FIELD GUIDE

To the Educators, Students, Actors, Directors, Designers and any Art Advocate

that may find themselves exploring this Field Guide:

Welcome to the Gypsy Field Guide presented by The Playhouse San Antonio!

Here at The Playhouse San Antonio our mission is to produce high quality live theatre that

inspires, educates, and entertains audiences of all ages. Our passion is to connect our

community to the world at large by telling stories that reveal the truth of the human

experience.

In the spirit of this mission, we offer our audiences the opportunity to continue their

experience at the theatre by providing events and interactive resources like this Field Guide.

Its purpose can function in many ways—in the classroom, as a series of activities, a resource

to artists, and a behind the scenes glance into this amazing, venturesome production.

We suggest exploring the guide both before and after attending The Playhouse’s production of

Gypsy running Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. from February 6

through March 8, 2015.

The Playhouse is proud to be hosting an Education Night for students on February 21, 2015

for tickets as low as $10! Additionally, thanks to the support of the Cowden Foundation, 200

of the evening’s tickets are fully underwritten. If you have any questions or would like to

participate in an education night with your school, contact Christina Casella at

ccasella@theplayhousesa.org.

Finally, Gypsy contains adult themes including the history of burlesque performance. Please

use discretion when utilizing this field guide with students under the age of 18.

Thank you and enjoy!

Director’s Notes The first time I saw Gypsy was in 1973 at the Piccadilly

Theatre in London's West End, starring Angela Lansbury. You

don't forget moments like that. Gypsy is the musical that, as

they say, "sealed the deal" for me. I had seen plenty of

shows by then, been a loyal and overly enthusiastic member

of my high school's drama club, and had considered theatre

as a career option. But it was not until Gypsy that I realized,

at the age of 16, that I was hooked for life. It begins with Jule

Styne's overture (still the best overture ever written) and

when the brass section starts ripping it up halfway thru, you

know that this "musical fable" is going to be swell, it's going

to be great. In addition to its landmark score (with lyrics by

the young Stephen Sondheim), Gypsy offers us one of the best scripts ever written for the

American stage. Arthur Laurents' book introduces characters as complicated and memorable as

anything William Inge, Arthur Miller, and Lillian Hellman were giving Broadway audiences in

non-musical plays of that era. The crazy, sometimes seedy, elements of show business make it

funny; the story about a family makes it classic. A decade that began with the likes of Amanda

Wingfield and Blanche DuBoise already established as iconic stage characters ended with the

introduction of Momma Rose into the pantheon of great female roles. In addition, the

metamorphosis of the young, awkward Louise into the magnificent Gypsy Rose Lee makes the

title character a dream role as well. These are real people on the stage. We have strippers with

gimmicks, a sweet agent with stomach ulcers, young hoofers with stars in their eyes...but they

each have their dreams, their disappointments, and broken hearts to spare. Just like us. ~Tim

Hedgepeth

PAGE ONE

Show Background Gypsy follows the life and times of Gypsy Rose

Lee, burlesques' smart as a whip stripper, and

her mother Rose. Mama Rose is determined

that her younger daughter June will have a

successful career, but after June elopes,

Momma turns all her attention on her older

daughter, Louise. Louise immediately catches

fire and her wit, charm, and classic beauty sky rocket her to fame, much to her mother’s dismay.

The classic musical premiered on Broadway in 1959, starring Ethel Merman. The book was written

by Arthur Laurents. The music was written by Jule Styne and lyrics were written by Stephen

Sondheim.

Jule Styne was born in London and has written over 1,500 songs. Styne wrote for many famous

performers incuding Frank Sinatra. Other famous

works include Peter Pan, Funny Girl, and Do Re Mi.

Styne was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

in 1972.

Stephen Sondheim is an American composer and

lyricist. He was born in New York City and grew up in

Manhattan. Oscar Hammerstein II, the famous

theatrical producer, was Stephen’s mentor from the

time Stephen was 10 years old. Some have described

him as “possibly the greatest lyricist ever”.

PAGE TWO

Gypsy Now and Then

Original Broadway Cast- Ethel Merman/Sandra Church- 1959 (center)

Film- Rosalind Russell/Natalie Wood- 1962

Revival- Angela Lansbury/Zan Charrise- 1973

Revival- Tyne Daly/Crista Moore- 1989

Film- Bette Midler/Cynthia Gibb– 1993

Revival- Bernadette Peters/ Tammy Blanchard- 2003 (bottom left)

Revival- Patti Lupone/Laura Benanti- 2008 (bottom right)

Barbara Streisand– Rumored film 2016

PAGE Three

The Life and Times of

Gypsy Rose LEE Born Rose Louise Hovick in Seattle, Washington, on January

19, 1911

At the age of 15, Louise’s mother put her on stage for her first

strip tease.

