Monday, January 10, 2011

Gypsy Rose Lee At 100

Born Rose Louise Hovick in Seattle, Washington, burlesque icon, Gypsy Rose Lee, would have turned 100 this weekend.
Trying to describe what Gypsy was (a "high-class" stripper), H. L. Mencken coined the term ecdysiast. Her style of intellectual recitation while stripping was spoofed in the number "Zip!" from Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, a play in which her sister June appeared. Gypsy can be seen performing an abbreviated version of her act (intellectual recitation and all) in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen.(Wikipedia)
Probably best known (at least to modern-day audiences) after her memoir, Gypsy, inspired the Sondheim musical, Gypsy: A Musical Fable, I thought a tribute of performances, songs from the musical, and songs inspired by the woman herself would be fitting:




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