Respectfully, you misunderstood the transition moment when the young black kids get replaced with older white teenagers. The point of that sequence is that that's exactly what Rose did: as they got older and the act became more successful, she replaced the original black kids with white performers in order to better appeal to white audiences (the same way you also see her replacing Louise early on.) They are not the same kids when they get switched out in that sequence! If you read any press about this show, it is specifically addressed by both George Wolfe & Camille Brown. So it is color-conscious casting, not color-blind!
@karlaliriano8457 Thanks for the clarification. As I was editing the video I considered that she replaced them but it seemed so crazy to me. I was later chatting with someone in the cast and they explained all of George C Wolfe's intentions to me. I purposely don't read anything about a production before I see it because I believe it's the job of the creatives to create something self contained that an audience can enjoy. BUT with a piece like Gypsy much of the audience comes in with some preconceived notions of what it is we're about to see, so I understand how it might be beneficial to do some research before seeing a revival of a classic. I do read the playbill and any inserts, so if the creatives thought it was important that we get on the same page they could use that to give the audience a heads up.
Unfortunately, many individuals who go see the show may not have read the interview by George C Wolfe as to why it appears that the Black boys grow up to become White teens. Many who reviewed this show also seemed very confused by the change. I feel that they should have simply made this an all Black production. There is a history of Black vaudeville performers as well as Black burlesque.
@BlackBroadwayLady Glad to hear I wasn't the only one confused. I may have followed George C Wolfe's ideas better if I didn't come to the show with such a strong preconceived notion of how the story goes. I would LOVE to see an all black cast! I want to see three black strippers do Gotta Get a Gimmick! This was our chance! I don't know if it the opportunity will present itself again. At least not on Broadway any time soon.
@@MatthewHardyMusical That would have been awesome! I feel sad that this production received mixed, lukewarm reviews. They should have knocked it out of the park. I haven't gotten a chance to see this production as of yet. The show that we were supposed to see was cancelled due to illness. But many reviewers were confused with the young Black boys turning into White teens.
It seems like there’s some confusion around whether this was color-blind or color-conscious casting, but it’s actually something much deeper-what I’d call color-specific casting. By casting Audra McDonald as Rose, George C. Wolfe added profound layers of subtext without changing a single word. This production subtly reframes Rose as a dark-skinned Black woman-a single mother navigating the complex intersections of race, gender, and ambition in a society built to erase her. Casting choices like young Black newsboys transitioning to older white performers and June’s white-passing appearance underscore Rose’s self-loathing and societal pressures. Louise, darker-skinned and relegated to the background, embodies the painful rejection Rose herself may have experienced. This isn’t historical realism; Gypsy has always been a fable. What Wolfe achieved here is a recontextualization that adds historical resonance to the original subtext. When Louise finally says, “Mama, I’m pretty,” the moment explodes with even greater power because it’s about reclaiming beauty and worth in a world that denied it to her. Audra’s Rose is layered, human, and specific-and that’s what makes it brilliant. Hopefully, this perspective shifts how you and others might view the production.
I loved your review. I felt that all of your points, whether positive or slightly negative, were very well articulated. I felt you were fair and honest. I remember the "can't belt" Rose, Bernadette, and yet I still enjoyed her performance. I am always welcoming to changes. We either adapt or don't. Again, enjoyed your review.
Correction - the hilarious Lili Thomas, who plays Mazeppa, is Asian-American. She was also the first Asian-American to play the role of Mama Morton in Chicago on Broadway.
Correction: Jerome Robbins choreographed On the Town and The King and I, but those shows were directed respectively by George Abbott and John van Druten. Thank you.
Thanks for the correction! I meant he directed west side story and the other two were credits, but when I edited it I saw that it sounded like I was saying he directed all three.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Given his role as director/choreographer for two of the greatest musicals ever written, West Side Story and Gypsy, and the fact that there was a successful retrospective show "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," I imagine many people assume he always did double duty. In the case of On the Town in particular, it's good to remember that Abbott's immense theatrical savvy -- including getting Bernstein, Comden & Green to write "Some Other Time" -- was crucial to getting the show into its final form.
If you didn't see Angela Lansbury in "Gypsy," you ain't seen nothing yet. The greatest performance I've ever seen on any stage anywhere in my fifty plus years of theatre-going.
I completely agree with you. I've seen every Broadway revival of Gypsy and nothing and nobody comes remotely close to the brilliance that was Angela Lansbury.
I forgot to say how I got my ticket! Telecharge has $70 lottery tix. There is a $49 general rush. And $39 standing room for sold out performances. I was able to pull some strings and see the show from standing room at the back of the orchestra which was perfectly fine.
Though Arthur Laurents may have agreed with the notion of recreating Jerome Robbins' choreography, I disagree that he really wanted to replicate the direction. Laurents was the first director to have Rose finish ROSE'S TURN by bowing to acknowledge the audience's very enthusiastic applause... and then after the applause finishes, Rose (as Lansbury played her) CONTINUED BOWING! She was bowing to an audience that was entirely in her mind. It was the most extraordinary moment I've ever experienced in the theater. The audience gasped when they realized what was happening. That was all and only Laurents... and utterly brilliant.
Thanks! You're right. I was trying to make the point that Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents had a similar understanding of the piece as opposed to someone like Sam Mendes or George C Wolfe.
Really, really enjoyed your review. I have seen Gypsy several times too - Tyne Daily, Angela Lansbury and of course the film and the TV Movie with Bette Midler. The movie with Rosalind Russell is actually my favorite version but the stage versions I saw were great themselves. I fully agree with your points on choreography and about Audra's singing these belting songs that were written for none other than Ethel Merman, but I'm sure that Audra, being Audra, does a great job. I am subscribing to your channel and look forward to future reviews.
@miamiracer Thanks for subscribing! It may be a month till my next Broadway review because not many shows open in the dead of winter. Unless I review some long running shows from past seasons 🤔
@mervyngreene6687 After watching a recent video of Angela's performance as Gypsy recommended to me, I'm starting to reconsider. Angela doesn't have a high belt but she definitely has some power in her chest voice.
The color blind casting confused me too during the transition. Also, I didn't really care for Audra's use of her head voice. It's not how I picture Mama Rose singing.
I am a HUGE STAN of Miss McDonald. I felt her switching to head voice in the middle of phrases was distracting. That being said, it was still AUDRA, and I feel horrible for even saying that. I will still love and support everything she does!
@@jonathanrio6587 I totally agree. Despite that distraction, she was still as incredible as she always is. She received a standing O after Rose's Turn. First time I've ever seen that happen during a Broadway show. It brought tears to my eyes because she deserved it.
@jonathanrio6587 LOL I feel your pain. It's Audra! How can we say anything negative? But the question is - "Do I want to see Audra play Rose or not?" And the answer is I want to see Audra do anything and everything she wants! More Audra please!
@Darrick.DamitaJoBoy The realization I had while editing my video is that Rose was changing out the boys. She was casting new white boys in the act as it became more successful. I didn't get it during the show but now I understand!
As much as I worship her talent, not sure if Audra’s voice is suited for this earthy, scrappy character. I’m still going to see this new incarnation, but for me I still think Lansbury is hard to beat.
I've just come out of a performance. I never had to opportunity to see a previous B'way iteration, but I did see Imelda Staunton in London (live, not the recording), whose rendition I enjoyed. I have no other familiarity with the musical. Loved seeing Audra act, and her 'Rose's Turn' got me in the guts. But the thing that prevented me from buying her as Rose was that her vocals were too refined. Head voice factor aside, I can't help feeling that the actress playing Rose needs to have rough vocal edges; there's got to be desperation manifesting in every song, and for me, it got obscured by the proficient polish of Audra's singing. I mean, if Rose really sang like that, she wouldn't have had to channel her lost ambitions through her kids... I felt the same about Louise too - she was singing so beautifully in the first act that her "talentless" status was unconvincing, and her eventual stardom felt a bit unearned. I saw the white boys as straight up replacements for the black boys presumably because Rose felt it would be better for business, with this sentiment being rather powerfully echoed in the line about putting Louise in a blonde wig to "make her look more like... more..." with the racialised motivation implied. In that respect I thought the non-traditional casting approach worked relatively well... however there was the obvious lack of racial tension that presumably would have plagued these characters in more obtuse ways had they been black IRL. And can we just take a moment to contemplate the beauty of the de-Phantomed Majestic. It was its own show worth coming to see! (And for the record, I had seen POTO there several times and was very sad to see it close).
@foreignparticle1320 what a great comment! I wonder why I missed the black boy replacement! Maybe I’m just too set in my preconceived notion of how that scene was done in previous productions. I think Audra is too protective of her voice to give you those gutteral screams and potentially vocal cord damaging sounds that some of her predecessors embraced. It’s understandable, but I totally get your point. And yes, a big shout out to the newly refurbished Majestic theater and the return of the chandelier!
@roburbinati358 Was she in a real car that she could drive or a two-dimensional prop car with a driver so Rose was free to sing and snatch boys off the street?
@@MatthewHardyMusical I didn't see it. I wasn't alive. I have the original script. Here's what it says: "The cut-out of a fancy old car "driven" by a rich man and his little son comes on and stops to pick up the children. But as they get in, June signals, and Rose comes running out carrying a suitcase and Chowsie. She sings as the car "drives" across...They pass an urchin tap dancing, his hat held out for money. Rose puts some pennies in his cap, then yanks him into the car and they move on." The car was also used, I believe, in both the Imelda Staunton and Bette Midler versions.
