"You Gotta Get a Gimmick" | |
---|---|
Song by Chotzi Foley, Faith Dane, Maria Karnilova, Milton Rosenstock, and the cast of Gypsy | |
from the album Gypsy | |
Released | 1959 |
Genre | Show tune |
Length | 4:03 |
Songwriter(s) |
"You Gotta Get a Gimmick", also known as "You Gotta Have a Gimmick", is a song from the 1959 musical Gypsy , with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The 1959 rendition of the song was sung by Chotzi Foley, Faith Dane, Maria Karnilova and Milton Rosenstock.
TheaterMania describes the song plot as a "threesome of hilariously costumed veteran burlesque dancers...who teach Louise the ropes of stripping." [1]
New City Stage describes it as "endearingly bawdy." [2] Time Out Chicago said the song is "this production’s hands-down highlight...in which three burlesque vets pull out all the stops." [3] Stage and Cinema wrote the song was performed by the "show-stopping, scene-stealing...Tessie Tura, Mazeppa and Electra, the stripper specialists in 'You Gotta Get a Gimmick,'" adding, "It's the ultimate tribute to Darwinian adaptation, the secret of showbiz survival and even success." [4] CurtainUp said the song is "show-stopping" and "outrageously funny." [5] TheaterMania called the song "scene-stealing." [1] NipperTown described it as a "novelty song." [6] The Spokesman-Review named it a "showstopper." [7]
Jule Styne was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became successful films: Gypsy,Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Funny Girl.
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.
Stephen Joshua Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. With his frequent collaborators Harold Prince and James Lapine, Sondheim's Broadway musicals tackled unexpected themes that ranged beyond the genre's traditional subjects, while addressing darker elements of the human experience. His music and lyrics are tinged with complexity, sophistication, and ambivalence about various aspects of life.
June Havoc was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, stage director and memoirist.
Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.
Gypsy: A Musical Fable is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business mother." It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The character of Louise is based on Lee, and the character of June is based on Lee's sister, the actress June Havoc.
André Robin De Shields is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award.
Dael Orlandersmith is an American actress, poet and playwright. She is known for her Obie Award-winning Beauty's Daughter and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, Yellowman.
Gypsy is a 1962 American musical film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass is based on the book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable by Arthur Laurents, which was adapted from the 1957 autobiography Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics for songs composed by Jule Styne. The film was remade for television in 1993.
Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominated role as Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos, as well as her turn as Joanne in the 2006 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.
The Bailiwick Repertory Theatre was a theater company in Chicago founded in 1982 that produced eclectic works. It staged productions at the Bailiwick Arts Center in the city's Lakeview neighborhood from 1995 until 2009. Productions include Biello & Martin's 1999 production of Fairytales/Breathe and the 2007 American premiere of Jerry Springer - The Opera.
"Let Me Entertain You" and "May We Entertain You?" are two songs from the musical Gypsy. The former is the more popular reprise of the latter. "May We" is performed by Baby June and Baby Louise, while "Let Me" is performed by Louise. The song was written by Jule Styne (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)
Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer.
"Rose's Turn" is a song from the musical Gypsy. It has been performed by such actresses as Ethel Merman, Bette Midler, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, and Imelda Staunton. The song is often regarded as the pinnacle of the eleven o'clock number.
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Gypsy is a 1993 American made-for-television biographical musical comedy-drama film directed by Emile Ardolino. The teleplay by Arthur Laurents is an adaptation of his book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy, which was based on the 1957 autobiography Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee.
American burlesque is a genre of variety show derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall, and minstrel shows. Burlesque became popular in the United States in the late 1860s and slowly evolved to feature ribald comedy and female nudity. By the late 1920s, the striptease element overshadowed the comedy and subjected burlesque to extensive local legislation. Burlesque gradually lost its popularity, beginning in the 1940s. A number of producers sought to capitalize on nostalgia for the entertainment by recreating burlesque on the stage and in Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s. There has been a resurgence of interest in this format since the 1990s.
Once is a musical based on the 2007 film of the same name by John Carney. Like the film, music and lyrics were by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, including the Academy Award-winning "Falling Slowly". The book for the musical was written by Enda Walsh. The musical premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2011, before transferring to Broadway in 2012. The production received eleven 2012 Tony Award nominations, and won eight including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Book. The musical also won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It has since spawned a London production, with a North American Tour which started on 1 October 2013. In the musical, the cast also serves as the orchestra. A minimalist set is used, including a bar in center stage with chairs lining stage left and right. Exiting cast members simply step to the side of the stage and sit down. They serve as the orchestra from these chairs. The bar is used before the show and at intermission as a working bar for theater patrons.
Jessica Ruth Mueller is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me. In 2011, she moved to New York City to star in a Broadway revival of musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She went on to receive two additional Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award nominations for her leading roles in Waitress (2016) and the Broadway revival of Carousel (2018).
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