The famed musical Gypsy has returned to Broadway after more than 15 years. The last time determined stage mother Rose dominated the Great White Way, the iconic Patti LuPone embodied the role. In this current incarnation, the supremely talented Audra McDonald (the first African-American to play the part) transforms herself into the matriarch who is obsessed with vaudeville success for her children at any cost. That ruthless ambition precludes the true happiness of her daughters June (Jordan Tyson) and Louise (Joy Woods) and delays marriage to the girls’ manager Herbie (Danny Burstein) who truly loves her. Rose is a powerhouse role that requires someone on the level of McDonald to make it truly classic.
Gypsy is one of only three shows in which Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics, but not also the music, and he certainly left his artistic fingerprints on this work. Jule Styne (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Funny Girl) wrote the music, and Arthur Laurents (West Side Story) wrote the book.
Here are five Aquarian takeaways from the current Broadway production of this early 20th century period piece.
Audra McDonald is truly a legend.
The talented thespian and singer always commands the stage whenever she takes it, but this performance being done eight times a week has got to be emotionally draining. The role itself is daunting because the character of Rose becomes increasingly unlikable, and while we can sympathize with her quest to make life better for her children (or so she’d like people to believe), her unhealthy desire to achieve fame at every cost is disheartening. McDonald keeps you transfixed as the familial tragedy unfolds. She throws herself into the character, especially as she has stated how she never thought it was one she would play. Other cast members are also strong. In particular, Jordan Tyson as June, the favorite of Rose who seeks artistic evolution over shallow stardom, and Joy Woods as neglected younger daughter Louise, are standouts. They are also tough roles to tackle, and they play them well.
Danny Burstein brings the pathos.
If you haven’t seen Danny Burstein in a show – and he has been great in recent productions like Pictures From Home, Moulin Rouge!, and the previous incarnation of Cabaret – do yourself a favor and check him out here. Burstein always brings a strong sense of empathy and humanity to his work, and one sympathizes with the manager who falls in love with Rose and is willing to sacrifice a lot for her and her children in order to be with her. It’s the kind of part that, if not played right, would just come off as frustrating. However, Burstein really makes it special. You truly believe him, and you feel his pain when, out of desperation, Rose transforms Louise into a racy stage persona that none of them ever imagined for her. She would become famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. The fact that the show focuses on her mother and upbringing makes the transformation more painful and later poignant.
Gypsy is very timely.
Broadway revivals are often timed around a significant cultural shift or change in the zeitgeist that makes them feel more prescient and valid in the current day. At a time when social media has rewired people’s brains, and when our society has become increasingly narcissistic and self indulgent, this production makes one question the depths to which someone will sink themselves or others in order to become famous. Fame for fame’s sake feels like a useless exercise, then and now. And a lot of the online fame of these days, echoes that of Gypsy Rose Lee.
It confronts predictable tropes.
In the same way that Sondheim’s Company was partly meant to be a critique of musical theater that was there to merely serve the audience rather than to challenge it, so too does Gypsy feel, at times, like a dig at the old Hollywood cliche of “let’s get a barn and put on a show.” Show business is more about business than show, and rather than handing audiences a typically upbeat Hollywood or Broadway tale of someone trying to achieve success, we get a tragedy in which one hopes for the best of the characters before realizing they may be trodding the wrong path. That being said, Gypsy allows the cast to perform some good ol’ fashioned vaudeville, showing younger generations what people did for entertainment before amplified sound, moving lights and scenery, or flashy video projections became the norm.
We need another Stephen Sondheim.
Many Broadway productions have become increasingly expensive – the current Death Becomes Her reportedly has a hefty $31.5 million price tag – and there is an increasing slant towards populism due to ballooning budgets. One has to be reminded that Sondheim managed to do very intense shows without such costs; shows that pushed the boundaries of musical expression in theater. His word play, unusual song constructions, and his desire to dive deep into the psyches of his characters proved that one could do challenging work and still find a mass audience. Even his original 1981 flop, Merrily We Roll Along, became reborn as a Broadway hit in 2023, and deservedly so. Truth be told, we do not currently have anybody with the pedigree of Stephen Sondheim. There are many talented people out there, but it feels like we truly need another composer and wordsmith in the same vein that can take musical theater to the next level.