@roburbinati358 Yes that exactly describes what I saw in the Patti Lupone Gypsy directed by Arthur Laurents who probably wrote those stage directions. Audra is driving her own car and they are picking up boys who are begging on the street and in orphanages. I imaging the thought was that a black woman would never be able to hitch a ride with a white man at that time. Although it does beg the question, If madame rose could afford a car why did she ned 88 bucks from her father? Maybe she stole the car? lol
Honestly, during the transition I took it as that at some point over the years, Rose replaced the young black kids in the act with white kids, aside from June and Louise of course. I didn't see it as those being the same kids grown up.
You're probably right. It didn't occur to me till I was editing the video that may have been the case. So do you think it is nontraditional casting and the idea is that Mama Rose wanted white dancers to make her act more appealing to a white audience? Or that she started in a black community and then branched out into the whiter world of show business? That would explain why the strippers are all white.
@@MatthewHardyMusical it could be open to interpretation, and I don’t think I thought about it consciously too hard in the moment, but it does feel like it was an intentional choice by Rose. It would have allowed her to be able to get the act booked for a larger audience demo, including white audiences.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I think it was meant that she fired the boys and replaced them with white dancers to try and fit in with the white show circuit. But I think it could go either way to your point.
I saw both Audra & Nicole. Audra’s lack of a belt might play into not getting a Tony. Nicole’s voice was the best Norma EVER, but I didn’t like the “Park & Bark” concept. Sure…any great singer could stand at the edge of the stage and sing these songs too. But, should she be disqualified because I didn’t like the staging? Absolutely NOT. I’d be happy if either one receives the statuette - OR BOTH.
@1960mikey Nicole is definitely showing stronger singing chops but I think Audra is showing stronger acting chops. Audra is living in a fully realized character where as Nicole is doing an entertaining tongue in cheek performance that comments on Norma's absurdity as opposed to really inhabiting this crazy character. That being said, Nicole is doing a bigger departure from what has preceded her and Audra is not. Which should be rewarded with a Tony?
Color blind casting can work and even enhance a shows impact, in Hamilton just brilliant, but 20th century real life personalities like Gypsy Rose Lee and Madam Rose, the transition is more like “what?”
Good question! What did he think of Sam Mendes production? I don't know if he'd be open to exploring the racial dynamic of Rose being a woman of color or not. Thanks for watching!
I really enjoyed your review and thoughts. I haven’t seen the production but I’m a Broadway Veteran, a scholar in Black Performance Studies and History… and one thought I believe is Mr Wolfe would have been going for in not changing the script was that Black Mama Rose knew that lighter skinned daughter could pass for white. A Black Mama Rose would so do something like that… make them “appear white”. Again George Wolfe stated emphatically, Audra as well was sayIng that they would not be changing a word of Arthur Laurent’s book. So without seeing the production (I live in SF) but after seeing a still of June or Louise in “White Face”? perhaps that’s what was happening… just saying.
@MADHAUSMARKALLAN OMG! I think you are right! I completely missed that aspect of the casting of June as a lighter skinned black woman. And I didn't realize she was wearing lighter make up, but now that you mention it, I do remember thinking that Jordan looked a lot paler on stage! And then she puts Louise in a cow costume so we can't see her skin color and casts white chorus boys!! And then she gets Herbie, a white man, to act as her agent! Rose was white washing the act! This is all coming together for me now. Thanks for sharing your insight!
Here’s my story about colorblind casting. I saw a revival of Carousel a few years ago and the actor playing Billy was black. My husband went in blind and at Intermission said everyone in town hates Billy BECAUSE he’s black. And I had to explain, no they hate him because he’s a bum who beats his wife. But it occurred to me that sometimes colorblind casting doesnt work.
Your husband's reaction is very telling! Are you referring to the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel? I remember thinking that the show's approach to domestic violence was very problematic for modern audiences and not helped by the color blind casting. Interesting that the 1994 revival of carousel used non-traditional casting by having Audra McDonald play Carrie. That casting choice was very well received. I also have to clarify that after I recorded this review I decided that this production of Gypsy is indeed non-traditional and not color blind. It think we're meant to see Rose's race as another obstacle she has to overcome.
I saw that revival of Carousel with the black actor playing Billy. Carousel is based on Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom but was adapted to take place in 1873 on the Maine coast. The story follows Billy Bigelow, a carousel barker who falls in love with Julie Jordan, a millworker. To me in 1873 a Black Billy and White Julie would never happen. Just the times - good, bad or not - it was not the historical time for interracial couples. Carousel was one of my very first Broadway plays with Grandma. I walked out of this production unhappy. Signed, NOT - WOKE.
@Themin1 Yeh. I think you were meant to not see color in that production. In musicals we look past the fact that people are bursting out into song and dance yet why do we struggle to suspend our disbelief when it comes to race? Food for thought.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I understand what you are saying. I go with the reality of the time period. And my attitude is stop trying to change the narrative. IMO Gypsy......is based on a person IRL. That and that only should keep it focused on the actors and not race. I just read an article by Marcia Michaels the comedian. This is how I got to this video. She plainly stated - will there ever be a WHITE -- Porgy and Bess? Leaves the reader thinking. Whynot - but IMO I doubt that will never happen.
I thought that show made the worst and unintentionally racist, casting mistake by casting in African-American as Billy Bigelow, because the character embodies the worst of stereotypes that people foolishly believe about African-American men.
I loved Imelda Staunton, just wonderful. I really love it when an actor “doesn't lose” his acting even in singing; perhaps in Gispy this is more true than in other musicals. The character was really organic and believable both when she sang and when she acted. With all due respect to extraordinary Broadway actresses.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I think the whole production with Staunton is here on TH-cam, and is rentable on Amazon Prime. Be forwarded though -- she plays Rose the way I imagine George C. Scott would have.
Matthew, “Gypsy” is my favorite musical as well. I have not seen this production, but I can not help but think your observations are spot on. The terms “ non traditional “ and “ color blind” are relatively new terms for me. Would “Hamilton” be “ non traditional “ or “ color blind” casting? just discovered your channel and have subscribed ❤️
Great question! I wouldn’t call Hamilton non-traditional because it’s a new musical, and there’s no established tradition. Ironically, if you performed Hamilton now with white actors, that would be considered non-traditional because the roles have traditionally been played by people of color. Hamilton is color-blind in the sense that the characters don’t see each other based on race. However, it’s not 100% color-blind for the audience, as we’re viewing the story of the Founding Fathers through the lens of contemporary music and the struggles of people of color to find their place in this country. While most of the characters can be played by actors of any ethnicity, casting them all as white would detract from the essential element that makes the piece so groundbreaking.
Hamilton is a new musical, whereas Gypsy is a classic. Apples to oranges. But since we're going there, the next Gypsy should star Ru Paul as Rose and handicapped hermaphrodites in wheelchairs as the farm boys. The three strippers should be deaf, dumb and blind and Tulsa, now renamed Cairo, should suffer from hallucinations and don a straight jacket. Herbie should be a transexual teenaged homeless drug addicted crack dealer from the Lower East Side, who dropped out of NYU. Baby June should be played EXACTLY as Rumpleteaser from Cats and the chandelier from Phantom will now assume the role of Louise. It removes its crystals during the strip number. Of course there must be live cameras pointed at the "cast" backstage, where their reactions are transmitted on giant screens in the theater, which by the way, has been reimagined as a vintage gay porno house from the 1970's. The auditorium will be on the stage and the stage in the auditorium. Everything will be painted black. The audience will be handed cans of spray paint and encouraged to write Silence = Death on anything they can find while a fetid aroma of urine is pumped in via the vents. So let's re-imagine Gypsy for tomorrow's audiences today and charge $500 for a standing room ticket, which will actually be in the restroom where you can see everything on a screen while sitting down. But it will still be Gypsy and that's what really matters.
Is that why there is that insane song about the "Moo cow, a true cow named Caroline"? Because Mama Rose created it? Wow, I NEVER clocked that before. Thanks for the wonderful insight!
Even experienced Tin Pan Alley songwriters wrote novelty, corny songs for mass consumption. Child singers were also a much bigger thing than before 50s. Idk Have there been any solo pop music child stars in the last 60 years? Michael Jackson? maybe. His brothers may have something to say about that.
@keouine I don't know if it relates, but a lot of famous pop singers and actors started out as child actors in the new Mickey Mouse Club - Britney Spears, Christine Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, JC Chasez, Keri Russell. Some singers also got their start on Star Search which was a kind of vaudeville of the 1980s.
@christophercobb249 You're welcome! That is exactly why those songs are so hokey. Although Stephen Sondheim couldn't help himself when he wrote "She knows a man cow, a tan cow, who can cow her with a glance." Her withers may not be withering with her but that lyric screams Sondheim. He also purposely mis-stressed the word "decade" to show that it was written by someone who wasn't a great lyricist.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Yes, a treasure. Midler too. But their Roses weren't belters, which was especially surprising with Midler. She has a huge stage presence but lacks those "take no prisoners" top notes we associate with Merman and Lupone. Once having heard them, I can't help but miss them. But what a crop of great interpreters of a great role.
@@susanmarie2231 my parents brought the cast album after seeing the show and for me that is the one I memorized and hear in my head and I think the very best!
