Rose's Turn + dressing room scene [Gypsy, 1961] - Ethel Merman

The incomparable Ethel Merman in her final Broadway performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy on March 25, 1961.
Enjoy!

[@showtunestarpower]

Merman is near tears in the final moments of the song yet she clings to her determination. She is about to crumble but she remains strong. Sometimes Merman is criticized for a lack of subtlety but in this grandest of songs, she presents an incredibly complex interpretation of the song - years before the other great ladies of the theatre got ahold of the show. Her talent molded this role forever.

[@patrickholland901]

And don't forget she did that without a body mic.

[@liesljones5987]

After 50+ years, Merman is STILL the Gold Standard for this role. And -with the cast album -she ain't goin' anywhere - like the Rock of Gibralter.

[@victordunson719]

Patti LuPone for me.

[@richardmayora1289]

@@victordunson719 Ever see Delores Gray?

[@victordunson719]

@@richardmayora1289 , I will look it up

[@ACinemafanatic]

Angela Lansbury for me personally she acted and singed the part and it was terrifying and sad

[@willym9836]

I saw both Merman and Lansbury and frankly its apples and oranges - both magnificent and as different as night and day. That's what makes this one of the great musicals of all time and those two remarkable women the great stars they were/are. You can't do comparisons.

[@rossharmonics]

I was so fortunate to see this on Broadway as a kid. Wow! I also saw Mary Martin in Peter Pan and Sound of Music. What great stars!!

[@1hoseeman]

All it takes is a great musical actress with dramatic chops, because the score is so solid. The show's overture is the best ever.

[@zzzut]

IMHO, Merman was THE Rose. Although quite a few great singers such as Midler, Lupone and Peters did a remarkable performance as Rose, no one could be as convincing and moving as Ethel Merman. There never will be another Ethel Merman. Thank you so very much for sharing this valuable clip.

[@ACinemafanatic]

Her and angela Lansbury were amazing

[@tonyparadise7801]

Merman's Rose The First and the Best. I was there and will never forget her performance.

[@user-kf8wb2cq4f]

I ❤ Merman's voice & style. She was the Best at what she did.💯

[@harajukukevin6657]

It's like a GYPSY time machine! Holy damn I LOVE Ethel Merman! So glad someone has a recording of her live

[@kerryincolumbus]

It's like walking back thru history, this is truely amazing to hear the great Ethel Merman herself live on stage!

[@bird-watcher-91]

Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable ETHEL MERMAN! This is Ethel at her finest. Thank you for sharing :D

[@Montavanni1]

. . . excellent! NO one can touch that. Thank You for posting.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Ethel Merman was a fine actress. And she proved it here!

[@paulcanaday-elliott9834]

The one critique you alway hear about Merman is that she wasn’t a great actress. As another commenter put it, “lacked subtly.” But damn if this performance doesn’t give lie to that idea. Just listening to it, I feel like you can hear so much depth in what she brings to this character. No holds barred. Stunning.

[@ilonamagic]

the only woman in broadway that didnt need a microphone.

[@stephaniebridges8407]

Genius! The Merm always has and always will rule the Great White Way.

[@dallyx66]

I wish I had seen her. I did see Angela Lansbury and she was fantastic

[@micdom43]

i got see her on tour the following year i was like 6 years old they talk about how i was mesmerized.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

What grips me the most is Miss Merman had the vocal chops. Other performers resort to what is close to screaming their way thru the final number as if it. Is a "mad scene." Rose is not having a nervous breakdown, she Is finally receiving a revelation. Hard to take, of course, but definitely positive.

[@Bijoushow]

How thrilling to hear Ethel live in action onstage in her greatest role! Thanks for posting!

[@phillgreenland2390]

When orchestras sounded like orchestras.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Yes, there were violins bowing, brass blowing, reeds adding expressivity, percussion punctuating. The whole pit involved in portraying the drama onstage. All humans!

[@aarontakesbroadway]

I think this song and the small world reprise really show off Merman’s acting, aswell as singing abilities!

[@BWAY62]

O.M.G. This talent pure and simple. I cry every time I think about the movie role that would have been the pinnacle of a great career. As much as I love Rosalind Russel I hate her for what she did to the Merm. Thanks for posting.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Roz was wrong for the role. Too manic and shouting all the way through it. Plus they dubbed her songs.

[@joecomer8275]

This is priceless!! The next best thing to having a video of the scene!!!

[@MBM1117727]

This was the final performance of the original Broadway production

[@maddiehuber3447]

This is awesome!

[@robertperry814]

I'd love to know what move she did on the line "my name's Rose what's yours?" to make the audience laugh and clap so loud.

[@javimu111]

I think she put her hands on her hips or on her head and then did a 'bump'! Why do I think that? Because of the music and because I think I've seen others do that too. It may have been in the coreography. I don't know.

