When I heard the news that this revival of the musical Gypsy had three Tony Award-winners in the cast, I had to venture over to the St. James Theatre and see it.
Gypsy tells the story of the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, otherwise known as Louise. Patti LuPone plays the indestructible Mama Rose and Laura Benanti plays Louise, her neglected daughter, both Tony Award-winners. The story goes on to tell how Mama Rose turns her daughter Louise into the highest paid burlesque star. Patti Lupone was perfect in her role and her powerful voice performed the well known numbers “Some People” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” that brought the audience to a standing ovation. She had another great moment when she performed the show stopper “Rose’s Turn”. She really was great and the audience loved her. Laura Benanti held her own as Louise and Boyd Gaines earned his Tony Award playing Herbie. Everyone in this revival of Gypsy was perfect. The costumes were also fitting while the staging and set designs added a vintage touch to this production. The dramatic show really felt like vintage theatre. The musical score was filled with so many hits. I would highly recommend Gypsy. It was a great production and Patti Lupone really gave the required energy and talent to make the show a hit. The audience gave Patti Lupone two standing ovations. She deserved both of them.
Gypsy has been on Broadway a total of five times with strong leading ladies playing the overbearing role of Mama Rose. Of course, we are all familiar with Ethel Merman as Mama Rose but Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daily, and Bernadette Peters all portrayed her as well. In the movie, Gypsy, Rosalind Russell and Bette Midler played the dominant Mama Rose.
The show is two hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
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