I think everyone in the audience was baffled by the black to white boys. Going into the show, we knew Audra wasn’t going to belt those notes - and it did not bother me to hear a different take from Ethel’s Rose. I’ve watched the made for TV Bette’s Gypsy a 1000+ times. I did notice the stage pieces, the transition and Louise and Tulsa duet. Adding one other comment… I took 2 people that had never seen this musical, nor had they any prerequisite theater classes. They kept saying Louise is a great performer, I reminded them in Louise’s own words, “I haven’t got any talent”
Thanks for sharing. I love seeing people’s reaction to a classic show who haven’t seen it before. What did your friends think? Were they bored or confused?
@@MatthewHardyMusical They appreciated everything! in the end... I think they loved the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes more. I did give them a slight education of the history of the show and that it is based on Gypsy Rose Lee story. Plus... They did recognize a few of the songs.
The characters in Gypsy were real people who were not black. It’s a story based on a life, it doesn’t matter the color you are. But, I hear there is under current of racism brought to the show, is that true? Color blind casting is good, but would a production of A Raisin in the Sun with a white cast be accepted?
@brainbryan I feel that the creative team for this production is subtly addressing issues of racism in show business. I didn’t realize this until I started having conversations with people on this feed, but the play begins with Rose presenting her girls at Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show, which appears to consist entirely of Black performers. As the play progresses, Rose changes her Vaudeville act to appear more white as they become more successful. She puts her lighter-skinned daughter, June, front and center, while eventually hiding her darker-skinned daughter, Louise, in a cow costume. She starts with black backup dancers and later replaces them with white dancers. She even seduces Herbie, a white man, to act as her agent. It’s a fascinating take that I didn’t fully grasp until afterward.
@@MatthewHardyMusical it’s very subtle, critical race theory-ish. I saw and worked on Carousel with Audra and it was colorblind casting which worked perfectly, yet all her covers were black. It’s hard to say why, but I do know technically you light a black person very differently then a white person onstage and sometimes there are other factors, like money costs to re light the show, involved why people are cast that have nothing to do with best choice, black or white
That's really interesting. I didn't see the Carousel revival at Lincoln Center but from the reviews I read I was lead to believe that Audra's casting was non-traditional as opposed to color blind. How did they cast Mister Snow and their children?
I saw the show last week. I totally agree, with you on everything. Audra, is wonderful. I hated the striptease segment, with Gypsy. Boring, no tease whatsoever. Really was quite disappointed with that. Not too much applause. Guess, that says a lot about it. Aside, from that. It is good show.
Thanks! I actually came home after the show and watched the strip segment from the Bette Midler made for TV movie to remind myself that the segment can actually be quite effective.
I saw the original show and Ethel Merman just stood firm and belted out her numbers, with little or no acting. The final scene when Gypsy enters there was no connection. Tulsa in that production was great. I saw Angela Lansbury in the Boston tryout of Gypsy, it was a different show culminating with Gypsy 's entrance at the end of the show. It was deeply touching, the recognition of a woman who had pushed her aside but in that final moment trey experience forgiveness and love.
@LiamMurphy-b2z Wow! I'm jealous! Ethel wasn't know for being the greatest actor, but I think writers loved her because she was able to stand there and send their material all the way to back row. I recently came across an audio recording here on TH-cam of the final dressing room scene between Rose and Gypsy and I was so surprised to hear that Ethel missed the joke where Gypsy says they will be doing the photoshoot in the bathtub. Rose's disapproving "Louise!" Followed by Gypsy's "It's for Vogue.' Roses approving "Louise!" But Ethel rolled right over it and there was no laugh. I need to go to the performing arts library and see what video footage there is of Angela and Tyne.
I was young when I saw the show and Ethel Merman bored me. She had a powerful voice in her delivery, but she bored me as did most of the show. Except the number with Tulsa and the strippers, the woman with the horn was amazing. I felt if they did "Let me entertain you" one more time I would leave. Then I saw it with Angela Lansbury in the Boston Tryout and fell in love with the show. I lived in Boston and saw Barbara Streisand in "I can get it for you wholesale", Julie Andrews in "Camelot", Mary Martin in "Sound of Music", all tryouts. I was a major fan of Angela and saw her in a "Taste of Honey"." Dear World," "Mame" and "Sweeney Todd" But I also saw a show you never heard of, "A sixth finger in a five-finger glove" There were more people on the stage than in the audience. My sister worked for the bank that held the acount for the Shubert Theater. When a show would open they would paper the adince.
Love your review. We actually have tickets for the Monday evening performance, December 23rd. We have to admit that Hamilton shook things up regarding non-traditional and color blind casting for true, real life characters. I'm quite sure that there will be future productions to do the same.
@gregorylane4338 Oh no! Could you imagine being the person in the cast who got the star sick? Better hope it was one of her real kids and not one of the kids in the show!
I saw the 5th preview and I agree with EVERYTHING you've said. COMPLETELY. EVERYTHING. I had the same thoughts and shared with others exactly as you shared here. Why? Because as you said, the piece works as it is. It's perfect. I feel they went into it to make changes and didn't take in that the changes would diminish the piece. And everything you said about Audra's INCREDIBLE voice is also true - she didn't sing the 5 or 6 'money notes' in her belt, when what was needed WAS the belt. The songs were written for those specific notes to be belted. Using her head or mixed voice could have been okay IF the power was still there but it wasn't. Choosing the head/mixed on other notes that are usually belted was fine (I guess) but those 5-6 'money notes' needed to be belted should be belted, in any production. They are the exclamation marks (!) of Rose's thoughts and emotions. Whether joyful, raging, or crazy. No if, ands, or buts. The guts and fierceness of Rose was turned down a few notches at the precise moment when the end of some songs needed an exclamation mark not an immediate flip into head voice and a soft sound of pretty and calm. The experience for the audience turned the singing into a fine bus & truck. Each of those 5 or 6 times the songs never got the final 'pay off'. Having said that, Audra's singing is beautiful throughout and her acting (especially in Rose's Turn) is SPECTACULAR!
Thanks for the comment and for agreeing with me! :-) After posting my review I often watch it again and disagree with myself! I think they raised the keys for most of the songs to put them in a soprano register. I am REALLY curious what they would have sounded like if Audra had just sung them in the original keys and not used her head voice at all. For a lyric soprano she actually has some really good low notes so I think she could have handled it. But what do I know? I'm sure she played around with each song to find the key that would work best. Still I wonder....
That's very interesting. I didn't realize that the songs had been raised. Like you I missed the growth of the strip sequences. There wasn't much to each one and then suddenly in the Garden of Eden they gave us Josephine Baker dancing up a storm! Impressive dancing for sure but not Gypsy Rose Lee. It's as if they knew the actress could dance so they gave her a big dance number. They also lengthened Tulsa's dance break but that didn't bother me too much nor did having a Mazeppa who could play the trumpet quite well and a lot. Things like that got an ok from me but the belted money notes were a loss unfortunately. The performer I really enjoyed (which surprised me) was Dainty June (the grownup). Now she had the makings of Madame Rose. She was barreling through the production throughout. She had the grit, anger, and belt that was like a Madame Rose. As I later shared with friends, it was as if the director rehearsed the show as a straight play. The acting scenes were all first rate and believable. It felt like had been given a lot of investigative rehearsal time. And then just before previews they inserted the songs and choreography which had all been rehearsed separately for weeks in another studio. The one thing that I also really agree with you on but didn't notice when I saw the show was when the four young black boys became four white teenagers. You are so right about that, too. One or two of those teens needed to be black. And the three strippers could have one black woman. In fact, I think an all-black production (like Pearl Bailey's Hello Dolly) would have been quite effective and permissible on Bway these days. In the end and as you said, the production was a way to see Audra in all her talented glory. She's a great talent for sure. @@MatthewHardyMusical
I didn't realize Tulsa's dance break had been lengthened. Now that you mention it did feel long and it got some applause half way through which made it seem like it ended twice. Loved Mazeppa's trumpeting! I really enjoyed Jordan's performance as June too. They also did a good job of casting a baby June that looked like she could believably grow up to June as an adult. When I edited the review I added a thought bubble that said "Maybe Rose fired the black dancers and replaced them." and then after posting the video I realized that was exactly what happened. Mama Rose is white washing the act for white audiences as they become more successful. So the boys weren't growing up, they were being replaced! This is why the strippers were white (and asian but I couldn't tell from my seat). I think they were showing that Louise stood out because she's black. Maybe that was her gimmick?
Wow. That's an interesting possibility. I wonder if other audience members picked up on that??? (I splurged to buy an expensive ticket and was sitting in the orchestra third row center. Audra did Rose's Turn practically on top of me! Sweat and spit flying! She was electric when she was down in front of the actual or orchestra. Passorale???).
@Chris-y4t9j Passerelle! They were making changes to that sequence throughout previews so you probably saw the transition in one of it's earlier forms. They involved Rose more in the transition to try and show that she was re-casting but even at the press preview I attended, it completely went over my head. It wasn't till I was recording this video that I even entertained the idea that Rose was firing the black boys and hiring white boys. I'd love to hear from more people who saw the show after it opened to know if they understood. BUT the thing is people are reading reviews before seeing the show so they are being cued into the change in concept which means they won't experience the show in the same way we did. I love that you got to see Audra so up close and personal!
