Published in The Wave, Friday, June 20, 2014
(www.rockawave.com).
Memo From the RTC: Gypsy Update - They Call me Mr. Goldstone
By Norm Scott
I’m a process person – fascinated by the nuts and bolts that
go into just about anything. I have a “how is it made” mentality. So getting
beyond the surface of the dynamic productions at the RTC is quite a treat. At
that rehearsal they were blocking a long scene and I don’t come in until the
end, so I saw how the sausage is made when I attended a rehearsal last week of
the Rockaway Theatre Company’s production of “Gypsy” opening July 18 and
running for three weekends (plus a Thursday). Not being much of a theater
person, but having seen “Gypsy” revivals on Broadway, I am still surprised when
a song pops up at rehearsal that I’m familiar with. The most famous is
"Everything's Coming up Roses" – with the memorable and overwhelming
Ethel Merman voice belting it out. So I’m sitting at rehearsal when up pops this
famous song to close Act 1. And Louisa Boyaggi, playing the lead – Rose - the
Ethel Merman role - just lets it all go and we’re all sitting there in awe, just wowed. And everyone suddenly breaks into
spontaneous applause when she is done. And this is freak’n rehearsal in front
of about 20 people – who have been involved in the play. Jeez, Louise(a), I got
goose bumps. Still do when I think about it.
I’m learning lots of new theater words, like, “blocking.” I
have a tiny part but had to be there to be “blocked” – how I enter the scene,
where I stand in relation to others, etc. This process takes a lot of time and
thought and working out kinks. When we see a play as a finished product we
don’t appreciate the “choreography” that goes into making sure people don’t end
up crashing into each other as they enter or exit a scene or as they careen
around the stage. My turn came. Director Susan Corning gave me instructions. I
play Mr. Goldstone, a booking agent for a chain of theaters. My job is to be
led in, put into a chair and sit and look stone-faced while people sing, dance
and hand me stuff. I don’t have to say a thing. My wife wants me to play Mr.
Goldstone at home.
Wikipedia says: “Gypsy has been referred to as the greatest
American musical by numerous critics and writers, among them Ben Brantley
("what may be the greatest of all American musicals...") and Frank
Rich. Rich wrote that " Gypsy is nothing if not Broadway's own brassy,
unlikely answer to 'King Lear.'" Theater critic Clive Barnes wrote that
" 'Gypsy' is one of the best of musicals..." and described the
character of Rose as "one of the few truly complex characters in the
American musical.... It is frequently considered one of the crowning achievements
of the mid-20th century's conventional musical theatre art form, often called
the "book musical".
The 1959 play, starring Ethel
Merman as “Rose”, the penultimate stage mom (with revivals starring amongst
others, Angela Landsbury, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, Patti Lupone with
Rosalind Russell in the film version) is based on the memoirs of her daughter, Gypsy
Rose Lee, who turned striptease into an art form (played in the RTC production
by one if our faves, Kim Simek – I can’t wait to attend the striptease
rehearsals). Just look at that list above of actresses playing Rose, one of the
giant female leads in Broadway history. There were even rumors that Streisand
was going to star in another film version, but that never came about. And here
in Rockaway we have our own Louisa Boyaggi who can stand toe to toe with many
of them.
Gypsy Preview at Fort
Tilden Art Fair, June 29
The Wave reported there will be previews of Gypsy plus more
RTC activities as part of this gala event, maybe some even outdoors. I’ll leave it to our fearless leader, Susan
Jasper, to elaborate in an email she sent: “The National Park Service has
decided to make Fort Tilden more accessible to the public. They, along with the
Rockaway Artists Alliance have secured a grant from the Museum of Modern Art
for a big fair and Arts show on the grounds of Fort Tilden where our Theater is
located and we have been invited to participate. There will be food vendors,
entertainment, etc. for the public to enjoy. We will be doing mini- shows in
our theater that day. We would like to present the “Brotherhood of Man” number
from “How to Succeed…”. I need to know
who can join us for this very important gig. If you have plans – BREAK
THEM. You are all essential! If you are … in a foreign country or foreign
state…COME HOME IMMEDIATELY.” Susan
wouldn’t hesitate to call an astronaut down from space. And he would come. Or
wouldn’t dare not to.
-NOTE - We will be reprising some of our performances at the theater in Fort Tilden on Sunday, June 29th throughout the day as that day is the opening of a major summer arts initiative at Fort Tilden with a free concert by Pattie Smith, who owns a home in Rockaway.
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Hey, wanna come see a play?
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