Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman (104 page)

64. Sol Siegel, conference note to Darryl Zanuck on There's No Business Like
Show Business, 18 October 1952, USC: Fox Scripts "There's No Business Like Show
Business," file 2595.

65. Jack Moffitt, "Review of There's No Business Like Show Business," Hollywood
Reporter, [December 1954], MCNY, SC 4-

66. Custen, Twentieth Century s Fox, 351.

CHAPTER 13: FROM MRS. SIX TO MAMA ROSE

I. Walter Winchell, New York Daily Mirror, 21 March 1956, MCNY, SC 19.

2. Steven H. Scheuer, "Ethel Set for One More Show," Long Island Press, z8
March 1956, MCNY, SC 19.

3. Alex Murphree, "Ethel Merman Packing-Back to Broadway," Denver Post,
5 August 1956, MCNY, SC i9.

4. NYJA, i9 May 1956, MCNY, SC i9.

5. William Mccullam, "Ethel Merman Returns Shouting, `I Love Broadway,"'
NYJA, 5 September 1956, MCNY, SC zo.

6. Az, 198.

7. Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, Happy Hunting (New York: Random
House, 1957), 114•

8. Ibid., 45-

9. Ibid., 159-

10. "Merman and Spouse Form Own Film Company," Variety, 13 February 1957,
MCNY, SC 2o.

11. Robert Downing, "This Is the Story ofTwo Majesties-One in Cedar Rapids,
One in New York," Cedar Rapids Gazette, 27 January 1957, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

12. Lamas was also a follower of the Church of Religious Science, which maintains that adversity can be cured through prayer. He explained its influence: "As soon
as a depressing thought comes into my mind, I substitute another." Lamas in Frances
Herridge, "Curtain Cues," NYP, 24 September 1956, MCNY, SC zo.

13. Sheila Graham, "Hollywood" (syndicated), 19 September 1956, MCNY, SC zo.

14. Rocky Mountain News, 3 April 1956, MCNY, SC i9.

15. Howard Crouse and Buck Lindsay, letter to EM, 6 August 1956, MCNY, SC 2o.

16. Various sources in NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

17. Lindsay and Crouse, Happy Hunting, 105.

18. Bob Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! The Ethel Merman Story (New York: Putnam,
1985),138.

19. Az, 199.

zo. "Ethel Merman Protests to Equity," NYHT, 22 August 57, NYPL, Billy Rose
Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

21. Quoted in Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! W.

22. Marie Torre, "Taking Stock of Things, Merman Style," NYHT, 22 August
1957, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

23. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway: Merman Wins Another Round,"
NYJA, 4 September 1957, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting
file.

24. Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," NYDN, 23 August 1957, MCNY, SC 21.
His response to her thank-you is dated 27 August, also in SC 21.

25. Leonard Lyons, "The Lyons Den," NYP2zo November 1957, NYPL, Billy
Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

z6. Bill Fields, letter to EM, 25 August 1957, MCNY, SC 21.

27. "The Theatre: New Musical in Manhattan," Time, 17 December 1956, NYPL,
Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Happy Hunting file.

z8. Hobe Morrison, "Shows on Broadway," Variety, 12 December 1956, MCNY,
SC 21. Also quoted in Sherri R. Dienstfrey, "Ethel Merman: Queen of Musical Comedy" PhD dissertation, Kent State University 1986, 135-

29. Dienstfrey, "Ethel Merman," 134-35.

30. A2,197.

31- Cecil Smith and Glen Litton, Musical Comedy in America: From the Black
Crook through Sweeney Todd (New York: Routledge, 1978), 214-15.

32. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004-

33. Dienstfrey, "Ethel Merman," 131.

34. Lindsay and Crouse, Happy Hunting, 23.

35• Ibid.

36. The local Rocky Mountain News of 4 February 1957 awarded her once again
the title "Best Tressed."

37. Quoted in Marie Torre, "TV/Radio Today," NYHT 20 September 1957,
MCNY, SC 20.

38. Armstrong had recently criticized President Eisenhower for the incident at
Little Rock, a reference to the September 1957 "Little Rock Crisis," in which
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus ordered in the National Guard to prevent nine
African-American children from entering an unintegrated school. Eisenhower responded by deploying military troops. Armstrong's criticism inflamed certain factions enough to call on him to cancel his appearance on the show. The pro-civil
rights trumpeter stayed on, along with Diahann Carroll, Mahalia Jackson, and
Dinah Washington, in an integrated cast.