First, as a black performer / I have always called for an all black and color conscious cast of Gypsy. The vaudeville era had so many black stars of their own and time that would’ve suited this story perfectly. When I saw the casting of Herbie, I knew that it wouldn’t be as “risky” and make a statement with an all black cast - like they have with Hello Dolly with Pearl Bailey. I’m sure they did this to be more “mainstream” 🤨 All of Your points about casting and race makes total sense
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I did come to the realization after I recorded this video that I think the intention of the creative team was to do non-traditional and not color blind. I misunderstood the black children turning into white adults as being color bind, but I think the idea is that Mama Rose replaced them to appeal to a white audience as they became more successful. I think it is a valid choice, but I'd still LOVE to see an all black production of Gypsy with some new orchestrations that really lean into the sounds of black America during that time period.
Yes...keep it going! Let's have Latina Mama Rose next as music and dance is so inherent to our culture and we are always left behind in the story of this country. 🥰
@Thisismyusername227 I don't know! I think this could have been an opportunity to do it. Although the new orchestrations might be difficult to get approved by the estate of whoever makes those decisions. Although they did manage to get approval from the Robbins estate for new choreography.
Right? It's basically a one woman show with a HUGE cast. I was thinking the girls who play the Toreadorables have NOTHING to do for the whole first act!
@@MatthewHardyMusical yes the movie paints mama rose as a villain but if you think about she wants the best for her kids. I would love to see a play based on mama roses youth
A Madame Rose origin story! I went down a rabbit hole after recording this review. It seems that there are a lot of discrepancies between June and Louise's accounts of their mother. They both seem to be unreliable sources.
We had almost entirely the same reaction to this show! With the exception of the night that I went i actually did not think the 2 of them had good chemistry she actually seemed afraid of him the way she’d kind of shrink and back away here and there. But other than that I agree completely with you’re review!!!!
Thank you! Were you confused by the race switch of the boys as well? I've since come to understand what was happening there but I was so confused in the moment.
@ 100% and then I honestly just kind of figured “oh maybe the older kids are just new boys she’s replaced the other kids with as they got older.” Because I was absolutely under the impression the small boys just weren’t the older boys to which I also thought “why this decision also?” It strangely distracts from the show as a whole. I mean we move past it and then fine we’re just back into the land of “misguided direction” but it was one of the factors that pulled me out of the story for a minute
Well, you didn't seem bored but you were, at times, confused. Am I summing it up? I became confused when you were discussing Louise and the "Big Strip" sequence but I think I know what you were trying to say. As much as I would love to come to NY and see this, I won't be able too....thanks for your review!
Yes! You are correct. I usually do a little sum up at the end but I missed it on this one. What was confusing about my big strip comment? Happy to clarify!
Well, I don't think Madame Rose replaced her daughters. But yes, in this production the only explanation is that Louise and June grow up and the boys are replaced to make the show whiter. I don't think the act ever grows up. That's the problem! Thanks for the comment!
@@MatthewHardyMusical Ah no. The boys are the same throughout. They are named for the Towns in which she found them: Tulsa is picked up as a boy and remains with the act into his teens. This is part of their frustration, that the act has not changed although they have. If she picked them up as teens, they would know the act was for younger people, and would not have gone with her.
@dreamhousemovies I think you are 100% correct in what was intended when Laurents wrote the script. But in this version they have changed it so that Rose is replacing the young black boys with white boys as their act travels across the country. I was confused because I had the preconceived notion that the boys were just getting older.
I really appreciate the commentary about the creative team not allowing themselves to stylize elements of the show (you mention choreography and set design, specifically) within the confines of the material, but forcing in something that is impressive and showcasing of their ability. Another great example of this on Broadway in recent years is any show that recreates popular vocal groups as part of the show - think MJ, Motown, Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Jersey Boys - where the choreography is so over-the-top and in authentic to how The Jackson Five or The Four Seasons would have performed. I appreciate artistic interpretation, but these types of things really take me out of the experience because of the startling removal of me as an audience member to see a Motown group or June & Her Newsboys doing triple pirouettes.
Amen! I agree 100%. I actually saw this production of Gypsy twice. I saw the second preview and the first press preview, and over the two weeks of previews they toned down the dance sequences. When I saw it on the second preview I thought "those untrained dancers who are getting paid in chow mein are too good!" Choreographing this show is kind of a thankless job because you don't have any opportunities to really show off. This is why a director/choreographer like Jerome Robbins is really ideal.
Prefer Audra as an actor much more than a singer. I do not like her voice at all, unless it's a classical piece. From what I've heard of this production, she was miscast.
Totally agree. She is miscast and the "money notes" in head voice were acoustically flat. Zero chemistry among the actors and the color casting is a disaster for this classic show.
Depends what Nicole Scherzinger posts on her social media over the next 4 months! :-O Of the past 5 Madame Roses on Broadway 3 have won the Tony for best Actress. So those odds are good. I'm not sure if the fact that a she already has 6 Tonys will work for her or against her. At this point I would choose Audra over Nicole because I value truthful acting over meta theatrics. But the Tony awards are ultimately a marketing tool so we will have to see how things develop over the next 4 months! What do you think?
I LOVE this show & I LOVE Audra but it's not a good match (for me). I saw Patti, Bernadette and Bette and was also in a production of it ("Grantziger's secretary" and worked as assistant costumer) I can't afford Broadway anymore so I won't see this. Thanks for your interesting comments- especially about everything being created by Mama.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I remember seeing Patti and thinking "well, that's it for me - she is the ultimate!!!". that being said, I really want to see Bette's movie again because I was never a big fan of hers until I saw her in Dolly" I am just such a fan of that show for so many reasons.
Good review. I love Audra but also felt she has the wrong type of voice for Mama Rose but also regarding colorblind casting...;Gypsy is basically a biographical musical, and since the originals were all white and all real people, how does one reconcile that with this casting?
@stuartwise5709 Excellent question! I think the key lies in the show’s subtitle “A musical fable”. It’s already understood that this isn’t a 100% factual telling of Gypsy Rose Lee’s story. Arthur Laurent’s himself commented that Gypsy herself was a very unreliable source for factual information. Because it’s a fable, I think there is a lot of leeway in how the show is cast. And honestly, the whole nature of theater really allows creatives to take big swings. Look at Hamilton!
You're correct! But I don't think they used an actual car as a set piece like they do in this revival. And the choreography for the sign dancers is different because it's not Jerome Robbins choreography. I quite liked what Camille A Brown did with the dancers in this section. Here's the Arthur Laurents direction with Patti it's more tongue in cheek as she kidnaps the boys. lol th-cam.com/video/z6A9vR48Wnc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=76YwRAwR-psTB_kk
100% correct. I was inarticulate. I was trying to say that the understanding of the show and its themes were more similar between Arthur and Jerome than someone like Sam Mendes. I'm sure he approached the staging fresh for each actor that stepped into the role.
Arthur Laurents would take such offence if you had told him he was essentially doing the Jerome Robbins direction in his revivals (read his book on directing--he thinks he completely re-worked it.) It should be pointed out that while the Sam Mendes production said it used Jerome Robbins' choreography with 'additional choreography by Jerry Mitchell' but actually that was a credits thing and a lot of the choreography was new.
@EricMontreal22 You're right! I take it back. I was more trying to suggest that Jerome and Arthur's understanding of the text were very similar as compared to someone like Sam Mendes. Of course Arthur would change the staging and direction to suit the actor playing Rose. After all he's working with big stars who couldn't be put in cookie cutter direction. Thanks for calling me out! :-)
@@MatthewHardyMusical Right! From Laurents' On Directing he also seemed to think that Robbins was great at stage images and working with dancers but not with any dramatic acting (others of course would disagree here) so he claimed he properly put the focus back on this in his Gypsy productions (and his WSS revival which I strongly disliked but what do I know? ;) )
@@MatthewHardyMusical Yeah I think Laurents really struggled with his contribution being the least recognized--for West Side Story anyway (where Bernstein and Robbins get most of the glory--Laurents showed him though by cutting to ribons the dream ballet when he directed it :P ) but the irony is a lot of musical theatre common wisdom DOES credit Laurents with writing the best book for a traditional (R&H style) musical with Gypsy... But you wouldn't realize that from his rants in his book (which IS an entertaining read...)
I'll have to check it out! I saw Laurents speak at the performing arts library in 2009 when he was 91 years old and he was so quick and sharp. I remember thinking, "I want to be like that when I'm 91." It really is a great book for a musical and a much harder task than adapting a play or a novel that already have a solid dramatic structure.
I watched the show on its third night of previews, and I didn't like it. Great acting all round but the production felt dated. And I was really hoping that Audra would belt out those famous songs.
I actually saw the 2nd preview and then went back for the first press preview. The show improved over the two weeks. They toned down some of the dancing so the dancers were more believable in their characters and some of the Louise scenes got better. But I don't think those changes would change your reaction to the production feeling dated. and Audra certainly didn't learn to belt over the two weeks. lol I enjoy it as a period piece.
This is simply not a role for Audra in my opinion, she is a leading Soprano, not a character actress. This should have definitely gone to Lilias White - she would have sang the house down and she is a dynamic actress as well. But Audra has been campaigning to play that role for almost a decade now and she has 6 Tony's so...
The great Lillias White is a character actress abd would not have been able to keep Gypsy going as middle America has no idea who she is. Audra is,well known as a t.v. leading actress beyond her Broadway leading roles.
From your review I think Rose makes changes over the years. As a black woman she is trying to break into professional show business (the white dominated spaces) and to do that she has to make her show “acceptable”. This is why she also needs Herby, a white man, to get her in the door at this time period. Also didn’t Patti and the recent uk production have a car?
