Gypsy

A movie star is someone who not matter what, is always a movie star. And in the grand tradition of all-around entertainers, Bette Midler is a movie star. She has crafted a brazen, larger-than-life and gaudy showgirl persona through her stage, screen and television appearances. She is a grand dame presiding over us, frequently prone to fits of hyperbolic and bombastic emotions, yet never afraid to let a touch of messy spillover from her actual self boil over from time to time in her work.

Sometimes it’s hard finding the right type of role for a star to truly shine in, especially one with so idiosyncratic, specific and well-developed a personality as the Divine Miss M. But Gypsy allows for her to take that bawdy character and funnel it into a character type that can handle it. It also allows her to go for broke and give one hell of a performance.

There are numerous roles which any actress would be smart to covet in any form of live theater – Blanche Du Bois, Maggie the Cat, Mary Tyrone, Mrs. Lovett, The Witch in Into the Woods -- and Mama Rose has got to be one of them for actress over a certain age. The overbearing stage mother could easily fall into cliché territory, but there’s something about Mama Rose that keeps her fresh and original. Maybe it’s the forward drive and momentum, the success-at-all-costs ethos that drives her and her actions, or maybe it’s the way that she schemes and plots and, in the end, gets what she deserves that keeps her from falling too far into pure villainess territory. It doesn’t matter, because any production of Gypsy can survive a poorly chosen June or Louise (the titular character in this instance), but a poorly chosen Mama Rose is fatal. And one need only watch Midler’s take on “Rose’s Turn” to know that this is the kind of role that she was made for, and this, along with The Rose, are two great examples of her range as an actress and what makes her an iconic entertainer.

By and large, the supporting players are excellently chosen and know to step back and let Midler go-for-broke, because it’s her show through and through. Ed Asner does well with a small supporting role as Rose’s father, Peter Riegert as Herbie proves himself to be a talented song-and-dance man, Christine Ebersole, Linda Hart and Anna McNeely are a riot as a trio of experienced strippers, Lacey Chabert and Elisabeth Moss also due quite well as Baby June and Baby Louise. The only major player who doesn’t strike the right chord is Cynthia Gibb as Gypsy Rose Lee. She’s just adequate in the role, never bringing anything to it or making the transition from mousy to vixen believable in the slightest.

Gypsy is blessed with a quick pace; it really doesn’t ever feel like over two hours long, and a fantastic songbook with some truly memorable pieces. “Let Me Entertain You,” “Everything’s Coming up Roses,” “Together, Wherever We Go,” “Some People” and “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” are just a small sampling of the songs on display which carry on Sondheim’s tradition of clever lyrics and wordplay. While the film isn’t perfect, there are a few segments that drag a little bit towards the middle and end, but as propelled by Sondheim’s lyrics and Midler’s central performance, this version of Gypsy is without a doubt with a viewing.