[@rowaydirector9017]

Robert Perry and Javier M I am pretty sure she did a bump. Or like one of those burlesque bumps. That wholr section of the song was mocking Gypsy Rose Lee. Her ungreatful daughter.

[@patrickhamilton6207]

She did indeed do a “bump” I believe with hands behind head. That’s according to my Mom who saw it twice. It’s the bump that prompts, “how do you like THEM egg rolls, Mr. Goldstone?!” It’s all Jerome Robbins. Other Broadway revivals I’ve seen from 1989- have Rose grab her breasts after saying, “how do you like......Mr. Goldstone?!” I question if the breast grabbing is the original Robbins direction? I’m pretty sure it isn’t, since in this great LIVE recording, we hear the drum bump it, followed immediately after with the laugh Merman gets Let’s ask Sandra Church or Steve Sondheim.

[@6campbells]

That was amazing, thank you so much for posting!

[@mosogotam]

Absolutely!!!

[@showtunestarpower]

I think that Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim spent much too much time downgrading Merman's acting ability. Listening to this brief cut, what's not deep enough? Merman is totally in the moment. And absolutely NOBODY who has done the role in a big way has been able to capture the burlesque quality and showmanship necessary for the start of Roses Turn. Then, listen to her light, vulnerability in the "Mama section." Let's stop downgrading Ethel's acting ability.

[@MegaHatLady]

Merman was a GREAT stage actress. She had to keep in mind also that this was a musical play. It cant be acted out with drama queen ranting. She sang it better than anyone ever. She was IT for this role and NOBODY can touch her

[@jamesgibson-bray2595]

Agreed. Her line readings leading up to the start of the number are some of the best I've heard from any actress in the part (i.e. "I. made. you." - wow!).

[@filmmekker]

She always got rave reviews for her acting from contemporary critics! If she hadn’t been a good actress, they would have called her out for it at the time. You can see she was a great actor when she sings ballads.

[@richardmayora1289]

@@MegaHatLady She was a lousy actress. That is why she only did musicals on Broadway and why she never made it in the movies. She was Broadway's greatest star but not an actress.

[@fkd1963]

They were snobs

[@csupremes]

That would of been a must see performance! Thanks for posting it. The movie version, Rose was too soft. Bette's TV version, Rose was ferocious. I saw Patti LaPonne's Rose and was not impressed but i also saw Tyne Daly do the part and she was perfect.

[@MegaHatLady]

Lupone comes across like an angry person. Not likable. Her belting is more like yelling

[@treesny]

I saw Lansbury (in London) and LuPone, both incredible actor/singers and wonderful, but Tyne Daly was indeed perfect in the part; that production really played like drama-in-music, beautifully balanced cast. (I loved Daly in the Encores! Call Me Madam too.) :)

[@SymphonyBrahms]

I saw Lansbury and she was fantastic. A truly great performance.

[@Brad4Ellis]

PauliDee, TMJ - a “likable“ Mama Rose? Hmmmm. No. Vulnerable at times, but she’s also a monster, and has to be. (IMHO)

[@Brad4Ellis]

By the way, I enjoyed Tyne‘s performance also, and I saw her replacement, Linda Lavin, who turned “everything‘s coming up roses“ into a one woman stampede. It was shocking, bracing, and absolutely unforgettable.

[@johnflynn9619]

Merman was the Greatest. RIP

[@machovoce6826]

A gem. I read Laurents' book and I saw Lansbury in the role. I think Laurents' and other's comments about Merman's limitations as an actress are overstated. I can hear in this and other clips from the original production that Merman rushes some of the moments that Lansbury might not. But Merman has a presence that Lansbury could only approximate, and she could out sing Lupone on her very best day. Whatever detractors might say it's the long shadow Merman cast in the role that is undeniable. Her imprint remains sixty years later and all comers know this.

[@Brad4Ellis]

It was my great privilege to rehearse with and share the stage with the incomparable Angela Lansbury, and watching her in front of the audience, I learned a lot about what old-school stardom is. She could effortlessly galvanize every eye in the theater, then redirect that nuclear energy to her scene partner as if she were a human spotlight. I don’t think you can measure stardom proportions, but there is no order of magnitude between Ms. Lansbury and Miss Merman.

[@MrQbenDanny]

BRAVO!!!BRAVISSIMO!!! VIVA LA MERMAN!!!! All those S.O.B'S at Actor's Equity TONY BOARD that voted against her rightful TONY AWARD. SHAME!!!!!

[@kateorams]

Just seen Imelda Staunton in this role. She had the audience on their feet during Rose's Turn. Spectacular.

[@raiyopaz]

too over-acted for me....

