For many La Merm was the definitive Rose but for me Roz Russell is the one they all have to beat. I never saw Merman, not that I would have cared to (though I would, had I lived in New York in 1959, have gone in spite of my aversion to Merm, just for the score) so that the first version I saw was Roz Russell in the movie. To me - and this is just one man's opinion - Merm was all brash and belt with no warmth so it's easy for me to believe she brought out the monster in Rose and just belted it across the footlights with about as much finesse as Sly Stallone would bring to figure skating, whereas Russell tempered the brashness with warmth and humanity. As a great admirer of Tyne Daly I would have loved to have seen her take, she can do warmth standing on her head but much as I admire her it's hard for me to visualize her as the ruthless monster that is Rose. Luckily I only paid 50p in a Charity shop for the Midler version and even then I feel robbed because all I got out of it was the score and as I already own the Broadway Cast CD (albeit with Merm) and the Russell movie I'm not exactly short in that department. Midler came across as simply a freak, bloated face, shapeless figure, nothing in evidence to account for all the husbands she'd managed to snare or explain what Herbie found lovable.She even managed to make Jule Styne's melodies appear tuneless which is quite a trick. Today, in England, we're not allowed to call gypsies gypsies, we have to refer to them as travellers; that's jake with me in Midler's case, the father she travels the better.
Review of Gypsy
