Ethel Merman did miss almost a. Week of Gypsy. She was getting old, Not sure if her illness was written about on the front page of the New York Times, but it was a major story.
Her United studs was interviewed endlessly
Well I saw Ethel Merman in Gypsy twice. The musical was written for her.
I saw Merman from the front row. She had tears in her eyes because Oscar Hammerstein' died that morning