Gussie got cut back during previews of the original, losing both her songs, one of which was later reinstated. But it probably was helpful to Terry Finn, who really scored with what was left. Comedy was her strength, and she nailed that character.
Gussie as a giddy, silly, bitchy socialite dilettante was a funny and charming character. You could love hating her.
Gussie as a lower-class actress somehow behaving like a giddy, silly socialite is confusing.
And once we see her do what she does in the first scene, we are not prepared to find anything about her funny or semi-likable.
The ways in which she was rewritten, while bringing her closer to the character in Kaufman and Hart, were terribly destructive to the musical. |
