Gypsy (1993)

An ambitious and domineering stage mother (Bette Midler) is determined to make her young daughter June (Lacey Chabert, who morphs into Jennifer Rae Beck) into a Star while ignoring her other daughter Louise (Elisabeth Moss morphing into Cynthia Gibb) and keeping her in the background. But when June elopes with a dancer (Jeffrey Broadhurst), she turns her attentions to Louise, determined to make her a Star. Based on the Broadway musical (previously filmed in 1962) which was loosely based on Gypsy Rose Lee's memoir and directed by Emile Ardolino (DIRTY DANCING). GYPSY has one of the great scores in Broadway musicals with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The plum role of Mama Rose is one of the best parts for an actress in a musical and has been played by Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Betty Hutton, Leslie Uggams and Tyne Daly among many others. On paper, Bette Midler seems like a terrific choice but she only scratches the surface. We see Bette Midler, not Mama Rose though Midler almost kicks her big number Rose's Turn out of the park but not quite. It's a perfectly serviceable rendering of the classic musical but I kept waiting for it (or Midler) to take off like a rocket but it never did. With Peter Riegert, Edward Asner, Christine Ebersole, Tony Shalhoub and Andea Martin.