME,

FOR MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

"

Here She Is, World!

Rudy Palma | NJ | 09/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ladies and gentleman, presenting Ms. Patti LuPone in her finest hour.

Upon what feels like the umpteenth Broadway production and cast recording, is it really worth it to add this "Gypsy" to your CD collection? You can bet your bottom dollar.

Not only has this tight, supremely gifted cast immortalized its performance on this recording (seeing them perform the show live, however, cannot be equaled - this team works like gangbusters on a nightly basis; I've seen the show on 3 occasions over 3 months), but dusted off many Stephen Sondheim/Jule Styne compositions cut from the original 1959 production and given them a home on record for the first time.

Selections like "Who Needs Him?," which was intended to follow Herbie's departure, or "Smile, Girls," an upbeat, humorous, castanet-filled selection for Rose only heard during one ever performance of "Gypsy" - a 1959 tryout in Philadelphia with the inimitable Ethel Merman - are expertly delivered with equal passion and gusto as staples like "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "You'll Never Get Away From Me," making this particular cast recording a warm, scintillating time capsule.

Boyd Gaines also injects "Nice She Ain't," cut from the original production due to Jack Klugman's reluctance to sing it (on account of his pedestrian vocal abilities) with finesse and personality.

The orchestra is so precise and full of pitch-perfect timing that its performance on record is equal to that of one of the show's nightly performances scheduled to play through January 2009. The sound is tight, inspired and perfectly professional. You can't ask for better.

Without the benefit of between-numbers dialogue, the listener can still perceive Louise's transformation from awkward, underappreciated teenager to bodacious brunette bombshell Gypsy Rose Lee thanks to Laura Benanti's remarkable abilities. LuPone makes Rose as larger than life as Gaines makes Herbie sympathetic and forsaken.

Key contributions from Tony Yazbeck ("All I Need Is the Girl") and Leigh Ann Larkin ("Broadway") also shine with all the sparkle and sizzle exemplary of a top-notch production of "Gypsy."

If there's any way possible, make your way to the St. James Theater by January 4, 2009. Either way, get your hands on this disc."

PATTI LUPONE CREATES THEATRICAL HISTORY: AN ESSENTIAL, VIBRA

DEWEY MEE | ELLENSBURG, WA, | 08/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Here she is boys...here she is world!" Here is Patti LuPone as Mama Rose in the musical theatre classic "Gypsy."

History has definitely proven that "Gypsy" can survive without Ethel Merman. Librettist/director Arthur Laurents seems to have the magic touch with this show. Laurents has directed three different productions of "Gypsy", and each time he has directed it, the actress playing Mama Rose: Angela Lansbury (1973-1974), Tyne Daly (1989), and now Patti LuPone (2008) has received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The 2008 Production also saw Boyd Gains (Herbie) and Laura Benanti (Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee) win Tony Awards as Best Supporting Actor and Actress in a musical, respectively.

But after Ethel Merman, Rosalind Russell (1962 film version), Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bette Midler (camping it up and desperately channeling Ethel Merman in a TV presentation) and Bernadette Peters have all taken individual turns as Mama Rose, you may well wonder... do we need another Cast Recording with Patti LuPone? The answer is a resounding "YES!!!!!" This recording is so fresh and vibrant, it seems that the show was just written today instead of nearly 50 years ago. Patti LuPone gives a ferocious performance as Mama Rose; justifying all the praise she has deservedly received and creating theatrical history in her own right.

And, unlike Mama Rose, Patti LuPone does not hog the spotlight here. Boyd Gaines makes a touching Herbie, and Laura Benanti, alternately heartbreaking and sultry-seductive, is a major revelation as the pushed aside daughter Louise who comes into her own as sophisticated stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

The CD booklet is packed with gorgeous color production photos. The CD boolet also includes a complete synopsis and the entire 50 year history of "Gypsy"; and entertaining liner notes by LuPone. This CD also includes seven songs cut from the show prior to Broadway. The one outstanding "cut" song is "Smile, Girls"-- which furthur reinforces Mama Rose's unwavering drive and optimism in the face of reality and disaster. LuPone's tour-de-force, go for broke performance of "Rose's Turn", the emotional and mental breakdown that Rose has long been on the brink of, will haunt you. This recording is absolutely essential for fans of Patti LuPone and the musical theatre masterpiece that is "Gypsy.""