I think you're 100% correct. I got confused by the kids' races switching when they grew up, but now I think Rose was actually replacing them with white performers as they became more successful. The Patti Lupone production was director by Arthur Laurents which has her walking around the stage snatching boys from various places. I recall a moment where a Boy Scout troop marches across the stage and she snatches the last one when he shows that he can sing. The UK production may have used a car. I found it interesting that in this production she gets two boys with a sign that reads "Dance for food" and the other she gets from an orphanage. I think the director wanted to make it seem that Rose was helping these poor children and not kidnapping them.
The transition with Rose in the flat car and picking up boys with signs has been in every Broadway production since the original. It’s Robbins’ staging.
@BroadwayGuy Sure! Chest voice is darker, rougher, and provides the power in one's singing voice. Head voice is lighter and only useful by itself at or near the top of one's range. (I stole that from Quora.) For a male singer the head voice is often called falsetto. I sing in chest and falsetto (head voice) here - th-cam.com/video/J_E7tkVO1NY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=01jLv1rdyYDszi3Y&t=718 Now, I'm nowhere near as good a vocalist as Audra so the difference between my head and chest voice is VERY noticeable. Audra is much better at navigating between the two than I am.
They could’ve absolutely reworked the songs to make them actually work for a soprano. A dramatic opera Diva is also an exciting take. Instead of trying to make her voice work on the songs because it does seem like an acquired taste to accept these tried and true belting songs AS this new direction
Nah, it's a belters show. Rose's essence is assertive and brassy, which naturally lends itself to belting. A legit soprano is not the right vocal type, let alone one that is acoustically flat. Audra was miscast and this Gypsy is disappointing.
@@dantove963 I agree it’s supposed to be belted my point was producers were obviously committed to having Audra, they could make the actual music work as much as possible for her voice. Rose could be an antiquated opera act, maybe even more division between her and a new age Gypsy voice. The music could be structured for a Dramatic Soprano so she’s not half belting some parts as is now because clearly belting some parts and switching for others did not please any of us. (It would change the vibe but it’s either that or what we ended up getting)
I appreciate your analysis. When I heard they were doing Gypsy with Audra, I thought great, finally an all-Black cast of this classic. I remember a long time ago they came out with an all-Black cast of Hello Dolly w Pearl Bailey and it was groundbreaking, and surprised they didnt do it w Gypsy ages ago. I think that setting it in the world of segregated black vaudeville/burlesque would have been amazing and could add a lot to the Mama Rose character and give the play a whole new depth.
Yes! I wish this would have been an all black cast. But it starts as all black and then becomes white as they become successful. I understand the choice to do it this way but I would have loved an all black cast!
@bearjanman Oh I don't know. Rose had plenty of grit and although her vocals may have lacked the power of a true belt there was amble power in her acting choices. Thakd for the comment!
The casting of black actors in the main roles of "Gypsy" makes no sense. I know everything now is supposed to be inclusive and politically correct and I'm all for equal opportunity but, come on, there have to be limits. "Gypsy" is based on real people. Gypsy Rose Lee was not black, nor was her mother or sister and considering the time period, most of the other characters would probably be white. That would be like doing "Sunrise at Campobello" with a black FDR or "Harriet" with a white Harriet Tubman. Although I did read that they considered casting Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman. I can't imagine why they would even think to do that, maybe because of her box office draw. I wonder when we're going to see an all white cast for "A Raisin in the Sun", "Dreamgirls" or "Flower Drum Song". The answer to that is NEVER, it would make no sense. Sometimes changing a cast from white to black does work well, with a good example being "The Wiz", so it can be done, but it depends on the show.
@@MatthewHardyMusical A fable is a story with a message or warning, like the ant & the grasshopper or the fox and the grapes. Fables can be based on fact or fiction. "Gypsy" is based on fact and the basic fact is that they were white. The warning message in this fable is about overbearing stage mothers.
@@MatthewHardyMusical A fable is a story with a message or warning, like the ant and the grasshopper or the fox and grapes. Fables can be based on fact or fiction. "Gypsy" is based on fact and the fact is that they were white. The message of this fable is a warning about being an overbearing mother, doing so can alienate your children.
@ Lol, the choreography in Gypsy where the kids become older. To me it’s like changing the choreography in A Chorus Line, the change shouldn’t be dramatic, it should be respectful to the original.
Well, I now understand why they changed it. They didn't want ALL the kids growing older. They wanted only June and Louise to get older. All the boys are being re-cast. So I get it now. Just wish I had been more open to the reinterpretation in the theater so I would have understood it in the moment.
I've loved Audra ever since Master Class(although a lyric soprano would never sing Lady Macbeth). I still have a problem with colorblind casts when you're doing a period piece....especially when the characters are real people! Just because we love Audra, who is literally Broadway Royalty....doesn't mean she's right for every role. I saw Angela Lansbury, and she may be my favorite.....but I loved Patti, Bette, and most recently....Tyne Daly. Mama Rose is not really a role for singers, but for actors who sing. There should not be head voice, even a great head voice..Just the opinion of an old Broadway kid( my first show was Fiddler in "66".)
@maestromuffin1 “most recently Tyne Daly”?! Do you own a Time Machine? Or a Tyne Machine? (Oof 🤦🏻♂️) I don’t know if I agree with you that the role is for an actor who sings. Because when I think of Ethel think of her more as a singer first. But I 100% agree that the head voice should be avoided. I’m really curious to know what Audra would have sounded like if she had chosen to sing the songs in the original key and never used her head voice at all.
I agree with your review. This Gypsy didn't work and the color casting was very confusing. What were they thinking when the white boys replaced the black boys? There is also no chemistry among the performers. I didn't see Ethel or Angela on Broadway, but I did seen Tyne, Linda, Patti and Bernadette. Comparatively, this production is the weakest and Audra is simply miscast. She can't belt the high notes, which is why she goes into a thin acoustically flat head voice. The result is a lackluster performance devoid of the character's brassiness and gusto. My favorite Rose, and production, is still the Bernadette version. You can see it for free on TH-cam, so no need to waste your money on this. Such a shame, because Gypsy is one of the best musicals ever. Sadly this iteration falls flat.
@dantove963 Thanks for the comment. Interesting that Bernadette is your favorite. Many didn't like her despite Bernadette beng the closest to what the actual Madame Rose looked like. Most people rave about Angela Lansbury who I never saw. I think Patti LuPone is my favorite just because she is that type of woman and she belted the hell out of it. We need someone who has seen all of the Roses to rank them!
@@MatthewHardyMusical It's just a personal thing, but to me Bernadette was the best as was the production. Tyne was amazing too, Linda and Patti not so much .
@thomashess9874 I believe you mean a new production of a classic? It is definitely a challenge. I think the Sam Mendez starring Alan Cumming was VERY successful. I don't know if you watched my year end ranking, but it's not surprising that my two lowest were revivals of classics.
It is Mendes, not Menendez and Jerome Robbins did not direct the king and I. He only did the choreography. I have no desire to see a Rose who can’t belt. I am not surprised that the alleged colorblind casting is very confusing. This was a dumb idea to begin with.
@NickyMay16 I know I know! I stuttered when I said Mendez. But I made sure it was correct in the subtitles. Thanks for the clarification regarding Jerry. I still found the show very enjoyable despite the fact that this Rose doesn’t belt. I mean, let’s be honest, very few have a belt like Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone.
The original choreography was pretty much perfect. The trenches were more effective to show the children and act aging, but I didn’t hate the new choreography there.
It's been brought to my attention that they may have involved mama Rose in that transition because they were trying to show that she was replacing the black dancers with white dancers as her daughters were growing up. It makes sense in retrospect but I was confused in the moment. I also thought those Presidential costumes were a bit outside of Mama Rose's budget. She would have probably just dressed them as sailors or other military uniforms that would have been readily available to her.
I really didn't like this new version of the kids "growing up" and especially found it weird that ALL of the little Black children turned White when they grew up.... Choices....
I've come to the realization that only June and Louise were growing up and Mama Rose was replacing the black kids with new white performers. I think that's why they had her take the prop from the kid and hand it to the adult. I'm just so used to the orgiginal staging where ALL the kids grew up. After all they are named after the cities where Mama Rose found them on their journey to Los Angeles. Otherwise they would all be named L.A.!
Yes. Seems like a Dreamgirls Cadillac Car moment with white singers taking over the song at the end of the number. Enjoyed your review. I saw Tyne and Bernadette. Both great in their unique way.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Sorry you haven't had a chance to see her. I saw her way back in the day in Call Me Madam at City Center Encores and more recently in Master Class.
