by Michael Gioia
Richard LaGravenese, who is adapting the film script with Streisand, shared details on the planned film remake, including that it "won't be the theatrical Gypsy" audiences know.
The film remake of Gypsy, starring Barbra Streisand in the iconic role of Rose, is still in the works, and according to writer-director Richard LaGravenese, who is adapting the script alongside Streisand, production is slated to commence at the beginning of 2017.
"The difficult problem [with Gypsy] is making it cinematic," LaGravenese told Playbill.com at the July 14 New York Musical Festival press event promoting this year's shows, including his NYMF directorial debut with Touché (by Randy Redd and Blair Ross). "That's the nut to crack. Coming up with a concept that helps to make it cinematic. For instance, you have 'Some [People],' which is this gigantic song which she sings in a kitchen, so how do you make that [cinematic]? These are the things that we worked on, making things more visual.
"Barry Levinson is directing, and he came on with a concept. It's hard to describe without giving it away. He came up with a cinematic concept that I think works, but it means that things have to be changed a little bit. People have to embrace the fact that it won't be the theatrical Gypsy-it will be the film Gypsy. But all the songs are there."
Though he couldn't speak more on an exact timeline for the film, LaGravenese added that the rewrite of the script was completed in May and that casting should be in the works.