GYPSY (TV)
Summary
Bette Midler stars in this television adaptation of the 1959 Broadway hit musical, based on the memoirs of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, about her relationship with her abrasive, quintessential stage mother, Mama Rose. Set in the 1920s and 30s during the days of vaudeville and burlesque, the musical opens with Rose's daughters, June and Louise, auditioning for a kiddie show, the pushy Rose demonstrating her clear preference for June, the rising star. Rose's father thinks she is headed for misery by subjecting the family to a life in show business, but Rose has big dreams which she expresses in "Some People." Meeting Herbie, a former agent, at an audition, she cons him with the song, "Small World," into believing they share common interests, until he finally agrees to represent the girls' act. They are joined by a few chorus boys and, as Baby June and Her Newsboys, they perform "Let Me Entertain You" and travel on a minor tour circuit. As the kids get older, Rose puts together a new act, which Herbie books through Mr. Goldstone on the Orpheum Circuit. In tribute to their success, they all sing "Mr. Goldstone, I Love You."
While auditioning in New York, Herbie proposes to Rose. Since she's been hitched before, she's not anxious to wed again, but promises to marry when June gets on Broadway and sings "You'll Never Get Away From Me." The act gets hired on the condition that June take time off and study acting. Angered to think June would leave the act, Rose nixes the deal. June and Louise then complain about their overbearing mother and lack of a normal family life in "If Momma Was Married." In Buffalo, Louise learns from Tulsa, one of the chorus boys, of his dream to have his own show with the girl of his dreams in "All I Need Is the Girl." Naturally, Louise hopes she fits the bill, but soon, Tulsa and June run off to get married and organize their own act. The rest of Rose's act leaves as a result, and Herbie suggests that she has reached the perfect time to give up show business, marry, and give Louise a stable home life. Rose, however, decides to channel all of her ambition into making Louise a star in the song, "Everything's Coming Up Roses."
Rose revamps the old act and tries to mold Louise in June's image. Frustrated with Rose's misguided ambition, Louise threatens to quit show business altogether, but Rose cheers her up with "Together, Wherever We Go." Rose takes Louise's suggestions and updates the act with her in mind, and Herbie unwittingly books them into a burlesque house. Although Rose is adamant about not performing in such an environment, Louise convinces her that they need the money, and Rose, certain that vaudeville is dead, vows to marry Herbie as soon as their run is finished there. Meanwhile, the theater's strippers, Tessie Tura, Miss Mazeppa, and Miss Electra, instruct Louise in their type of performance in "You Gotta Get a Gimmick."
Two weeks later when their gig is finished, Rose and Herbie are preparing for the wedding ceremony when they learn that Tessie has quit the show at the last minute. Rose drops everything and volunteers Louise for this headlining spot, cautioning her to perform a classy, ladylike act. Consequently, Herbie gets disgusted with Rose's preference for show business over romance, and leaves her for good. On stage, Louise begins tentatively, but soon takes to the art of stripping and, taking the show on the road, she eventually becomes known as the "queen of striptease" at Minsky's Burlesque. One evening after the show, the mother and daughter have a tremendous argument in which Louise accuses Rose of smothering her and using her children for to fulfill her own frustrated dreams. Rose leaves in a huff, and in "Rose's Turn," she explains how much of a star she could have been if she had ever had the chance. The program ends with both Rose and Louise having more sympathy and understanding for each other. Commercials deleted.
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Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: December 12, 1993 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:24:21
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:56504
- GENRE: Specials; Drama; Music
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Music, popular (songs, etc.); Musical revues, comedies, etc.; Specials
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert Halmi … Executive Producer
- Craig Zadan … Executive Producer
- Neil Meron … Executive Producer
- Bonnie Bruckheimer … Executive Producer
- Emile Ardolino … Producer, Director
- Cindy Gilmore … Producer
- Bob Weber … Associate Producer
- Jerome Robbins … Choreographer
- Jule Styne … Composer
- Michael Rafter … Conductor
- Stephen Sondheim … Lyricist
- Arthur Laurents … Librettist
- Bonnie Walker … Choreographer, Mr. Robbins' Choreography Recreated by
- Marie Snyder … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Supervisor
- Sid Ramin … Music (Misc. Credits), Orchestrations by
- Robert Ginzler … Music (Misc. Credits), Orchestrations by
- Bette Midler … Cast, Mama Rose
- Peter Riegert … Cast, Herbie
- Cynthia Gibb … Cast, Louise
- Edward Asner … Cast, Pop
- Christine Ebersole … Cast, Tessie Tura
- Michael Jeter … Cast, Mr. Goldstone
- Andrea Martin … Cast, Miss Cratchitt
- Linda Hart … Cast, Miss Mazeppa
- Anna NcNeely … Cast, Miss Electra
- Jennifer Beck … Cast, June
- Jeffrey Broadhurst … Cast, Tulsa
- Tony Shalhoub … Cast, Uncle Jocko
- Rachel Sweet … Cast, Agnes/Amanda
- David Marciano … Cast, Pastey
- John LaMotta … Cast, Cigar
- Keene Curtis … Cast, Mr. Kringeleine
- Mike Nussbaum … Cast, Weber
- Lacey Chabert … Cast, Baby June
- Elisabeth Moss … Cast, Baby Louise
- Sean Sullivan … Cast, Georgie
- Autumn Clifton … Cast, the Balloon girl
- Spencer Liff … Cast, Clarence
- Julian Bratolyubov … Cast, the Jocko Conductor
- Joey Cee … Cast, Newsboy #1
- Blake Armstrong … Cast, Newsboy #2
- Ted Weiner … Cast, Newsboy #3
- Peter Lockyer … Cast, Yonkers
- Michael Moore … Cast, L.A.
- Patrick Boyd … Cast, Kansas
- Terry Lindholm … Cast, Flagstaff
- Greg Russell … Cast, Farmboy #6
- Daniel Charles … Cast, Cow #1
- K.W. Miller … Cast, Cow #2
- Lang Yun … Cast, Waitress
- Marilyn Rising … Cast, Marjorie May
- Lindsay LeElyn … Cast, Geraldine
- Elkin Antoniou … Cast, Hollywood Blonde #4
- Rebecca Russell … Cast, Hollywood Blonde #5
- Daniella Sando … Cast, Hollywood Blonde #6
- Bonnie Walker … Cast, a Gladiator Girl
- Diana Laurenson … Cast, a Gladiator Girl
- Jennifer Bertsman … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Lynmarie Inge … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Karen Martin … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Colleen McMahon … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Wendy Pasquale … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Melanie Rembrandt … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Krista Silvey … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Hillary Turk … Cast, a Minsky Girl
- Anne Vareze … Cast, Renee
- John C. Moskoff … Cast, Phil
- Gilles Savard … Cast, Bougeron-Cochon