I was at the opening night preview (huge Audra fan) and your review is SPOT ON and in some ways you're being a little too kind. I also saw the Patti Lupone revival in 2008 and it was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. The direction, stage/costume design, CASTING were all brilliant and then add Patti giving the performance of a lifetime and you have one of the great Brosdway moments. Unfortunately this revival is not even in the same universe. I feel like George C. Wolf and Camille Brown were both just phoning jt in . The staging and choregraphy lacked any imagination. I had the EXACT same reaction to the colorblind vs. nontraditional casting choices you mentioned. And like other commentors I thought Wolfe was trying yo make some commentary on what Rose would have to do to succeed on the circuit which is also why June was biracial (and passing?) and in the scene with Mr. Grandzinger's secretary, Rose emphasizes that SHE is June's mother. I guess all of this could have been powerful, but without any additins to libretto, it all falls flat. I thought both Louise and June were not great actreesses or performers. They both read as too young and the June overacted most of the "If mama was married" scene. It seemed like she had received no real direction. The younger June was EXCELLENT! The Louise was pretty forgettable, even after the transformation. As a black person, I was hoping the whole cast would be black or atleast POC so i was really sad they chose to make Tulsa (forgettable), the rest of the boys, and the strippers (a highlight, as they should be!) all white. You hit the nail on the head with Audra. She acted THE HELL out of the role and could stand next to Patti, Lansbury, Tyne, Bernadette , or the great Merman any day. But her performance was severely disminissed by her voice's inabilty to meet any of the big vocal moments on their terms. You named them perfectly. When she sang "Goodbye to blueberry pie" like "When I marry Mr. Snow", i knew her Madame Rose was going to be earthbound and incapable of really reachimg the next level. And we saw that in every big number: a big buildup with a disappointing finish. It's too bad she didnt go to a voice teacher to learn how to belt those 7 or 8 notes. She should not win a Tony for this performance. I saw Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard the next day and she is giving a performance of a lifetime just like Patti Lupone did in Gypsy 16 years ago. Audra is not on that level in this role, very sorry to say. 😢
@thrillingopera8125 Thank you for this insightful comment! I agree with most of what you wrote. That said, I did enjoy Jordan as June-despite the overacting. I took it as June being a bit of a dramatic diva. I also wouldn’t suggest that any of the creatives were “phoning it in” (them’s fighting words!). I believe the creatives were focusing on what it would be like for a Black woman existing in this world. After all, it’s a musical fable, so we can suspend disbelief and pretend that Rose could have achieved as much success as she did-even though, realistically, there’s NO WAY a woman of color could have gotten away with this during that time period. She would have been killed! However, you’re correct that the text doesn’t fully support this approach, which explains the confusion I had about the casting. As for Tony picks, I’m going to withhold mine for a few months until I see which way the winds are blowing. And yes, I always try to err on the side of being nice. Everyone is working hard, and theater ain’t easy!
@jenniferlapidus2229 100%!! Patti IS Madame Rose. They are a very similar personalities so the role was perfect for her. And Laura Benanti! I think the best Louise I've seen.
@@MatthewHardyMusicalYes Laura Benanti was the best Gypsy Rose Lee I ever saw out of 3 productions of "Gypsy" I saw. Patti was amazing in a glorious production but Tyne is the most memorable Mama Rose for me but I did see her 3 times! Bernadette was so miscast in a dreary production I am sad to say. You talk about being miscast and not being able to hit the notes... Well that was Bernadette when I saw her. It was painful to see after the great Tyne Daley who owned that role.
LOL I was afraid that might be confusing. Songs are generally divided into 8 bar sections, So an AABA song means one 8 bar "A'" melody is repeated twice then a different 8 bar "B" melody gives us a break before coming back to a final "A" melody. Let's look at Small World from Gypsy - A1 Funny, you're a stranger who's come here, Come from another town. Funny, I'm a stranger myself here. Small world, isn't it? A2 Funny, you're a man who goes traveling Rather than settling down. Funny, 'cause I'd love to go traveling. Small world, isn't it? B (new melody) We have so much in common, It's a phenomenon. We could pool our resources By joining forces from now on. A3 (with a tag to finish) Lucky, you're a man who likes children. That's an important sign. Lucky, I'm a woman with children. Small world, isn't it? Funny, isn't it small and funny and fine?
@ Thank you for the explanation.. I'd have to read it several times to get it.. Love your videos..🥰.. I saw Patti in it, but my favorite is Bette’s.. It's on my local channel all the time…Barbra talked about having an opportunity, but Sondheim kept putting her off.. Would have been an interesting take..👌🏾… I love Patti so much in general.. I saw her and Mandy in Evita 4 times..when Broadway was affordable..🤭
How could I? But if I opened that can of worms the video would have been an hour long! I was just thinking today how Sondheim purposely mis-stressed "decade" to show that the lyrics were written by Mama Rose. But then he couldn't help himself and wrote "She has a man cow, A tan cow, Who can cow her with a glance." Which is definitely a Sondheim lyric and NOT a mama rose lyric. Still...gotta LOVE.
Dear Sir, First time viewer, first time commenter, obviously, seeking TH-cam reviews on Audra’s Gypsy, hence I find you. One wonders which performance of Gypsy you attended, upon which you based your remarks. When I stumbled across your clip, it was marked 20 hours ago … and here I am, Monday, December 16, late in the evening, seized by one particular reference that you make. In your sector labeled “Thoughts on Louise’s journey,” you lament that the crowd work GRL extemporizes eventually spots a gentlemen seated in the mezzanine, whom she points out for his baldness … dismaying you, it seems, because said bald man was not seated below in the orchestra. If one may be so bold as to inquire: Were you, perchance, in attendance at the Saturday matinee December 14th? If you were, I am, in all honesty, in all sincerity, in all integrity, the bald man she was addressing. My seat was front row mezzanine on the aisle to the left - my bald dome, freshly shaved, gleaming brilliantly for her to notice as she scanned the front row above, finally setting sights on me. Looking, directly, at me. I have witnesses. Since then - me being me - I have made much too much of it, but let’s face it, when does a fellow from Philadelphia well into his sixties get singled out in the course of a Broadway show? Self-centeredness aside, I invite you to think - much as the orchestra may have missed, can you allow that the mezzanine delighted in the attention, albeit from a tired old man from Philadelphia? It was thrilling, startling, so fleeting as not to be believed, yet here I am, defending the lived experience of what you may think a misfire. Just saying. Apart from that, I agree in earnest with every point raised in your review (even were I to be so blunt as to suggest Audra is, fundamentally, not right for the part). And oh, please, hear me on this: In a show that traffics in naughtiness, I find nothing naughtier than (in past viewings) the moment GRL professes she had been “learning” French/Greek … which took me a number of years to understand, and when I did I was shocked, SHOCKED. Very much disappointed that this line was edited out of the current version. I wonder why. Please know that I could not have enjoyed your review more, however wounded I may have felt at being the bald man who drew attention away from the orchestra. My sincerest, best wishes to you for the season. Brian Fauth Phildelphia
@brianfauth143 Hey Brian! I WAS at the Saturday Matinee! LOL Small world isn't it? :-) You must have a very bright shiny head to catch Joy's eye from so far away. I love that you had that interactive moment in the theater! I think my comment was more about Joy lacking the "stand up comic" energy that allows us to see GRL coming into her own as a performer. If she chooses someone in the Orchestra then everyone in the theater can see who she is talking to and it becomes funnier. So next time you see Gysy sit down front in the orchestra! :-) In the Patti Lupone revival, Laura Benanti was so great in this scene, but if you've seen Laura in any of her solo shows you know that she is terrific at stand up. I thought the French and Greek lines were in there. She speaks French when she comes out and then says she's also been studying greek and that's how she learned the word "ecdysiast". I don't believe they changed any of the Arthur Laurents script.
I will pass on this one. I think it's miscast. Loved Angela and Tyne and Betty Buckley. Did not like Bernadette or Imelda. Wish Liza could of played Rose on Broadway, such a loss. Maybe a version with Lady Gaga is coming ?
@NFNJP Vocally not the ideal casting but I will see anything that Audra is in because I love watching great actors on stage even if they are not perfect for the role. I really wonder what Audra would sound like if she chose to sing the songs in the lower keys and just stay in her chest voice. It's not like Angela Lansbury has a big belt. In fact, of all the broadway Roses, she sang Rose's turn in the lowest key and Audra sang it in the highest - half an octave higher than Angela! I'm posting a tangent talk video about this on Thursday.
I saw this production recently and I thought Audras vocal performance in the dramatic numbers was thrilling. There was a dangerous edge to her vocal placement that had me gripping my seat in fear she might crack or damage her voice but in the best way possible to convey her emotions. I think the production missed opportunities to say and do more with the race elements. It felt like a white staging with black actors.
Interesting! Like I mentioned in my review it's dangerous to stray too far when you're working with a classic like Gypsy that has always been done one way. I think the Director and Choreographer were being careful to not go too far afield. I would have loved to see an all black production. I really want to see eh strippers played by women of color! I'd be really curious to hear Audra sing those songs in the lower keys and not use her head voice at all.
It was a disappointment. Great performers but miscast. Audra’s voice is wrong for the role. She’s a great actor but fails to deliver the final number. Such a shame. The staging and choreography fails too. Sadly it sure isn’t in the same class as the classic productions.
@privateprivate-SO4IF Well, they tried something new! Still, even a less than perfect production of gypsy is still a production of gypsy and I will be there because I love this show so much!
Would the director have turned away dancers of Mexican origin or East Asians if they auditioned? Can casting directors and agents legally say we're only casting blacks right now. No White or Asian Mid-Easterners or White or Taino Puerto Ricans need submit an audition application? I'm sure they do just not as clearly and unambiguously
@@keouine As far as casting minorities its not that big of a deal, what qualifies as a minority gets kind of strange, as there was the "one drop" rule for segregation and black people, and you will find that people with still very little black blood grew up in black culture and would be more likely to identify as black, not sure how Hispanic/Latin culture words, because it include black and white, like Marco Rubio is definitely white. The government doesn't include half Asians as anything, this includes the continent of Asia minus Slavs like Russia, Ukraine, etc. I do get really confused because its fine if Tilda Swinton takes an Asian male role, so including 2nd wave feminism works somehow too? I don't know, its all really arbitrary tbh.
