Gypsy, a musical fable (1959)
Book: Arthur Laurents
Music: Jule Styne
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In short: Gypsy is a pinnacle of the classic musical tradition from 1940 to 1965. At its center is the ultimate stage mother, Rose, determined to fulfill her dreams through her children. Sondheim wrote the lyrics.
I’ve always had only one choice in the category of favorite musical.
Frank Rich (award winning theater critic and producer)
It is Gypsy. Gypsy is nothing if not
Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to ”King Lear.”
Overview Gypsy - background and excerpts
Stephen Sondheim about Gypsy
“Despite my frustration at not being allowed to write the music, as well as a small series of unpleasant clashes during the tryout and the New York previews, Gypsy was a joy to create and to help ferry to the stage. It took only four months to write, which may be the chief reason for its spontaneity and vitality. I’ve seen mistaken productions of the show (including those directed by the show’s author) that make it seem contrived or cartoonish, but never does it seem tired. Like Citizen Kane, arrogant though the comparison may be, there’s not a moment in Gypsy that isn’t entertaining.”
More Gypsy: audio and video
Cast albums
Go to More Sondheim for our Sondheim Archives.
Reviews of Gypsy
Original Broadway production (1959)
“The last musical comedy of the season turns out to be the season’s best. As a production, Gypsy hangs together with professional ingenuity and gives Ethel Merman something responsive to work with. […] Since Gypsy has a literate theme, it has put everybody on his best behavior. Mr. Styne has written his most colorful score. The music is fresh and lively in the musical-comedy tradition. Taking every situation on its own level, he has written dramatic songs, as well as Tin Pin Alley tunes. Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics are equally hackneyed. For Gypsy is a thoroughly professional musical. To a good theme it adds the spontaneity of a well-staged show. Nothing is stuck on. The enjoyment comes from the core of a professionally written script and score. And there is a topflight professional at the head of the cast. Miss Merman keeps the whole show terse and bright.” – Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times (1959)
1962 film adaptation
Broadway revival (1974)
“Everything about Gypsy is right. The Jule Styne score has a lilt and a surprise to it. The music bounces out of the pit, assertive, confident and cocky, and has a love affair with Stephen Sondheim’s elegantly paced, daringly phrased lyrics. And then there is the book by Arthur Laurents. But really the book is first. […] Mr. Styne’s music sings with a brassy joyousness, and Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics cheekily but endearingly sneak around the music. Yes, the show has everything going for it.” – Clive Barnes, New York Times (1974)
Broadway revival (1989)
“Gypsy may be the only great Broadway musical that follows its audience through life’s rough familial passages. A wrenching fable about a tyrannical stage mother and the daughters she both champions and cripples – yet also a showcase for one classic Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim song and rousing Jerome Robbins vaudeville routine after another – Gypsy is nothing if not Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to ”King Lear.” It speaks to you one way when you are a child, then chases after you to say something else when you’ve grown up. […] Mr. Styne and Mr. Sondheim are both giants on their own, but in this onetime collaboration they brought out something in each other’s talent that cannot quite be found in their extraordinary separate careers. If there’s no song as angry as ”Some People” in the rest of the Styne canon, neither is there one quite as fragile and vulnerable as ”Little Lamb” in the rest of Mr. Sondheim’s.” – Frank Rich, New York Times (1989)
1993 film adaptation
Broadway revival (2008)
“Oh, it’s a glorious show, no doubt about that. Great score. (Thanks, Jule Styne). Superb lyrics. (Kudos, Mr. Sondheim). Exceptional book. (Congratulations, Arthur Laurents). It’s also an amazingly meaty starring role for any actress able to deliver the goods with heart and gusto.” – Robert Osborn, The Associated Press (2008)
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