Soon she had made it to Minsky’s, the most famous burlesque

house in the United States. Here she took her stage name.

In 1937, when Mayor LaGuardia shut down all of New York’s burlesque houses, Lee was forced

to head west to Hollywood, and began her film career.

She married Arnold Mizzy on August 25, 1937 at the

insistence of her film studio but divorced him 1941.

She then married William Alexander Kirkland in

1942, later divorcing in 1944

On December, 1 1944, she gave birth to her only

child Erik Lee.

Gypsy had to deal with her mother who tried to

exhort money through vicious threats until her mother’s death from terminal cancer in 1954.

Gypsy: A Memoir, published in 1957, written by Gypsy Rose Lee.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1969, she died on April 26, 1970.

PAGE Four

The Era of Vaudeville and Burlesque In the 1840's, minstrel shows, grew to enormous popularity. Theatregoers could enjoy a

performance of Shakespeare, acrobatics, song, dance, and comedy all in the same evening. This style of show became known as vaudeville.

Benjamin Franklin Keith is considered to be the father of American Vaudeville. Keith opened a museum in 1883 featuring a very popular act called “Baby Alice the Midget Worker”, considered to be the first vaudeville act.

Vaudeville shows usually consisted of about a

dozen acts. These shows would be constructed with the weakest acts at the beginning and

end of the show. By the early 1930s, the arrival of talking film and the Great Depression

ended the vaudeville era.

Beginning in the 1840s, burlesque quietly arrived on the scene.

These works entertained the lower and middle classes in the

United States by making fun of the operas, plays, and social habits

of the upper classes. When Broadway's The Black Crook became a

massive hit in 1866, it proved that audiences were willing to pay

more for sexually stimulating entertainment. Managers caught on

quickly and began to encourage companies to produce more

works of this nature. Gypsy Rose Lee‘s success can be credited to

her wit. She brought sex appeal, charm, and respectability to

the often frowned upon art form.

PAGE FIVE

Photo by Siggi Ragnar

Recall the first scene of the show. Recall the first line of

the show: “Everybody shut up. Mothers out.”

What does this line convey about mothers in the

theatre?

What comes to mind with the phrase, “stage mother”?

In Gypsy, A Memoir, Gypsy Rose Lee’s autobiography,

she refers to her mother as a “jungle mother” What

does that mean you?

A star is born

Recall the line: “June, you are a star! And I made you one! Who’s

got clippings like she has? Books full of ‘em! She doesn’t need

lessons any more than she needs Mr. T.T. Grantziger!”

What do you think the difference between an actor and a

star is?

Was Gypsy Rose Lee a star or an actor? Back up your argu-

ment with examples from this guide or from the show.

For Your Consideration

Photo by Siggi Ragnar

PAGE FIVE

Burlesque Lingo Match the Burlesque lingo on the left

with its correct definition on the right.

Boston Version

Bump

From Hunger

Jerk

Milk It

Mountaineer

Skull

Talking Woman

Top Banana

Trailer

Top billed comedian in a show

A cleaned up routine

To make a funny face

Feeding lines in a comedy skit

An audience member

The strut down the runway before

the strip begins

Newcomer from the Catskills

circuit

To swing hips forcefully

Make audience applaud for

encore

*Answers at the back of packet

PAGE SIX

Theatre Etiquette 101 Please be on time! Plan to arrive 15 to 20 minutes

before the start of the show.

Please remember to turn off your cell phone or any

other devices that might make any noise or light up

during the show.

Please take your seat when you see the lights dim be-

fore the show—that is a signal that the show is about

to start!

Please remember that the seats in the theater are for sitting; try to refrain from kicking,

bouncing, standing, or putting feet on the seats.

Please do not stand or sit in the aisles—many times actors will make entrances through the

audience.

Please remember that live performances may

not be recorded: cameras and video

equipment are not permitted in the theater.

Please do not talk during the show—even in a

whisper—it is distracting to the actors and

other audience members.

Please dress nicely to attend theatrical

events.

PAGE SEVEN

Works Cited

www.lifetimetv.co.uk/biography/biography-gypsy-rose-lee

www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/vaudeville/about-vaudeville/721

xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain

www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/gypsy.htm

www.musicals101.com/burlesque.htm

Answers

Milk It– Get more applause

Mountaineer-Newcomer from the Catskills circuit

Skull-Funny face

Talking Woman-Feeding lines in a comedy skits

Top Banana– Top billed comedian in a show

Boston Version– A Cleaned up routine

Bump-To swing hips forcefully

From Hunger-A bad performer

Jerk –An audience member

Trailer-The strut down the runway before strip begins

Special Thanks to

The Cowden Foundation