Patti LuPone in the role she was born to play

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 09/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly, I must say how disappointed I am with the Amazon reviewer writing "The Gypsy soundtrack includes bonus tracks.Curtain Up!"

This is NOT a soundtrack. If the Amazon reviewer does not know the difference between a (film) soundtrack and a (stage) cast recording they are not qualified to write reviews of these products.

That said, this is a smashing recording.

True, the role was written for Ethel Merman and her performance is a Broadway legend. The 1959 original Broadway cast recording is indispensable.

Other actresses have approached the role from a variety of angles. Rosalind Russell (dubbed, in part at least, by Lisa Kirk) gave us Rose as played by Auntie Mame. The film is watchable but the CD is barely listenable.

Next came Angela Lansbury's thoughtful performance. Lansbury doesn't quite have the vocal range the score demands but she acts the songs better.

Tyne Daly was dramatically intense on stage but poor health at the time of the recording shone a spotlight on her vocal inadequacies.

Bette Midler tried admirably to make the part her own but there is a bit too much Bette and not enough Rose in her performance.

With Bernadette Peters we come to the first real attempt to reexamine the role and make Rose over into something new and different. If it doesn't fully succeed it is mainly because the show was written for Merman's mighty belt. Had it been written for Peters it would have been a vastly different show, but Peters stepped into the existing script. She tries hard and succeeds at some points, but she is obviously wearing a gown fitted to another actress.

With Patti LuPone we have an actress who has both the vocal and dramatic muscle for this role. It's no wonder she won the Tony Award. As did her co-stars, Boyd Gains and Laura Benanti. Their performances on this CD perfectly capture the excitement a good production of GYPSY can generate.

Album producer Robert Sher wanted to make this recording stand out from the others and with the permission of Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim and the estate of Jule Styne, six songs that were written for the show but cut before the original production opened are presented here as bonus tracks.

Since the rest of the GYPSY score is well known and everyone probably already has at least one of their favourite Roses on disc, it is the bonus material that will drive the decision to add this one to your collection.

If the songs were obvious clunkers this would only be of interest to cast album mavens who must have every performance recorded. But they are not. These are outstanding songs, perhaps not perfectly suited to the final book of GYPSY but certainly on the same level as everything else in the score.

For years the story regarding the dropping of "Mamma's Talking Soft" - the counterpoint to "Small World" - have been passed around. In short one of the child actresses was afraid of heights and the only way the number worked was to show them peering down on Rose as she seduces Herbie. The simple solution was to cut their part of the number. In truth the scene probably works better in its simpler form, but bow is your chance to hear the full version. You may even program your player to includ3e this in place of the standard version.

Similarly, you can program the delightfully funny "Smile Girls" in place of "Toreadorables." True it would not really work in the show, but on CD, it's great!

"Three Wishes For Christmas" is going to get a lot of airplay on my radio show this holiday season, and the "Mothers's Day" numbers will be useful next May.

"Who Needs Him" is a dramatic soliloquy for Rose and on CD nicely fills teh gap left by the missing reprise of "Small World." The reprise is really just a few phrases sung by Rose after Herbie walks out. Dramatically effective in the theatre, it would not work as a stand-alone track on a CD. This brings up an interesting point: Cast albums can and should reflect the score as heard in the theatre, but they must also provide the home listener with a coherent musical program. Sometimes segments (dance music and reprises) that are effective in the theatre, do not translate well to recordings. Of course with CD's allowing almost 80 minutes of playing time, they can be included and a discerning listener can always program the tracks out, but Robert Sher knows the value of creating a recording where one track leads quite naturally into another and he wisely left this bit off.

The packaging is the icing on the cake here. A glossy booklet with plenty of pictures, a detailed synopsis and some fascinating essays will provide all the context you need.

In short, this is one of the most satisfying cast albums to come along in quite some time.

"

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