@@keouine I guess I should add something else, Nicholas Christopher and his brother Jonathan are Bermudan, I am fairly sure they qualify as black, and Nicholas is quite the up and coming playing Pirelli, Sweeney, Jelly, and Seymour in Little Shop, I am fairly sure he is the first in some of those, but I have never heard him billed as "first black Seymour". I would consider the cast for Sweeney color blind, Jordan Fisher was Anthony, Joanna a white Latina, beggar woman E Asian, Nicholas Pirelli/Sweeney alt.
@Gee-xb7rt I did come to the realization after I recorded this video that I think the intention of the creative team was to do non-traditional and not color blind. I misunderstood the black children turning into white adults as being color bind, but I think the idea is that Mama Rose replaced them to appeal to a white audience as they became more successful.
@keouine It has been brought to my attention that Lili Thomas who plays Mazeppa is Asian. BUT to answer your question, yes casting is one of the places where you can deny people work based on their race, gender, age and disability. No one would be turned away from an open call. But they might "type" actors out which is really the same thing. Casting calls aren't so explicit but actors and agents know how to read between the lines so that they don't waste their time submitting talent who the creative team is uninterested in casting. This idea that you can only play what you are or write from a lived experience has gotten a little ridiculous but I hope it calms down as there becomes more representation for minorities and everything levels out.
Thanks for this review. No one should feel obligated to agree with my tiny and inconsequential opinions, but these whacky broadway revisions and screwy casting decisions leave me cold. Why shoehorn such an enormous talent into such an ill-fitting role? Am I alone in this?
@morph628 Lol. Read the comments. Clearly you’re not alone! I’m fine with it, but I always feel for people who have never seen the show before because I feel like they’re not getting the clearest version of the show. I’m looking at you, John Doyle.
@Gerry1of1 Sorry! I got technical there for a minute. You're not the first one to comment. Songs are generally divided into 8 bar sections, So an AABA song means one 8 bar "A'" melody is repeated twice then a different 8 bar "B" melody gives us a break before coming back to a final "A" melody. Let's look at Small World from Gypsy - A1 Funny, you're a stranger who's come here, Come from another town. Funny, I'm a stranger myself here. Small world, isn't it? A2 Funny, you're a man who goes traveling Rather than settling down. Funny, 'cause I'd love to go traveling. Small world, isn't it? B (new melody) We have so much in common, It's a phenomenon. We could pool our resources By joining forces from now on. A3 (with a tag to finish) Lucky, you're a man who likes children. That's an important sign. Lucky, I'm a woman with children. Small world, isn't it? Funny, isn't it small and funny and fine?
@Vino-bv5ic no interest whatsoever? I knew going in that vocally she would not be ideal, but she’s such a tremendous actress that I was able to look past that. Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the review.
Early Preview reviews are not what you see in the final show. Sorry you were dazed and confused, but it seems to me that every review now from the opening is positive and not confusing. There shouldn’t be an opinion like yours very close to the shows opening because that’s not the final show that’s my only point you I’m sorry you didn’t like her version. That’s all on you.
@JudiRadin Thanks for your comment! I typically review press previews, and if it’s not, I make that clear in the video. For Gypsy, I saw both the second preview and the first press preview, so I experienced the same version many critics based their reviews on. I loved Audra as Rose and enjoyed the show overall, though I was initially confused by some of the non-traditional casting choices, which I’ve come to better understand through discussions here. My goal is always to highlight what I loved and what left me puzzled-never to discourage anyone from seeing a production. This one is absolutely worth seeing!
I cut this from my review but I really liked Danny Burstein as Herbie and Jordan Tyson as June. And the 3 strippers are great! But it's really difficult to compare Sunset to Gypsy because they're such different interpretations. I think that Sunset will win the best revival Tony over Gypsy because it's doing something more daring. The question is who will win best actress in a musical?
I go to see the sets. I want them to fly and slide.....that's the magic of Broadway. I killed two birds with one stone Thurs night.....Audra and Danny. I can get past all that . They are playing characters. My one fault....the strip....too quick and not spectacular enoungh. It was rushed. Audra, like Tyne acted the hell out of the part, so it made up for it!
Thanks for the comment. I liked the sets that weren't part of the Vaudeville act. Especially loved Gransinger's office with the wood and Tiffany inspired glass. I agree. I wanted a lot more from the strip. This is Louise's big moment, let her have it!
I watched the show on its third night of previews, and I didn't like it. Great acting all round but the production felt dated. And I was really hoping that Audra would belt out those famous songs.
Being a director, having been in GYPSY (Yonkers) under the direction of Richard Sabellico (Yonkers in Lansbury cast/producer Daly), I have high standards for the show and you hit on all the key points that would have been focusing on. The one that hit me the hardest was the choreography. I'm sorry but A CHORUS LINE isn't A CHORUS LINE without Bennett's choreography just as HAIRSPRAY wouldn't be HAIRSPRAY without Tracy's signature wig just as Dolly wouldn't be Dolly coming down the steps of the Harmonia Gardens in anything but a red (sorry Barbra). Somethings ya' just don't mess with. Second, when I saw the final bows, here on TH-cam, I thought, 'Okay, so they're approaching this as a black troupe also having to deal with racism being in the vaudeville circuits. Clever and cool and easy to work ... although I was having difficulty dealing with this being a "fable" based on actual historical people. But, like you say, it sounds like they made it confusing. And, yes, I had concerns over the belter-vs-lyrical voice. I've seen EVITA too many times in which Eva wasn't portrayed by a belter. It just doesn't work for me. All of these things would turn me off about the show but ... who can resist Audra? I doubt I'll get the opportunity to see this production (I could travel to Paris on what it costs to see a two/three hour B'way show, any more) but, forced to choose, I wouldn't hesitate to go see this to see Audra. Thanks for the post.
Love Richard Sabellico! I used to take his song study class back in the day. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding the choreography. For heavy dance shows like West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Cats etc. the dance really becomes part of the show in a similar way the music and lyrics do. BUT Gypsy isn't' a dance heavy show, so I think there is more room for reinterpretation of the dance sequences. I only missed the Robbins choreography/direction when what was on stage was lacking. I REALLY missed Louise taking off her clothes and then using the curtain as a cover up as she walks across the stage. It's an iconic moment that you have to come up with something really spectacular to make us forget about it.
@@MatthewHardyMusical True! That's another restriction I have in regard to directing the show (and 42ND STREET, for that matter). It would HAVE to have that stage curtain so few newer theaters afford. As for Gypsy choreography, I have a lot of respect for you and am happy to agree to disagree. It's just one of my own personal little quirks. Perhaps I just like to see how much I remember Robbins' choreography. Funny, I can seldom remember the lines I had in shows like GYPSY and A CHORUS LINE but I can always remember the choreography. I was working a gate at DFW Airport in the mid-to-late 90s and when I was looking at the list of passengers yet to board, I saw that Richard had arrived on a late inbound flight. I anxiously awaited his arrival but, because he was in a hurry, regretted that we only had a few moments to catch up. He was quite flustered, as late passengers tend to be, but it was good to see him. I doubt he'd even remember me, these days.
I haven't seen him for ages either. I don't know what he's been up to. He's a character. :-) Thanks for the comments and for watching my little videos! And now a 5-6-7-8!
Color blind or nontraditional? Seems overthinking. Is the story about race? If not, trying to decide whether it’s colorblind or nontraditional seems to be a diversion that’s irrelevant and racist.
Overthinking is my brand! I think this production was trying to make it about race, hence all the comments regarding the casting. Thanks for the comment!
I hate colorblind casting. I want to escape into a show and not start thinking about race. Let's cast people that match the character descriptions please. If you want a character to be black, fine, but let's not have them change in the middle to a different race, or have them play George Washington. i don't want a white Mohammad Ali. I shouldn't have to think about it during a play.
After recording the review I have come to the realization that the intention may have been non traditional casting and that Mama Rose replaced the black chorus boys with white boys as the act became more successful. But I missed that when watching the show. Others have said they understood that was what was going on. Honestly I would have been fine if they just cast everyone as black like they did with Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly. Then we don't have to think about how the racism of the time would be affecting the narrative. Thanks for the comment!
Well, historically white actors have been portraying Black, Latino, and Asian actors for decades. So, let's not get too precious on this casting. The hypocrisy from your people is unreal.
Respectfully, you misunderstood the transition moment when the young black kids get replaced with older white teenagers. The point of that sequence is that that's exactly what Rose did: as they got older and the act became more successful, she replaced the original black kids with white performers in order to better appeal to white audiences (the same way you also see her replacing Louise early on.) They are not the same kids when they get switched out in that sequence! If you read any press about this show, it is specifically addressed by both George Wolfe & Camille Brown. So it is color-conscious casting, not color-blind!
@karlaliriano8457 Thanks for the clarification. As I was editing the video I considered that she replaced them but it seemed so crazy to me. I was later chatting with someone in the cast and they explained all of George C Wolfe's intentions to me. I purposely don't read anything about a production before I see it because I believe it's the job of the creatives to create something self contained that an audience can enjoy. BUT with a piece like Gypsy much of the audience comes in with some preconceived notions of what it is we're about to see, so I understand how it might be beneficial to do some research before seeing a revival of a classic. I do read the playbill and any inserts, so if the creatives thought it was important that we get on the same page they could use that to give the audience a heads up.
