Gypsy Rose Lee

When I was in seventh grade, my grandmother took me to see the musical, "Gypsy" at our local theater.

"Gypsy" is a thrilling musical (based on true-story) about the well-known and sassy stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, and how her overbearing stage mother, Mama Rose, forced her and her sister to come of age on the stage. Gypsy is satisfyingly "turned out" after cowering in her sister's shadow for her entire life; feisty Mama Rose is a woman with a dream that is larger than life (song: Coming Up Roses); the music is lusty and fresh.

One of the choice songs in the show is called "You Gotta Have a Gimmick." In this song, Mama Rose has just pushed young, naive Gypsy into her first burlesque strip show, and the lowbrow strippers are giving her some tips. They each have a tag line to go with each of their respective gimmicks, which they express like this:

"If you wanna grind it, wait 'til you've refined it."
"If you wanna make it, twinkle while you shake it."
"If you wanna bump it, bump it with a trumpet."

Charming, no?

I, of course, shared these lyrics with my friends, and we recycled them heavily into our 7th and 8th grade class performances, and I think even a high school lip-synch. Yikes.

But Gypsy Rose Lee was more than just a stripper with a gimmick, she brought class and culture and art to burlesque. When she became famous for her classy acts, she branched out into movies and books, including a book called "The G-String Murders." I picked up this book at the library, recently. Here's a line when Gypsy discovers the murder victim:

"As long as I live, I'll remember seeing that bloated, bluish face, the twisted, naked body, and the glitter of a G string hanging like an earring from the swollen neck."

A witty performer, a artistic seductress, an entrepreneur? Yes.
A role model for a 7th grader? Sure.
A writer, she ain't.