The long-awaited cast recording of the acclaimed 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy finally reached stores in late August and is now available at TimeLife.comFollowing in the footsteps of the 2008 cast recording of South Pacific, Time Life chose to release this Gypsy in two forms. The first release which is being sold by most outlets is a 1-disc CD featuring most of the score (including material never before recorded) as well as several songs cut from the original production in 1959. Some of these songs have been heard in some form prior to this release, including as bonus features on the most recent release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording. The second release is an exclusive 2-disc release from Barnes & Noble which features about eleven minutes of extra material recorded for the album but which would not fit on an 80-minute CD.
Like South Pacific, Gypsy was hardly underrepresented on disc prior to the release of the current album. There are over forty recordings of the score of South Pacific, while Gypsy has approximately half that number. South Pacific, despite its lack of full-scale Broadway revivals prior to the current one, has been constantly produced throughout the last sixty years, and many productions resulted in cast recordings including a 1967 Lincoln Center revival, two film soundtracks, and three London productions. There have also been two separate large-scale studio recordings (one from TER/JAY and another starring a rather unlikely Jose Carreras and Kiri Te Kanawa), and countless pop and studio recordings. Gypsy, on the other hand, has had a handful of pop recordings, such as Annie Ross's 1959 jazz album. There have been a few studio recordings including a famous disaster of a recording starring another Jule Styne Momma, Kay Medford.
Of the remaining recordings of the score, several feature foreign-language casts. This leaves six major recordings of the score standing in sharp comparison to the new recording. All three previous Broadway revivals were recorded, with Lansbury's London recording being released in a slightly altered form for the US. In addition to the Daly and Peters recordings, there are also the two film soundtracks, starring Rosliand Russell/Lisa Kirk, and Bette Midler respectively. And of course, the towering Original Broadway Cast Recordings still stands today as one of the greatest cast recordings of all time.
That famous OBC does not necessarily represent the show exactly as it appeared on stage in 1959. Several of the songs were apparently transposed to lower keys during the run of the show, so the score as heard on the recording is perhaps even more vocally exciting than what was heard nightly on Broadway. Changes were also made for the recording, including the use of a different arrangement of "Small World" which makes the song sound more like a popular hit. Despite these changes, however, the original recording is still one of the most revered of its genre and it captures much of the excitement of Ethel Merman's legendary performance.In the almost fifty years since Merman created the role, Rose has become one of the most collectible of "diva" roles of the musical theatre, and the various recordings of the score have become a valuable tool for enthusiasts to compare and contrast performances. Today, itunes has made the compare/contrast process even faster and easier allowing one to call up all renditions of a single song in only a few keystrokes, which can then be listened to instantly, back to back. It is to such scrutiny that any new recording will be subjected. One can now compare a new performance almost note by note to other recordings.
After the OBC, the next major recording of Gypsy is the 1962 soundtrack album. When the album was released for the first time on CD in 2003, it included multiple bonus tracks. 
The original soundtrack album had included alternative versions of some songs than what can be heard in the film. Lisa Kirk, who dubbed the majority of Russell's vocals for the film, sings a solo version of "Together Wherever We Go," which was cut from the film (and appears in a vocally jarring rendition by the film's three stars as a bonus on the DVD of the film as well as the new CD). In the film, Russell and Kirk's voices were spliced together for a "Rose's Turn" that is part Russell, part Kirk. The original album included only an all-Kirk version. The current release includes both cuts. Also included on the CD were Russell's vocal tracks for several songs that were ultimately deemed unusable by the studio, necessitating the assistance of Kirk. Merman is said to have acquired records of Russell's takes which she played at parties for laughs.
Ironically, the next two Broadway Roses who each won the Tony for the part while Merman did not, produced what have been called called much less vocally exciting recordings than the Merman original. Lansbury comes off much better than Daly, though changes in key are frequent within Lansbury's numbers in order to allow her to sing in a smaller range where she was vocally the most stable. The ferocity Lansbury brought to the role is in evidence on the recording. Tyne Daly, acclaimed in the theatre, was the least vocally endowed of the Broadway Roses, and was unfortunately ill when the recording of the 1989 revival was recorded. Daly herself reportedly was so upset with the recording she has declined to autograph copies of it. Nevertheless, as a 
souvenir of a great performance, the record is valuable.
