| I have the original libretto, as published by Samuel French. If I'm allowed, I'll make and post a pdf. The show is - as credited - "Based on an idea by Leonard Spiegelgass," but I've never actually known what the idea was. (Spiegelgass wrote the screenplay of the 1962 Gypsy, among many credits.) Admittedly, this is a Broadway musical, not a documentary, but there's *a lot* of fiction. I'm happy to say - as a long-time Staten Islander - that, yes, Mabel Normand was born in the West Brighton section of Staten Island (the house is still standing), not far from the ferry and walking distance from where we live. So one could replace "Miss Waitress from Flatbush" with "Miss West Brighton Waitress" and it would still scan. :-) |