[@unclealand]

I saw some of her Rose on line and, yeah, it was kind of ordinary, wasn't it? Lots of brass, but Rose needs more than that for a complete portrait of such a monster. This Merman recording is the first time I could see what people talked so much about. Her acting comes through here remarkably well. I'd love to have seen Lansbury and Tyne Daly in the role.

[@caraqueno]

@@unclealand Tyne Daly captured the monstrousness of Rose. Her acting and singing of this song made me believe she was homicidal. In real life, Rose was a murderess.

[@groovygirl23]

Wow! Wow! Wow! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING!

[@StephaniePatterson359]

No one has done it better.

[@mrconducter]

Sondheim said he thought she was the best Rose .

[@MerleOberon]

Is this from some audience member recording this? I'd love to know what recorder they used in 1961?

[@javimu111]

I think this may have been recorded from the Theater's own sound booth (the Sound people recording a performance). Unless it was someone else's "illegal" recording device.

[@zzzut]

I am sure Lansbury would have been a great Rose and I would have loved to see her performance.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

I saw it. She was great.

[@ACinemafanatic]

You can see a bit if it on here

[@stuartlee6622]

WHY isn't there an Ethel Merman Theater on Broadway????

[@lookmomitsme1]

Wow.

[@boinx1234]

Boy, they really rush it! Too fast.

[@Iank14]

Actually the show's writers when they were alive preferred Angela Lansbury's performance that she did in the 1st revival after Ethel stopped doing it. Merman could belt out a tune but Lansbury was an actress who knew how to play the part.

[@Broadwaybuff-pi1qg]

Too fast. Sounds like she and the band wanted to get home early. Still exciting to hear how she sounded in performance.

[@unclealand]

Merman's performance here can be imagined and her belting is incredible. All Rose's passion and near-psychotic drive that was actually done "For ME!" is here. That said, I don't like the sound of Merman's voice on "You'll Never Get Away From Me" and "Wherever We Go." When she's not over-the-top belting out something her trembling vibrato and the pitch of her voice sounds ugly to me. I've wondered for years what Judy Garland would have been able to do had she been cast in the film.

[@javimu111]

Yes, I know, but maybe only in the movie. Judy G. had too many personal problems by then. They needed an actress who could perform - on time and on the dot - EIGHT SHOWS per WEEK!! Garland would have called in sick so many times they would have ended up suing HER and the show would have ended up closing even EARLIER!

[@UmmOopsy]

I heard somewhere on Broadway it was supposed to be Elaine Stritch to play Rose but Ethel got called

[@patrickhamilton6207]

I saw a TV interview with Arthur Laurents and he said regarding the 1962 movie, “we all wanted Judy, but the studio said she was too heavy”. Who cares!? Bottom line, Merman should’ve been able to lay this historic performance on film like Yule Brynner and Robert Preston did in their signature roles. She was jipped, as were we.

[@csupremes]

How lucky can you get!! Did you ever get to see Gwen Vernon in a show?

[@rowaydirector9017]

I WISH I DID!!!

[@rowaydirector9017]

Hey but you can watch the new Fosse|Verdon show on FX

[@micdom43]

anybody know if the complete live CD still out there?

[@bruceyanoshek8517]

She was not called Mama Rose in the show. Just Rose (or the girls called her "Mama")

[@robertperry814]

"madame rose" actually

[@MikeA15206]

Not a great actress but she wasn’t using a mic. Her voice is quite an instrument!

[@anthonybarnsley4812]

I adore Merman, but the band was so loud!

[@Brad4Ellis]

Fast! WAY too fast! (compare it to the album). This often happens on long runs, some tempos just gradually creep up, and everyone in the production is just so close to it they don’t notice. Clearly it still worked for the audience, but the crazy tempo is certainly not an improvement!

[@unclealand]

God, I wish I could stand her voice. It’s no use, that wobbling, blaring voice. Patti Lupone, Angela Lansbury, they sounded so much better.

[@leighewinson9473]

I never saw her appeal....granted I never saw her in person.

[@markwhitman72]

As great as Merman was in the singing aspect, I don't think she carried the dramatic parts very well compared to Russell or Tyne. Listen here, she sounds a bit off dramatically and not too convincing! But she still should have won the Tony!

[@douglassharpe935]

Try Bette Midler, the 1993 version...

[@MegaHatLady]

Amen to that. Ethel Merman, NOBODY can touch that belting. I impersonate Merman (and an array of others) and I do it well but NOBODY can compare to her belting--EVER. Jolson either (as far as men go) It was written for Merman because she acted on stage TOP notch and sang her songs with the force of a tank. She WAS Broadway. IMO, Broadway is nothing now compared to what it used to be.

[@patrickholland901]

Don't forget that there were no such things as body mics when Gypsy was in its original run, so Merman really had to rely on projection and her own voice.