Between the Daly recording and the current recording, there are two other major Gypsys. The 1993 television film starring Bette Midler was a ratings success that garnered strong reviews
and many Emmy nominations (though only one award, for Musical Direction, was won). In later years, however, many including Arthur Laurents have expressed disappointment with the production and the star. Midler, one of the industry's greatest entertainers seemed to have all the right qualities for Rose, but Midler has had limited success as an actress and her performance of the role is not the most satisfying. However, Midler apparently insisted on singing several of her songs live on set, which were later mixed with studio takes. On record, this gives her performance a welcome theatricality and electricity. Though she perhaps does not plumb the depths of the role in the way some Roses have, Midler brings her considerable gifts as a performer and entertainer to the role, and comes off somewhat better on disc than on screen, and provides one of the more vocally solid renditions of the score, singing the score for the most part in Merman's keys. 
The next recording is, of course, the 2003 Broadway revival cast recording starring the controversial Rose of Bernadette Peters. The current revival seems to have benefited from the mixed response to this recent production. While Ben Brantley and others published very favorable reviews of Peters and the production, others felt the star was miscast. Peters had became ill during previews missing several performances, which added fuel to the fire of some who thought she was not up to the demands of the role. Peters gamely went on after previews, even when ill, and brought in audiences for a full year of performances. Though some vocal distress or deterioration can be heard in her performance on the 2003 recording, vocally, she still ranks as one of the stronger Roses on record. Unfortunately the recording is marred by a reduced orchestra and unappealing mixing and production.
So, after all these previous recordings, perhaps yet another Gypsy recording was not necessary. However, the new production is highly acclaimed and still selling decently at the box office, 
so a new album was inevitable. While the album will doubtlessly not convince those who do not like star Patti LuPone in general or in the role on stage, it still ranks as one of the strongest recordings of the score subsequent to the Merman original. The record is well produced and benefits from the lush full orchestra. Boyd Gaines, who won his fourth Tony for his performance in Gypsy, does not have a huge amount of sung material in the show, so it's pleasant to hear his rendition of Herbie's cut song, "Nice She Ain't." Laura Benanti, also a Tony winner for her Gypsy performance, brings much of what makes her the most acclaimed Louise/Gypsy so far to the recording. Next to Zan Charisse on the Lansbury recording, Benanti gets the most complete strip sequence on record for the evolution of Louise to Gypsy Rose Lee, and Benanti's transition from meek to confident and flirtatious is well represented on the recording.
Finally, of course, there is LuPone. The star has received perhaps the greatest reviews of her career, and her second Tony for her Rose. In praising the current Broadway revival, many critics, writers, and even Arthur Laurents himself, have been quick to note ways in which it is superior to previous productions. Merman's acting talent has been called inferior to later Roses, though many critics at the time acclaimed it as the best performance of her career, and specifically commented on the strength of her acting. Still, the word "definitive" has been used by some critics including John Simon to describe the current production and star. However, a role with so many successful portrayals can never truly have a definitive performance, and to this writer's mind, even sight unseen, the role will forever belong to Merman. However, LuPone does make one of the best overall cases for the part, bringing all the benefits of her strong legit acting background and her huge vocal power to the role. And it does seem as though this actress has had this date since she first bulldozed Broadway as Evita almost thirty years ago. It was then that she first fully demonstrated her lungs of iron and her will of steel that would one day serve her as Merman's successor. She is in excellent voice and in addition to her strong vocals, the album includes enough of her dialogue to hint at what she brings to the book scenes.
Though the album does not include Rose's second act reprise of "Small World" (which has been cut in the current production) it does include previously unrecorded score material including the "traveling" reprise to "Some People," and the Barnes and Noble bonus tracks, though not particularly necessary for the most part, do provide Rose and Louises's final scene and finale music which gives the album a more satisfying ending than most Gypsy albums which simply end with "Rose's Turn." The other cut songs included on the album are a mixed bag. In most cases, the choice to cut the songs appears wise. The counterpoint section of "Small World" and "Mamma's Talkin' Soft" is perplexing. The counterpoint seems muddled and overly complex. Not at all something in the tradition of Merman's great counterpoint numbers, "You're Just In Love" and "Old Fashioned Wedding." It is hard to imagine that the star would have accepted the number in this form. However the official story has always been that the song was cut because the little girls were staged to be on a high set piece and one of the two young actresses was terrified of heights.
Finally, if one was to own only one recording of Gypsy, one would need to own the OBC. However, for any true Broadway fan, one recording of Gypsy is simply not enough, and if one was to own only two recordings, the 2008 recording starring Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, and Laura Benanti, would be an excellent compliment to the original. Overall, of the other major recordings, it is the strongest.
