Gypsy

Author(s): Alex
Location: Washington State

“Gypsy"

Directed by Sam Mendes
Written by Bill Condon
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Music by Julie Styne
With a new Score by Stephen Sondheim

Principal Cast:

Patti LuPone (Mama Rose)
Claire Danes (Louise)
Richard Gere (Herbie)
Amy Adams (June)
Patrick Wilson (Tulsa)

Tagline: "This April…Everything’s Coming Up Roses!!"

Synopsis: Based on the hit Broadway musical, Gypsy is about an aggressive stage mother named Mama Rose. She has been taking her two girls, June and Louise, for as long as they can remember. She promises to make June a star. She’s built a whole act around June. Louise plays a cow that June dances around.

One day, they are auditioning for a part in a local musical, but are rejected by the feisty Italian director. A salesman by the name of Herbie approaches the director and tells him that he’s seen the girls in numerous musicals and says that they’re just what he’s looking for. Herbie is, of course, lying. He likes Rose and when she asks him to be June’s manager he agrees.

Together, they create a new act for June. This time they even hire a few dancers for the act. Louise is still in a cow suit. They continue traveling from state to state, putting on the act, always looking for a gig until one night, Rose finds a note from June. The note reads:

“Dear Mama,

Thanks for everything, but I can’t keep doing this act. Me and Tulsa found a theatre that we can dance at every night. We got our own routine and everything. We’ve been working on it for awhile now, and it’s time I left. Say goodbye to Louise for me!”

Sincerely,

June

This drives Rose insane. The act is nothing without June. Now that Tulsa, one of the dancers, has left all the others leave in search of work. This leaves Rose with Louise and Herbie. Rose promises to now make Louise a star. They try the old act with Louise, but Louise is not June. It’s a disaster.

Looking for work, Herbie finds an old Burlesque theatre they can work at until they have enough money to finance a new act. Rose strenuously objects to working with strippers, and is about to leave until the stage manager can’t find the next act. At this, Rose jumps on the opportunity and sends Louise into the dressing rooms. Herbie is disgusted, but when Rose insists it’s only temporary he reluctantly agrees.

This continues for months. Louise becomes known as “Gypsy Rose Lee” and her act keeps getting dirtier. Like her sister, she tells Rose that she is no longer needed. Herbie also leaves Rose in disgust after she repeatedly turns down his proposals. Rose has hit rock bottom, but Louise is a star. Rose’s dream comes true, but everything has it’s consequences.

What the press would say:

“Gypsy” is one of the best movie musicals springing from a revival of the genre that started with “Evita” and carried on to “Moulin Rouge”, “Chicago”, “Dreamgirls”, and most recently, “Wicked”. For Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone (who starred in “Evita” onstage), the role of Mama Rose began for her in August of 2006, when she played the part in a production of “Gypsy” at the Ravinia Sondheim Festival near Chicago. LuPone will be taking the show to New York soon, but when Sam Mendes (who directed a Broadway revival of “Gypsy” in 2003) saw the performance he immediately asked her to star in a film version. Unknown to most moviegoers, LuPone was apprehensive but finally agreed to take on the role. And thank God she did! This is by far the best performance in this genre beating even Catherine Zeta-Jones’ and Jennifer Hudson’s Oscar-winning performances and will be the first leading performance in a musical to win the Oscar in a long time. Her performance in the film’s signature song, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, is absolutely stunning. You’ll be begging for more! You can count on Patti LuPone to bring home the Gold come Oscar Night. This is by far the first real lock of this Oscar season. Many of you may be thinking, “Hey, she can’t win an Oscar! She’s a Broadway gal!” And to those of you, I say look at Julie Andrews’ performance in “Mary Poppins”, her first ever film role. Claire Danes turns in an admirable performance as LuPone’s naive daughter, Louise, who takes to stripping as her road to fame and Richard Gere is Herbie, the salesman in love with Mama Rose, but is tired of her restless attempts at stardom for her children. Though this is LuPone’s show, both Danes and Gere are very worthy of a nomination. Overall, this fabulous movie musical is definitely going to get nominated in the following categories:

Best Picture
Best Director (Sam Mendes)
Best Actress (Patti LuPone)
Best Supporting Actor (Richard Gere)
Best Supporting Actress (Claire Danes)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Bill Condon)
Best Original Score (Stephen Sondheim)
Best Costume Design
Best Cinematography