3.2 Gypsy!

We're back! We're starting 2022 right and continuing our discussion of the musicals of the great Stephen Sondheim - and today, we're talking about the iconic Gypsy (1959), Sondheim’s early collaboration with Jule Styne.

 

*We apologize for the audio quality in today's episode - we had some technical difficulties with Nathan's mic!

 

We talk about:

• The diva phenomenon, domineering mothers, and queer men’s mommy issues.
• Cultural & religious shifts in sexual norms in the 20th century.
• The agency of women, the use of women’s bodies for entertainment, and questions of morality & ethics around characters like Mama Rose and Gypsy Rose Lee.
• The "death of vaudeville" as a way of thinking about any institution balancing old traditions with a changing world (can you say 21st century Christianity?)
• The power of bodies and how sex work is an image of the Kingdom of God.

You’ll hear:

• The Overture and "Rose’s Turn" from the 2003 Broadway Revival Cast with Bernadette Peters.
• "Some People," "Small World," "Everything’s Coming Up Roses" and "Rose’s Turn" as sung by Ethel Merman & Jack Klugman on the Original Broadway Cast Album from 1959.
• Bernadette Peters, Julia McKenzie, Ruthie Henshall as well as (!) Judi Dench, David Kernan, Lea Salonga, Maria Friedman, Michael Ball & Millicent Martin singing "You Gotta Get A Gimmick" from the 1998 Concert Album, Hey Mr. Producer!

 

Continue the conversation with Peter (@pgeinvan) and Nathan (@nathan_lerud) on Twitter, and follow the Gospel of Musical Theatre on Instagram or Twitter @gospelofmt.