As Broadway musicals go, the Styne/Sondheim/Laurents production of "Gypsy" has had a life almost as colorful, eventful - and certainly as entertaining - as the person who inspired it: the late actress, author and burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee.
"Gypsy" first burst on the Broadway scene in 1959. It was an immediate sensation.With louder-than-life Ethel Merman in the role of overbearing Mama Rose, the stage mother of all stage mothers, it was practically fail-proof.
But - and you're not going to believe this - "Gypsy" won no Tony Awards that season.
None. Zip.
It was nominated in several categories, including best musical, best actress (Merman), supporting actor (Jack Klugman), supporting actress (Sandra Church), director (Jerome Robbins), musical direction, scenery and costuming. But it was up against such shows as "The Sound of Music" and "Fiorello!" and both of these tied for best musical.
Ironically, in 1990, actress Tyne Daly did receive a Tony for her big revival of "Gypsy."
Warner Bros. brought the show to the big screen in 1962 using a "Hollywood" cast - Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden. It did well at the box office, but most critics were lukewarm about Russell. She may have been more "bankable," but didn't have The Merm's calliopean vocal cords.
Most recently, NBC presented a critically acclaimed made-for-television version with brassy Bette Midler as Mama Rose.
Now, Salt Lakers will have another opportunity to see the show live on stage - the way it was originally written to be seen. Previously, it was staged locally on the Pioneer Memorial Theatre stage in May 1977 and a couple of seasons back as part of Weber State University's summer stock Utah Musical Theatre lineup.
Salt Lake Community College's Grand Theatre will be filled with the music and tinseled gaudiness of backstage life during the 1930s, when vaudeville was declining and burlesque was on the rise.
Directed and choreographed by Alan LaFleur, this newest edition of "Gypsy" will play from Feb. 25 through March 12 at SLCC's South City Campus, 1575 S. State St.
Following the opening on Friday night, performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, with a matinee at 2 p.m. on the final date, Saturday, March 12. Admission ranges from $2 to $10. For reservations, call 468-4222.
The Grand Theatre is located at 1575 S. State St., at SLCC's South City campus (formerly South High School).
The "Gypsy" cast includes Camille Gerber as Mama Rose and 16-year-old Victoria Matlock as the "grown-up" Louise - the vaudeville kid who became world famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.
Pat Davis, managing director of the Grand Theatre, says Gerber combines the vocal power of Merman, the flair of Russell and the tenacity of Midler.
It's not likely, though, that Gerber had to go to quite the extreme that Ethel Merman did before the Broadway version opened. Merman had read Gypsy Rose Lee's biography and let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that she would shoot anyone else who got the part of Gypsy's ambitious mother. According to Stanley Green, in his book, "The World of Musical Comedy," Merman got the part without firing a shot.
Gerber, recently seen as the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," also at the Grand, has also performed in "The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan," "Annie" and "Scrooge," all for SLCC, and Bountiful Community Theater's "Side by Side by Sondheim."
One big name in local theater, Equity actress Jayne Luke, will play Tessie Tura, one of the three seasoned strippers in the "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" number, when Louise is faced with adapting her worn-out vaudeville routine for a considerably different audience in a Wichita burlesque theater, where Rose's troupe has mistakenly been booked.
The other two strippers - Electra and Mazepa - will be played by Lenore Cambria and Angela Evans.
Others in the cast include James A. Dale as Herbie, Ashley Jarrett as Baby June (who, in real life, grew up to become actress June Havoc), Carla Jarrett as Baby Louise, Kellie Day as the adult June and Bruce Craven as Uncle Jocko.
Dale starred in the melodrama spoof of "The Phantom of the Opera" at Desert Star Playhouse, as Capt. Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" for City Rep, as Cromwell in StageRight's "A Man for All Seasons" and appeared in both "My Fair Lady" and `Evita" for Pioneer Theatre Company.
Luke was artistic director of the Sundance Summer Theatre for the past 13 seasons and has been featured in numerous productions both at Pioneer Memorial Theatre and the Grand, including "Annie," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Death of a Salesman," "The Grapes of Wrath" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." She also choreographed "Cabaret," "Evita" and "My Fair Lady."
With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents, "Gypsy" has one of the best scores ever written for a Broadway musical, with such show-stoppers as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Let Me Entertain You," "Some People," "Small World," "You'll Never Get Away From Me," "Rose's Turn," "All I Need Now Is the Girl" and "Together (Where Ever We Go)."
- SET DESIGNER Clif A. Davis is taking an innovative approach for the scenery for "Gypsy," which has a multitude of settings, ranging from back-stage dressing rooms, alleys, hotel rooms and, of course, vaudeville theater stages.
Davis and his small crew had just three weeks to dismantle the sets for the Grand's previous show, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," and replace those with sets for "Gypsy."
Traditionally, set designs for "Gypsy" utilize several small wagons that can be pushed on and off stage as needed, along with several painted drops. Instead of that approach, Davis has created a six-level structure to give the show a more modern Broadway look.
"It's a contemporary set for a traditional musical," he said.
Davis, who has also been set designer for Promised Valley Playhouse and the Triadtheatre, is assisted only by two full-time employees (including son Chad, an artist), one part-time assistant and one SLCC student.
Besides designing sets, Davis also teaches classes in theater set design and interior design at SLCC and art and interior design at LDS Business College.