movies

Barbra Streisand’s Gypsy Adaptation Thwarted

In January, Barbra Streisand started assembling the mother of all movie musicals: an adaptation of Gypsy directed by Oscar winner Tom Hooper that would star her as a remarkably fertile Mama Rose. But now, after months of negotiation, book writer Arthur Laurents has decided to deny Streisand the rights to the project, and he says he was spurred to do so by the musical’s lyricist, Stephen Sondheim: “He [told me], ‘You want a record because the theater is ephemeral. But that’s wrong. The theater’s greatest essence is that it is ephemeral. You don’t need a record. The fact that it’s ephemeral means you can have different productions, different Roses on into infinity.’ So I don’t want it now. I don’t want a definitive record. I want it to stay alive.” Or, failing that, for it to be covered on Glee. [Hartford Courant via Coming Soon]

Barbra Streisand’s Gypsy Adaptation Thwarted