Barbra Streisand's Dreams of 'Gypsy' Dashed by Proud Sondheim, Laurents
You would think that anyone brave enough to want to make a movie musical would kill to have legendary actress and singer Barbra Streisand associated with it! Well not 'Gypsy' playwright Arthur Laurents, who along with co-creator Stephen Sondheim have scrapped the entire project, leaving Babs heartbroken.
Laurents holds the rights to the 1959 Broadway musical and agreed that Barbra could play the role of Mama Rose, even telling the New York Post: "Barbra ... knows what she's doing. She has my approval."
Now the 93-year-old Laurents has changed his mind after he spoke with the musical's lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who flatly asked, "What is the point of" doing another movie.
"So I don't want it now," Laurents told the
Harford Courant. "I want it to stay alive. I think (Streisand) is disappointed. She wanted very much to do it. That would have been a good exit for her career. Tom Hooper wanted to direct it. I think he's wonderful."
An insider tells me Sondheim also told Laurents that a film version would kill any future stage productions of the hit show. "He played to Laurents' ego suggesting 'Gypsy' would live forever if a definitive film version was never made," my source tells me. "What 93-year-old man doesn't want to listen when someone says they can live forever?"
And although Barbra is said to be very disappointed that the film will not be made any time soon thanks to her "friend" Stephen Sondheim's interfering, insiders tell me the legend hasn't given up altogether.
Without being callous or cruel, I'm told Barbra will simply wait it out. "All Barbra needs to do is sit and wait," a producer friend tells me. "Sooner or later she will get to play her dream role on film."
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Saw her on TV a few weeks ago her voice is not that good anymore
Sorry but I still love her.
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I didn't think her voice sounded good on the grammies. Time to retire for good.
Her voice has changed as all singer's voices do as they mature. However, she was nervous that night. In spite of this, her voice is still a thing of wonder and she can still sing rings around those half her age.
She is WAY too old to play Mama Rose and personally, she doesn't have the "it" factor to play the role. If they wanted to do another film version, they should get someone more believable to play a mother of a young child and a teenager. Catherine Zeta Jones would be my pick.
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Streisand looks younger now than Rosalind Russell did in 1962.
She doesn't look her age and she actually has a voice unlike all her Broadway predicessors. The real Rose looks far older in photos of her. Barbra would have been magnificent. Their loss.
That's okay. Sondheim and Laurents are old men now and soon they will be dead. Barbra can go ahead with Sunset Boulevard now!
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She would be FABULOUS in Sunset Boulevard!!
Maybe she told them FU, like she told those who went to see his performance. She is a has been who has retired more times than Mickey Rooney has wives. I think she also got dumped as many times by men. Elvis once said she smelled like fish, wonder what that means?
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You're an idiot.
I agree that you're an IDIOT!! Reading the trash papers again?
Forget "Gypsy." The ultimate film role for Streisand - the one that would allow her to end her film career with a huge box office smash - would be the film version of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Sunset Boulevard." Why isn't anyone talking this up?
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I DON'T BLAME THEM A BIT NOT WANTING HER. SHE IS A DEVISIVE WITCH WHO CRAPS ALL OVER THE SO CALLED LITTLE PEOPLE. BABS IS A HAS BEEN AND EVERYONE WHO HAS EITHER WORKED WITH HER OR FOR HER THINKS SHE'S A ROTTEN BASTARD
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Great decision!!! Rosalind Russell did a great job portraying Mama Rose in the original "Gypsy" starring Natalie Wood. Enough with remakes!!!
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After watching the reality show "Joan and Melissa", Joan Rivers is the clear choice to play "Mama Rose". She makes Barbra Streisand look like a "shy, retiring, wallflower"!
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I think Steve played Arthur. He didn't object to his Sweeney Todd getting made into a movie...
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Looking younger isn't the issue. She is just way too old to play a mother of young children. Streisand is 69 years old. Aside from Streisand fans, no one would believe her playing the role. Plus her voice is not what it used to be. If they were to do another film version, they should cast someone who is vocally strong enough and actually believable in the part. Someone like Catherine Zeta Jones would be perfect.
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Barbra is ideal for the role. She can perfectly look like a teenage 's mum and her carisma is incredible
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