NEW YORK—Broadway has reason to celebrate. Gypsy, (book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim), the 1959 musical drama about the ultimate stage mother, is back on Broadway.
Boasting a solid cast, the show also benefits immeasurably from excellent direction by the 90-year-old Laurents and a powerhouse performance by Patti LuPone as the domineering Rose, who not only brings down the house, but also allows the audience to see inside this driven and tormented character.
Set in various locations around the United States from the 1920s to the 1930s, the musical illustrates how Rose, who never had a chance to make it in show business, is determined to make a vaudeville star of daughter June (played by Sami Gayle as a child and Leigh Ann Larkin as an adult). Working in the chorus for June's act is her plain-looking sister Louise (Emma Rowley as a child, Laura Benanti as an adult), who will eventually become the title character.
Rose's need to be in control is so strong, she cannot give up the least bit of it to anybody—not to the men in her life (she's had several husbands by the time the musical begins), not to her daughters, nor to anyone who tries to help them.
Thus Rose ends up ruining a chance for June to go to acting school, an action which causes June's simmering resentment for being forced into a life she hates to come to the fore. When June runs away, Rose simply switches her plans for stardom to Louise—no matter what anyone else wants. As June notes sadly to her sister, Rose is someone who can make herself believe in anything.
Finally, with the act seemingly at the end of the line, Rose is about to give up her show business dreams and finally marry Herbie (an excellent Boyd Gaines), their long-time agent who has loved her for years. But an unexpected chance to push Louise into the spotlight once more, this time as a stripper, turns out to be the final straw and the ultimate turning point in two very personal relationships. Soon after, when Louise becomes a star in her own right, she no longer needs her mother and leaves Rose to wonder when it will finally be her turn to shine.
This is a production that works on all levels. The book is excellent, with the main characters all sharply, and in some cases painfully, drawn (the story is based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee).
The score is wonderful, with some of the highlights including the desperate "Everything's Coming Up Roses," the bitter "Roses' Turn" (both sung by LuPone as she fights to keep her fantasies and dreams alive), the very sweet "Together Wherever We Go" and the hilarious "You Gotta Get a Gimmick." (After seeing and hearing this last number, one will never look at a trumpet the same way again.)
Any production of Gypsy basically lives and dies on the character of Rose. Fortunately, LuPone turns in a bravura performance. Strong, demanding, and brassy, never taking "no" for an answer and always pushing everyone else to share in her dream, she is definitely not a woman to be trifled with.
But what really sets her apart is the pathetic quality LuPone projects when forcing herself to believe everything is going to be all right, despite just about everyone else's knowledge to the contrary. This all comes to an apex in the show's final moments, when it becomes obvious Rose will never stop dreaming a dream which will probably never come true.
Benanti is perfect as Louise, who changes from a quiet, mousy girl to a beautiful woman over the course of the show. One can almost feel the delight in her voice when she exclaims, "Momma, I'm pretty" as she prepares to go on for the first time as Gypsy, realizing something those close to her have always known.
At the same time, once Louise learns to stand on her own, she shows she is nobody's fool, never letting the fact she is a star change the person she is inside. Gaines is wonderful as Herbie, a meek but very loyal and dependable man.
In Herbie we see someone who loves a person so much it hurts as he waits vainly for that significant other to see what's right in front of her, only to be ultimately shattered when he finally realizes this will never happen. Despite his beaten-down look and air, Herbie never loses his dignity or moral compass, with his final line speaking volumes. Also quite good are Larkin as the adult June and Lenora Nemetz as Mazeppa.
The music has been given some lovely orchestrations by Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler. Bonnie Walker nicely recreates the original Jerome Robbins choreography. The costumes by Martin Pakledinaz are quite good, as are the sets by James Yourmans and lighting by Howell Binkley.
Also in the cast are Jim Bracchita, Bill Bateman, Kyrian Friedenberg, Katie Micha, Matthew Lobenhofer, Rider Quentin Stanton, Bill Raymond, Pearce Wegener, Andy Richardson, Brian Reddy, Steve Konopelski, Tony Yazbeck, John Scacchetti, Geo Serry, Matty Price, Jessica Rush, Nicole Mangi, Alicia Sable, Mindy Dougherty, Nancy Rennee Braun, Sarah Marie Hicks, Beckley Andrews, Alison Fraser, and Marilyn Caskey.
Gypsy
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
Tickets: 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com
Running Time: 2 Hours, 40 Minutes
Open Run
Judd Hollander is the New York Correspondent for the London publication, The Stage.
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