| re: "Merrily We Roll Along" - So much Gussie! (Spoilers, maybe) | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:49 pm EDT 03/25/24 | |
| In reply to: re: "Merrily We Roll Along" - So much Gussie! (Spoilers, maybe) - Donald418 12:38 pm EDT 03/25/24 | |
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| For the record, Gussie is not now a combination of several characters in the original, and I don't think TheOtherOne meant to suggest that. It is true that there was a character named Terry in the original, and she was the star of Musical Husbands. But by the time the show opened, the character had only a very few lines. And none of the lines or additional material or even character traits from when the role was somewhat larger are part of the revised Gussie. Gussie was originally a society dilettante from a wealthy family who married a crass but likable producer who was "N.O.C.D," as she explained it, "not our class, dear." She originally had two songs, both of which were cut during previews in 1981. The revision went back to the original Hart and Kaufman play in making her an actress. The trouble is that this new Gussie is supposed to be from a working class background, but too much of the original Gussie's giddy socialite dialogue is still there, and it makes no sense for this Gussie. Of course, it's possible that this Gussie would speak this way, but in the places where there is new dialogue, it doesn't sound like the same person. Sondheim wrote her parts of "Growing Up" when she was still a society dilettante, and it was first heard in La Jolla in 1985. I think her parts of "Growing Up," in both acts, don't especially fit the Gussie of the original book. This and other things make it difficult for actresses playing the revised Gussie to create a coherent character, one who can land the comedy left from the original Gussie — there's a particularly glaring moment that makes no sense in the current production — and also make sense for some of the new material. But there was no real equivalent character for the new parts of the character back in 1981. Terry was a faded movie star who Gussie and Joe thought had one hit Broadway musical in her. A minor character. An alcoholic in early previews. That was cut by the opening, but her taste for younger men, only briefly referenced, remained. |
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