39. George Rosen, "It's No Longer a Case ofMoney," Variety, 25 September 1957,
MCNY, SC zo.

40. A2, 201.

41. Lee Morimer, "New York Confidential," NYDM, 9 July 1957, MCNY, SC 20.

42. Alan Brian, "No One Ever Calls Him `Mr. Merman,"' unidentified clipping,
[1957], MCNY, SC 20.

43. Margaret McManus, "Not Tied Down by TV-Ethel Merman," Paterson
Evening News (NJ), 14 August 1957, MCNY, SC 20.

44• A2, 196.

45. RL, letter to author, 20 August 2004.

46. RL, letter to author, 28 February 2007.

47. Ibid. Hearst's birthday was in late April; Levitt's suicide was at the end of
January.

48. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

49. Robert Serling, Maverick: The Story of Robert Six and Continental Airlines
(New York: Doubleday, 1974),125•

50- TC, interview with author, 6 July zoo6.

CHAPTER 14: GYPSY

i. See Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses: The Broadway Musical of the 195os (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 251.

2. Keith Garebian, The Making of Gypsy (New York: Mosaic Press, 1998), 12.

3. This is the original title as it appeared in the program. It has since been reproduced on Gypsy cast recordings as "Let Me Entertain You," which is taken from
the lyrics used when Louise performs the song in the second act.

4. This title, too, has known several different incarnations, such as "If Momma
Were Married," with "Momma" spelled a variety of ways. Tony Cointreau reports
that this is the version lyricist Stephen Sondheim understands to be correct (conversation with author, August zoo6).

5. Arthur Laurents, Original Story byArthur Laurents: A Memoir ofBroadway and
Hollywood (New York: Applause Books, 2001), 375-

6. Phyllis Pattelle, "'Gypsy' in Merman's Soul," NYJA, , June 1959, 13, NYPL,
Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Gypsy file, MWEZ, nc z6, 491.

7. Emily Coleman, "The Dance Man Leaps to the Top," NYTM, 19 April 1959,
MCNY, SC 23-

8. Robbins was tormented about his decision for the rest of his life. See Greg
Lawrence, Dance with Demons: The Life ofjerome Robbins (New York: Putnam, zoo,).

9. JS, quoted in Craig Zadan, Sondheim & Co. (New York: Harper and Row,
1977), 38 and 41.

,o. Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life (New York: Knopf, 1998), 132-

ii. Ibid., 134-

12. Ibid., 140-

,3. Quoted in Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 379.

14. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," NYJA, 30 March 1959, MCNY,
SC 23-

15. Garebian, The Making of Gypsy, 35•

16. Paine Knickerbocker, "How Leland Hayward Would Save the Theater," San
Francisco Chronicle, 6 July 1961, MCNY, SC 27.

17. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 378.

18. Ibid.

19. Barbara L. Wilson, "Gypsy Conquered Reluctant Writer," Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 May 1959, MCNY, SC 27.

20. RL, letter to author, 9 April 2005.

21. Thanks to Al F. Koenig Jr.

22. Radie Harris, Reporter, [,z] February 1959, MCNY, SC z,.

23. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 391.

24. Unidentified clipping, NYT, 21 September 1974, 15, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Ethel Merman, 1970s folder. Merman repeated this on countless
talk shows throughout the 196os and '70s.

25. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 381.

z6. Quoted in Zadan, Sondheim & Co., 46.

27. Quoted in Secrest, Stephen Sondheim, 136.

z8. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 394.

29. Quoted in Secrest, Stephen Sondheim, 139.

30. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 395.

31. Secrest, Stephen Sondheim, 139.

32. Jeanette Lovetri, interview with author, 7 November 2003.

33. From Al F. Koenig Jr.

34• Quoted in Zadan, Sondheim & Co., 50.

35• Ibid.

36. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 385.

37. Quoted in Zadan, Sondheim & Co., 45-

38. KB, interview with author, 5 October 2004.

39- Quoted in Secrest, Stephen Sondheim, 136; also recounted in Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 382.

40. Unidentified clipping MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

41. Ernie Schier, "Gypsy Brings Merman to Shuberts' Stage," Evening Bulletin
(Philadelphia), 14 April 1959, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

42. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway: Merman-Robbins at Odds on
`Gypsy,"' NYJA, 29 April 1959, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

43. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

44• Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 397.

45. "Gypsy Could Do $8,,000 a Week," Variety, 15 April 1959, MCNY, Gypsy
scrapbooks. The article says that Gypsy had a potential weekly gross of about $80,000
to $8,,ooo at $8.6o top weeknights and $9.40 weekend nights.

46. Louis Sobol, NYJA, 23 May 1959, MCNY, SC 23-

47. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 348.

48- Ibid., 399.

