Trivia for
Gypsy (1962)

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• Most of Rosalind Russell's songs were dubbed by Lisa Kirk. However, Russell's voice can be heard in "Mr. Goldstone" and parts of "Rose's Turn" and in the cut "Together Wherever We Go".
  
  
• Veteran songwriter Jule Styne, who composed the songs for "Gypsy," can be seen during the opening credits leading the orchestra in the overture.
  
  
• Rose Marie was considered for the singing voice doubles for Rose.
  
  

• The stage team had hoped that Warner would cast Judy Garland as Mama Rose and Ann-Margret as Gypsy. The two stars had heavy scheduling conflicts, so the production team passed on both.
  
  
• The real Gypsy Rose Lee visited the set and gave Natalie Wood some tips on her stripping routines.
  
  
• During the filming of this movie, Rosalind Russell stuck the hat pin through her head. However when the scene was over she passed out. This is noticeable at the end of the "Some People" when she sings "Well, they can stay and rot!" When she takes the plaque, you can clearly see the other end of the hat pin doesn't stick out.
  
  
• During the rehearsals for "GYPSY", Mervyn LeRoy was not happy with the girl that he had cast to play "Dainty June". (This was before Ann Jillian was cast.) He thought that the actress was not as good of a dancer or singer as Morgan Brittany, who played "Baby June". He tried to make Suzanne look old enough to play "Dainty June" by having Orry-Kelly design older clothes with padding and having her wear high heels, but the transformation didn't work, she still looked too young to play opposite Natalie Wood, so another casting session brought the role to Ann Jillian. Ann was not really a dancer but her voice was spectacular and Mervyn felt that she made a more believable older June.
  
  
• In the film, the character of Herbie appears early as "Uncle Jocko". This doubling does not exist in the original musical but was done, presumably, to get Mr. Malden on screen earlier.
  
  
• Morgan Brittany's first feature film.
  
  
• Before the decision was made to dub most of her vocals, Rosalind Russell attempted to do her own singing. The highly unsatisfactory results can be heard as an extra feature on the soundtrack CD. After Ethel Merman's death, a tape of the Russell recordings was found in a box in Merman's closet. Merman, who was infuriated that she'd not been cast in the film, evidently had retained this copy of the Russell vocals as a strange and somewhat vengeful consolation prize.
  
  
• Although Rosalind Russell's character is always referred to as "Mama Rose" in reviews and discussions of this film, the character is never addressed that way by anyone in the movie; the closest anyone comes is "Madame Rose".
  
  
• On the DVD from Warner Home Video, two Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim numbers, cut from the release print in 1962, have been restored: the delightful buddy song, "Together Wherever We Go," performed by Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden, along with a second version of the appealing Russell-Malden duet, "You'll Never Get Away From Me."
  
  
• Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theater on May 21, 1959 and ran for 702 performances starring Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman.
  
  

• SPOILER: In the original play, June elopes with Tulsa. In the film, she elopes with the otherwise unknown Jerry. While this gave Tulsa (Paul Wallace) an additional final scene with Louise, the substitution otherwise seems inexplicable.
  
  

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