Show Synopsis:
Rose desperately wants both of her daughters, June and Louise, to be star vaudeville performers, but clearly favors the more talented and extroverted June. She coerces a man named Herbie into being their agent, and the girls grow up performing the same kiddie act over and over. The girls begin to realize how much control their mother has on their life, and after June elopes with a dancer named Tulsa, Rose focuses on making Louise the star of the family. The new act struggles to find venues, and Rose despairs when the only performance they get is at a burlesque club. She agrees to marry Herbie and break up the act so that they can lead more normal lives, but when she pushes Louise into burlesque striptease, Herbie leaves her. Through this stroke of luck, Louise becomes a major burlesque stripstease star and tells Rose she does not need her anymore. Without anyone else to push around in her dreams, Rose realizes that she wanted stardom for herself all along.
Character:
Rose, a loud and brassy woman in her 40s who has a secret longing to be a huge star; pushes her daughters to succeed on the stage at all costs; sacrifices love, a real home, and a unified family for the sake of stardom for June, and later Louise; finds it difficult to confront her own feelings; tenacious.
Song Context:
Louise has rejected Rose for the last time, insisting she does not need her as a mother or as a representative. Rose wanders onto the stage, and she slowly begins to imagine and hallucinate that she is the adored performer she never had the chance to be.
Fun Facts:
1. Ethel Merman originated this role on Broadway, and Sondheim described the qualities that made her a good fit for Rose, despite her lack of experience as a dramatic actress, as "obnoxious indomitability, an unstoppable confidence, [and] a total absence of self-censorship.?
2. Sondheim wrote that creating this song has remained the highpoint of his theatrical life. He clumsily improved on a piano for three hours with director and choreographer Jerry Robbins.
3. The first time Ethel Merman heard this song, she called it ?more an aria than a song.?
"Here she is, boys!
Here she is, world!
Here's Rose!
Curtain up!
Light the lights!
Play it, boys!
Ya either got it, or ya ain't.
And, boys, I got it!
Ya like it?
Well, I got it!
Some people got it and make it pay.
Some people can't even give it away.
This people's got it
And this people's spreadin' it around!
You either have it
Or you've had it!
Hello, everybody! My name is Rose! What's yours?
How do you like them eggrolls, Mr. Goldstone?
Hold your hats and hallelujah.
Mama's gonna show it to you.
Ready or not, shhh, here comes Mama.
Mama's talkin' loud.
Mama's doin' fine.
Mama's gettin' hot.
Mama's goin' stong.
Mama's movin' on.
Mama's all alone.
Mama doesn't care.
Mama's lettin' loose.
Mama's got the stuff.
Mama's lettin' go.
Mama?
Mama's got the stuff.
Mama's gotta move.
Mama's gotta go.
Mama? Mama?
Mama's gotta let go.
Why did I do it?
What did it get me?
Scrapbooks full of me in the background.
Give 'em love and what does it get ya?
What does it get ya?
One quick look as each of 'em leaves you.
All your life and what does it get ya?
Thanks a lot and out with the garbage,
They take bows and you're battin' zero.
I had a dream.
I dreamed it for you, June.
It wasn't for me, Herbie.
And if it wasn't for me,
Then where would you be,
Miss Gypsy Rose Lee?
Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn?
Don't I get a dream for myself?
Starting now it's gonna be my turn.
Gangway, world, get off of my runway!
Starting now I bat a thousand!
This time, boys, I'm taking the bows and
Everything's coming up Rose!
Everything's coming up roses!
Everything's coming up roses
This time for me!
For me! For me! For me! For me! For me!
For me! Yeah!"