Bette Midler › Gypsy (Original Soundtrack Recording)

All "ZSM" coded CDs are in new and never-played condition. Most are sealed. However, product may have manufacturer's delete notch, drill hole, prior sale stickers, or worn or missing outer wrap.

Principal cast: Bette Midler (Rose), Tony Shalhoub (Uncle Jocko), Sean Sullivan (Georgie), Lacey Chabert (Baby June), Elisabeth Moss (Baby Louise), Edward Asner (Pop), Mike Nussbaum (Weber), Peter Riegert (Herbie), Cynthia Gibb (Louise/Gypsy), Joey Ceo, Blake Armstrong, Teo Weiner (newsboys), Jennifer Beck (June), Jeffrey Broadhurst (Tulsa), Peter Lockyer (Yonkers), Michael Moore (L.A.). Patrick Boyd (Kansas).

Producers: Arif Mardin, Michael Rafter, Curt Sobel.

Engineers: Robert Schaper Jr, David Ronne, Matthew John McFadden, Peggy Names.

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by Craig Zadan.

All music written by Jule Styne. All lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim.

Personnel: Bette Midler (vocals); Christine Ebersole, Patrick Boyd, Anna McNeely, Terry Lindholm, Joey Cee, Peter Lockyer, Lacey Chabert, Elizabeth Moss, Michael Moore (vocals); Marcia Dickstein, Gayle Levant (harp); Barbara Porter, Laura Kuennen-Poper, Ralph Morrison III, Gwen Heller, Tamara Chang, Rachel Robinson , Robert Schumitzky, Rebecca Barr, L. Kuennen-Proper, Patricia Johnson , Endre Granat, Haim Shtrum (violin); Dan Neufeld, Matthew Funes, Janet Lakatos (viola); Barbara Hunter , Armen Ksadjikian, Roger Lebow, Christine Ermacoff (cello); Dan Higgins, Gary Foster, Ron Jannelli, Doug Masek, Steve Kujala, Jon Clarke (woodwinds); Gary Grant, Jerry Hey (trumpet); John A. Reynolds (French horn); Phillip Teele, Alan Kaplan, Alexander Iles (trombone); David Loeb (piano); Albie Berk (drums); Joe Porcaro, Wade Culbreath (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Robert Schaper, Jr.

Liner Note Author: Craig Zadan.

Recording information: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Director: Michael Rafter.

Editors: Chris Ledesma; Sally Boldt; Scott Grusin.

Photographers: Tony Esparza; Greg Gorman; Marlene Wallace.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Patrick Boyd; John C. Moskoff; Johnny La Motta; Tony Shalhoub; Anne Vareze; Terry Lindholm; Rebecca Evans Russell; Joey Cee; Edward Asner; Marilyn Rising; David Marciano; Lacey Chabert; Elkin Antoniou; Mike Nussbaum; Linda Hart; Elizabeth Moss; Michael Jeter; Michael Moore ; Andrea Martin ; Rachel Sweet; Bette Midler.

Arrangers: Michael Rafter; John Kander.

Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's score for Gypsy has had five major recordings: the 1959 original Broadway cast album starring Ethel Merman; the 1962 original motion picture soundtrack starring Rosalind Russell, partially dubbed by Lisa Kirk; the 1973 London cast album starring Angela Lansbury; the 1989 Broadway revival cast album starring Tyne Daly; and here, the 1993 television soundtrack starring Bette Midler. The casting of Midler as Rose, the ultimate stage mother, seemed ideal; she is an accomplished actress with a theatrical background and a well-known singer with a feisty personality. The production made a point of sticking to the original show, and the supporting players, Peter Riegert, Cynthia Gibb, and Jennifer Beck (who actually got a fair amount of singing time, along with some others) were excellent. But any production of Gypsy stands or falls on the actress who plays Rose, and Midler turned out to be able to handle some aspects of the part, but not all. As a pop singer, she was too accustomed to being ingratiating and sympathetic to be as much of a monster as Rose is supposed to be, and she didn't quite have the voice for the more demanding songs. On "Small World," "You'll Never Get Away from Me," and "Together, Wherever We Go," songs in which Rose is being as nice as possible, Midler was fine. But in the more confrontational numbers, such as "Some People" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses," she didn't go far enough. You'd have thought that would make Rose's climactic nervous breakdown, "Rose's Turn," beyond Midler, too, but actually she brought that off well, adapting the performance to the small screen. On the whole, then, Midler did a respectable job, but not the one she was capable of, if she had worked harder. As such, this Gypsy, while a vast improvement over the disastrous movie soundtrack, was on a par with the Tyne Daly revival, but not a patch on Angela Lansbury's well-acted version or Ethel Merman's definitive interpretation. ~ William Ruhlmann

Genre:

• Soundtrack

Labels:

• Atlantic

Music Categories:

• Pop Vocal: Show Vocals

Product Series:

• Rare & Hard-To-Find Audio CDs