49. Robert Setting, Maverick: The Story of Robert Six and Continental Airlines
(New York: Doubleday, 1974), 125-

50. Walter Kerr, "First Night Report," NYHT, 22 May 1959, NYPL, Billy Rose
Theatre Collection: Gypsy file.

51. Kenneth Tynan, New Yorker, 30 May 1959, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

52. Walter Winchell, "The Broadway Hits," NYDM [25 May] 1959, MCNY,
Gypsy scrapbooks.

53. Mark Steyn, Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now (New
York: Routledge, 1999), 101.

54. Mordden, Coming Up Roses, 253.

55. Tom Donnelly, "A Ten-Strike for Ethel and All Hands" (date unidentified),
Washington Daily News (Washington, DC), MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

56. Newsweek, 1 June 1959, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

57. Douglas Watt, "Record Review," New York News, 21 June 1959, MCNY, Gypsy
scrapbooks.

58. Glenne Currie, "Ethel Merman: Still a Show-Stopper," New York Graphic, i
September 1978, 9, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Ethel Merman, 1970s folder.

59. John Chapman, "A Critic in Favor Says Aye," New York News, i May 1960,
MCNY, SC 24-

6o. Radie Harris, "Broadway Ballyhoo," Hollywood Reporter, z8 April 1960,
MCNY, SC 24-

61. Stacy Wolf, A Problem Like Maria: Gender and Sexuality in the American Musical (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, zooz), 1o6.

62. Quoted in Zadan, Sondheim & Co., 51-52.

63. Quoted in ibid., 52.

64. Quoted in ibid.

65. Miami Herald, 20 March 1961, MCNY, SC 25-

66. Radie Harris, "Broadway Ballyhoo," Hollywood Reporter, 2 December 1960,
MCNY, SC 25-

67. Rosalind Russell, letter to EM, 4 June 1960, MCNY SC 23-

68. Frank Morriss, "No Roses Blooming for Gypsy," Toronto Globe and Mail,
2 February 1963, MCNY, SC 27.

69. Stanley Eichelbaum, "Ethel Merman Deserts Broadway," San Francisco Examiner, z8 March 1962, MCNY, SC 28.

70. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," NYJA, 1 November 1962, MCNY,
SC z6.

71. Mordden, Coming Up Roses, 251.

72. "Broadway Wilts; Only Four Sellouts," Variety, z6 August 1959, MCNY,
Gypsy scrapbooks.

73. Mary Martin, note to EM, 21 August 1959, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

74. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

75. JS, note to EM, MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

76. CP, telegram to EM, 25 November 1959, MCNY, SC 24-

77. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway: Ethel's Disenchantment No Surprise," NYJA, z8 December 1960, MCNY, SC 24-

78. Bill Fields, letter to EM, 21 December 1959, with mock-up of unpublished
newspaper article attached, MCNY, SC 25-

79. MCNY, SC 25.

8o. Variety, i8 May 1960, MCNY, SC 25-

8i. Menu in MCNY, SC 24.

8z. MCNY, SC 24-

83. Miscellaneous clippings, ca. December 1960, MCNY, SC 25.

84. Conversation with author, New York City, October/November 2003.

85. From acetate collection of Al F. Koenig Jr.

86. Leonard Lyons, "The Lyons Den," NYP3 3 January 1961, MCNY, SC 25.

87. Thanks to Al F. Koenig Jr. for his recollections.

88. Hal Boyle, "Producer Devoted to Sea Epic," Denver Post, 3 August 1958,
MCNY, Gypsy scrapbooks.

89. In the film, Norman Bates's psychosis is blamed on his overly close relationship with his overbearing mother. So close is that identification that he dresses as his
mother when he kills his victim in the famous shower scene.

90. It's important to add that in the '5os, moms of both film and stage tended
to avoid the bland, domesticated cliches common to television during the same
time, such as in Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and other programs. Stage
and screen venues were subject to less censorship than TV, and so these venues presented postwar American families that were typically more dysfunctional and less
idealized.

9i. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 377.

92. Garebian, The Making of Gypsy, 12.

93. Archer Winsten, "Reviewing Stand," NYP, i9 November 1959, MCNY SC 29;
italics added.

94. Barbara Bladen, San Mateo Times, 12 August 1961, MCNY, SC 27.

95. Don Ross, "Mother-It's Murder/ Stage Holds Up Mirror to a Tarnished
Image," NYHT 8 May 1959, MCNY, SC 24.

96. Mordden, Coming Up Roses, 245•

97. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004-

98. Laurents, Original Story by Arthur Laurents, 378.

99. TC, interview with author, 6 July 2004-

100. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

101. Paine Knickerbocker, "How Leland Hayward Would Save the Theater," San
Francisco Chronicle, 6 July 1961, MCNY, SC 27.

102. Sheri Giles, "La Merman Sings Chicago's Praises," Chicago American, 31 July
1961, MCNY, SC 27.