A good week for the cinema on R3 and R 4 as a basis for a new thread.

Stage to Screen:  "GYPSY"  13.30 hrs - 14.00 hrs:     Tuesday, 28th October 2008

I remember the sense of outrage when Rosalind Russell was cast as Momma Rose in the 1962 film version of "Gypsy" (Gypsy Rose Lee).   This role belonged to Ethel Merman who created the role on Broadway, in 1959, and her powerhouse performance also dominated the role on LP for many years, and I recall the frisson of sheer excitement when it was played at an Earls Court party when the imported vinyl was played for the first time.              The chatter ceased and there was spontaeous applause after the overture and each subsequent number.   Alas, Merman couldn't be tempted to London and we had to wait until 1973 to see Angela Lansbury triumph as Rose.   Cue for an anecdote.   I was playing at the Mayfair Theatre, at the time, but got an invitation to the packed dress rehearsal and was given two seats in the back row of The Stalls, including an aisle seat.     "Stanley, the aisle seat is for Lauren Bacall as she will have to leave for her hairdresser's appt during Act 2."  ( La Bacall was appearing in "Applause"  the musical version of "All About Eve" at the time. )    "Make sure it isn't occupied by anyone but her."     Lancelot was decidedly 'on duty' and my Guinevere for the afternoon was a real throaty charmer.  Cue for 'I loved you once in silence'.

Mervyn Le Roy directed a fine film version of the musical and, although a Ros Russell devotee, she was downright camp in the role of Rose.   Ethel Merman did a London Palladium season during the final season, in 1974 (75?) of two-a-night shows (18.15 hrs and 20.45 hrs) with a third show on Saturday afternoon!   Max Wall did the first half and Merman as top of the bill.   Covered her entire career from 'Anything Goes' and many of the standard Cole Porter numbers before showing us what her Rose was all about.

Kenneth Tynan's review in 'Curtains' (1961):

     "Quite apart from considerations of subject matter, perfection of style can be profoundly moving
      in its own right.    If anyone doubts that, he had better rush and buy a ticket for Gypsy, the
      first half of which brings together in effortless coalition all the arts of the American musical stage
      at their highest point of development.   So smooth is the blending of skills, so precise the
      interlocking of song, speech and dance, that the sheer contemplation of technique becomes a
      thrilling emotional experience.    It is like being present at the triumphant solution of some harsh
      architectural problem; stone after massive stone is nudged and juggled into place, with a
      balance so nice that the finished structure seems as light as an exhalation, though in fact
      it is earthquake-proof.   I have heard of mathematicians who broke down and wept at the sight
      of certain immaculately poised equations, and I have actually seen a motoring fanatic overcome
      with feeling when confronted by a vintage Rolls-Royce engine.      Gypsy, Act 1, confers the
      same intense pleasure, translated into terms of theatre.   Nothing about it is superfluous;
      there is no display of energy for energy's sake.   No effort is spared, yet none is wasted .
      Book, lyrics, music, decor, choreography, and cast seem not - as so often occurs - to have
      been conscripted into uneasy and unconvinced alliance but to have come together by
      irresistible mutual attraction, as if each could not live without the rest.   With no strain
      or dissonance, a machine has been assembled that is ideally fitted to perform this task
      and no other.   Since the task is worth while, the result is art..."

      "...And above all, we must linger on Ethel Merman, the most relaxed brass section on earth,
      singing her heart out and missing none of her own inimitable tricks, among them her habit of
      sliding down to important words from a grace note above, which supplies the flick that precedes
      the vocal whipcrack.   But Miss Merman not only sings; she acts.   I would not say that she acts
      very subtly; Rose, after all, with her dreams of glory, her kleptomania, her savage parsimony,
      and her passion for exotic animals and Chinese breakfasts, is scarcely a subtle character.
      Someone in the show describes her as 'a pioneer woman without a frontier,' and that is what Miss
      Merman magnificently plays..."

The collaboration on this masterpiece - my D.I. Discs choice -  is Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents.

Time for tea.   My other two recommendations for next week will follow.
 

I remember seeing  Dolores Grey perform in ' Gypsy', sometime in the 70's, I guess. It was a 'special' afternoon performance for other 'pros'. I remember that the, then, cast of 'Godspell' was there, applauding enthusiastically. Gosh, Jeremy Irons and David Essex   were young lads then

Anyway, despite having an obviously nasty sore throat, this was announced prior to the performance, Dolores belted her way through it and came out the other end. If anything, her raspiness may have contributed to 'Rose'.

A small memory, but a fond one.

Here's a few additional dates for the current week.

Monday, 27 October   Night Waves   R3   21.15 hrs:

Philip Dodd reviews Terence Davies's new film 'Of Time and the City'.  I've always had an affection for much of Davies's work, particularly 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992).  He captures the utility feeling and lives of post-war Liverpool so well.

Wednesday, 29th October   Night Waves    R3   21.15 hrs:

Matthew Sweet is joined by Omar Sharif and others to take an in-depth look at David Lean's 1962 epic, Lawrence of Arabia, in the director's centenary year.     

Friday, 31st October    The Film Programme    R4     16.30 hrs:

Herbert Lom - bless 'im, he's now 91! - talks to Matthew Sweet about his life in film, from 'The Ladykillers' to the Pink Panther series.     Lom has always been a most versatile actor, hugely respected in the biz.   He left Czechoslovakia prior to WW2 and, as a schoolboy, I remember his imposing personality when he played Napoleon in 'The Young Mr Pitt' in 1941, and again in the Hollywood version of 'War and Peace' in 1956.   A striking stage presence, too, as the King in 'The King & I' at Drury Lane (Valerie Hobson as Mrs Leonowens) in 1953.   I do hope that an autobiography will follow as he is likely to be rich in anecdotes.