sroimoi

I loved this production of "Gypsy" so much that when my audiocassette of the Ethel Merman production got ruined I replaced it with a CD of the Midler "Gypsy." Bette Midler has the fire to do justice to this demanding role, and her supporting cast seemed agreeable to let her shine. But the highlight of the film for me was "You Gotta Have a Gimmick." The three strip women as a group are a comic delight.

The strongest component of Kismet, at least on stage, was the music based on works of Alexandr Borodin. Unfortunately, much of that lovely lush score has been decimated, and what's left is a fairly entertaining story. But this is supposed to be a musical, and there is plenty of music but it just doesn't have the impressive feel of the stage version.

Maybe someday someone will re-film this musical as a movie and do it right!

I resisted purchasing State Fair, to complete my video collection of R&H musicals, but my kids wanted it after seeing it promoted in the intro to the other R&H videos. I always was curious about it, but winning it on eBay for a low cost made it worth the look. I was pleasantly surprised because it wasn't as awful as I had been led to believe. But it is easy to see why it didn't make it reconstituted as a Broadway show. Much of the charm comes from the goings-on at the state fair, and that is impossible to re-create within the confines of a stage. With a couple of well-known exceptions, the score is weak, but even without the music the show would be simple mindless fun. Still, "State Fair' is a must for R&H lovers.