Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand has been left "disappointed" after movie bosses decided not to proceed with plans for her big screen adaptation of Broadway musical Gypsy.
 
The singer/actress recently confirmed she had signed up to star in the latest Hollywood re-imagining of the famous show, which has previously been transformed into films starring both Rosalind Russell and Bette Midler.
 
Director Arthur Laurents has now revealed the musical's co-creator Stephen Sondheim was against the idea of another film adaptation, so they scrapped the Streisand project.
 
He tells the Hartford Courant, "He (Sondheim) said, 'What is the point of it?' And I said, 'They have this terrible version with Rosalind Russell wearing those black and white shoes.'

"And then Sondheim told me something that he got from the British - and it's wonderful. He said, 'You want a record because the theatre is ephemeral.

"But that's wrong. The theatre's greatest essence is that it is ephemeral. You don't need a record... '
 
"So I don't want it now. I don't want a definitive record. 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."

 


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