I saw the last three Broadway productions of Gypsy, starring Tyne Dale, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone, but watching director George C. Wolfe’s current revival at the Majestic Theatre I often felt I was seeing it for the first time. I wasn’t thrilled about seeing it yet again when I heard it was coming back this fall until I learned the casting included Audra McDonald and Danny Burstein. True to form, they do not disappoint, which is a good thing because the running time is three hours. That’s a big time commitment nowadays, and the time did not fly by. I don’t remember the show being, or feeling, so long before.
Another element I don’t remember from previous performances is Rose’s sense of humor about herself. The audience has always been able to laugh at her singleminded bulldozer approach to life but McDonald humanizes her a bit by giving her this occasional sense of self awareness. It makes it easier to understand why Herbie loves her. Burstein’s portrayal of Herbie’s faithfulness is believable.
In the last revival, in 2008, LuPone won a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, Boyd Gaines won Best Supporting Actor for his Herbie and Laura Benanti won Best Supporting Actress for her Louise. Although I loved Gaines’ performance I thought Burstein should have won for his Luther in the South Pacific revival that year. His Herbie will certainly at least bring him a nomination.
McDonald will surely will be nominated, although winning isn’t quite assured because this season already has offered strong leading actress performances from Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Blvd., Megan Hilty in Death Becomes Her and Katie Brayben in Tammy Faye.
I hope Joy Woods is nominated for her Louise. For most of the show Louise is almost invisible, which is fitting for this shy child overlooked by her mother in favor of her younger sister. But she shows her star power when she transforms into Gypsy Rose Lee. Her dressers should receive nominations for how quickly they change her from one scanty, dazzling costume by Toni-Leslie James to another as she climbs the ladder of success in burlesque. She holds the stage with the best of them. Camille A. Brown’s choreography gets its full play here.
In spite of excellent production values — Santo Loquasto (effectively minimalist scenic design); Jules Fisher, Peggy Eisenhauer (lighting design) and a score I have always loved — music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim under Andy Einhorn’s music direction—I wasn’t wowed by this revival in the way I was by LuPone’s and I can’t pinpoint why except I’m tired of the same shows being revived. It has been awhile since LuPone’s show, although I was surprised how long ago it was. It seems much more recent. And three hours on a Friday night after a week of work is a long time to sit in an overheated space with no leg room. I had seen a high-quality Broadway musical, for which I’m grateful, but it was still good to get out into the cold night air.