Unfortunately, many individuals who go see the show may not have read the interview by George C Wolfe as to why it appears that the Black boys grow up to become White teens. Many who reviewed this show also seemed very confused by the change.
I feel that they should have simply made this an all Black production.
There is a history of Black vaudeville performers as well as Black burlesque.
@BlackBroadwayLady Glad to hear I wasn't the only one confused. I may have followed George C Wolfe's ideas better if I didn't come to the show with such a strong preconceived notion of how the story goes. I would LOVE to see an all black cast! I want to see three black strippers do Gotta Get a Gimmick! This was our chance! I don't know if it the opportunity will present itself again. At least not on Broadway any time soon.
@@MatthewHardyMusical That would have been awesome!
I feel sad that this production received mixed, lukewarm reviews.
They should have knocked it out of the park.
I haven't gotten a chance to see this production as of yet. The show that we were supposed to see was cancelled due to illness.
But many reviewers were confused with the young Black boys turning into White teens.
@BlackBroadwayLady I hope you get a chance to see it. Please come back and tell me what you thought when you do.
It seems like there’s some confusion around whether this was color-blind or color-conscious casting, but it’s actually something much deeper-what I’d call color-specific casting. By casting Audra McDonald as Rose, George C. Wolfe added profound layers of subtext without changing a single word.
This production subtly reframes Rose as a dark-skinned Black woman-a single mother navigating the complex intersections of race, gender, and ambition in a society built to erase her. Casting choices like young Black newsboys transitioning to older white performers and June’s white-passing appearance underscore Rose’s self-loathing and societal pressures. Louise, darker-skinned and relegated to the background, embodies the painful rejection Rose herself may have experienced.
This isn’t historical realism; Gypsy has always been a fable. What Wolfe achieved here is a recontextualization that adds historical resonance to the original subtext. When Louise finally says, “Mama, I’m pretty,” the moment explodes with even greater power because it’s about reclaiming beauty and worth in a world that denied it to her.
Audra’s Rose is layered, human, and specific-and that’s what makes it brilliant. Hopefully, this perspective shifts how you and others might view the production.
@@andrewwilliams6608 there is a wonderful DVD!👍
@andrewwilliams6608 Excellent comment! Thank you so much for sharing. Yes, I didn't fully grasp what George was doing till after I saw the play.
I didn't find anything "profound" about the color casting. It just didn't work.
@dantove963 It was an interesting choice!
Mama Rose was a real person lmao! A real white person. Try Google a history book much?
I saw the production last weekend and I loved it. I also share a lot of your observations. Loved this review.
I am glad you enjoyed it!
I loved your review. I felt that all of your points, whether positive or slightly negative, were very well articulated. I felt you were fair and honest. I remember the "can't belt" Rose, Bernadette, and yet I still enjoyed her performance. I am always welcoming to changes. We either adapt or don't. Again, enjoyed your review.
@redbrian3655 Thanks for the comment! I agree, there's something to enjoy in every production of Gypsy.
Correction - the hilarious Lili Thomas, who plays Mazeppa, is Asian-American. She was also the first Asian-American to play the role of Mama Morton in Chicago on Broadway.
What still amazes me is she actually played the trumpet!!!
@user-gl8ee4ib5m Thank you! I didn't know! Does she also play the waitress in the Chinese restaurant?
@josephlim6854 And she played it well! I was impressed too!
@@josephlim6854
That's because She's a real life trumpet player.
@kallen868 That tracks. I wonder how many times she's done this role?
Correction: Jerome Robbins choreographed On the Town and The King and I, but those shows were directed respectively by George Abbott and John van Druten. Thank you.
Thanks for the correction! I meant he directed west side story and the other two were credits, but when I edited it I saw that it sounded like I was saying he directed all three.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Given his role as director/choreographer for two of the greatest musicals ever written, West Side Story and Gypsy, and the fact that there was a successful retrospective show "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," I imagine many people assume he always did double duty. In the case of On the Town in particular, it's good to remember that Abbott's immense theatrical savvy -- including getting Bernstein, Comden & Green to write "Some Other Time" -- was crucial to getting the show into its final form.
@treesny thanks for the insights!
If you didn't see Angela Lansbury in "Gypsy," you ain't seen nothing yet. The greatest performance I've ever seen on any stage anywhere in my fifty plus years of theatre-going.
I completely agree with you. I've seen every Broadway revival of Gypsy and nothing and nobody comes remotely close to the brilliance that was Angela Lansbury.
@scotthayes6965 and @nealsims8372 I want to join the “I saw Anglea Lansbury in Gypsy” fam club. I wonder if there’s a recording out there?
@scotthayes6965 Yes? :-)
I was there too in 1974; Lansbury was/is the best mama Rose in Gypsy! Lansbury is a professional and she was positively amazing!
@@MatthewHardyMusical th-cam.com/video/CxnsuXkZY78/w-d-xo.htmlsi=wmqn_f6pRG4S_eA-
I forgot to say how I got my ticket! Telecharge has $70 lottery tix. There is a $49 general rush. And $39 standing room for sold out performances. I was able to pull some strings and see the show from standing room at the back of the orchestra which was perfectly fine.
Though Arthur Laurents may have agreed with the notion of recreating Jerome Robbins' choreography, I disagree that he really wanted to replicate the direction. Laurents was the first director to have Rose finish ROSE'S TURN by bowing to acknowledge the audience's very enthusiastic applause... and then after the applause finishes, Rose (as Lansbury played her) CONTINUED BOWING! She was bowing to an audience that was entirely in her mind. It was the most extraordinary moment I've ever experienced in the theater. The audience gasped when they realized what was happening. That was all and only Laurents... and utterly brilliant.
Thanks! You're right. I was trying to make the point that Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents had a similar understanding of the piece as opposed to someone like Sam Mendes or George C Wolfe.
Terrific breakdown of the show, with well supported examples of perceptions and opinions.
@BrooklynDreaminCGThank you! I appreciate that!
Really, really enjoyed your review. I have seen Gypsy several times too - Tyne Daily, Angela Lansbury and of course the film and the TV Movie with Bette Midler. The movie with Rosalind Russell is actually my favorite version but the stage versions I saw were great themselves. I fully agree with your points on choreography and about Audra's singing these belting songs that were written for none other than Ethel Merman, but I'm sure that Audra, being Audra, does a great job. I am subscribing to your channel and look forward to future reviews.
@miamiracer Thanks for subscribing! It may be a month till my next Broadway review because not many shows open in the dead of winter. Unless I review some long running shows from past seasons 🤔
I would not have considered Tyne Daly and Angela Lansbury "belters."
@@mervyngreene6687 OF the live shows both of the ones I saw were great. Bu I have to say Angela Lansbury cannot be beaten.
@mervyngreene6687 After watching a recent video of Angela's performance as Gypsy recommended to me, I'm starting to reconsider. Angela doesn't have a high belt but she definitely has some power in her chest voice.
@miamiracer A sentiment held by many! Thanks for the comment!
Great review.. thank you!! It sounds like they made too many changes to an already perfect show.. so you are being very respectful 🙏.. kudos to you.
Thanks! I try to be honest but respectful of all the hard work that goes into producing a show on Broadway.
Won't be able to see this show but I so appreciate your review.
@eaglerockers Thanks! Not sure if the issue is location or lack of funds. But there re $39 standing room on sold out performances.
The color blind casting confused me too during the transition. Also, I didn't really care for Audra's use of her head voice. It's not how I picture Mama Rose singing.
I am a HUGE STAN of Miss McDonald. I felt her switching to head voice in the middle of phrases was distracting. That being said, it was still AUDRA, and I feel horrible for even saying that. I will still love and support everything she does!
@@jonathanrio6587 I totally agree. Despite that distraction, she was still as incredible as she always is. She received a standing O after Rose's Turn. First time I've ever seen that happen during a Broadway show. It brought tears to my eyes because she deserved it.
@jonathanrio6587 LOL I feel your pain. It's Audra! How can we say anything negative? But the question is - "Do I want to see Audra play Rose or not?" And the answer is I want to see Audra do anything and everything she wants! More Audra please!
@Darrick.DamitaJoBoy The realization I had while editing my video is that Rose was changing out the boys. She was casting new white boys in the act as it became more successful. I didn't get it during the show but now I understand!
As much as I worship her talent, not sure if Audra’s voice is suited for this earthy, scrappy character. I’m still going to see this new incarnation, but for me I still think Lansbury is hard to beat.
Great review! Thank you
Sure thing! Thanks for saying!
I've just come out of a performance.
I never had to opportunity to see a previous B'way iteration, but I did see Imelda Staunton in London (live, not the recording), whose rendition I enjoyed. I have no other familiarity with the musical.
Loved seeing Audra act, and her 'Rose's Turn' got me in the guts. But the thing that prevented me from buying her as Rose was that her vocals were too refined. Head voice factor aside, I can't help feeling that the actress playing Rose needs to have rough vocal edges; there's got to be desperation manifesting in every song, and for me, it got obscured by the proficient polish of Audra's singing. I mean, if Rose really sang like that, she wouldn't have had to channel her lost ambitions through her kids...
I felt the same about Louise too - she was singing so beautifully in the first act that her "talentless" status was unconvincing, and her eventual stardom felt a bit unearned.
I saw the white boys as straight up replacements for the black boys presumably because Rose felt it would be better for business, with this sentiment being rather powerfully echoed in the line about putting Louise in a blonde wig to "make her look more like... more..." with the racialised motivation implied. In that respect I thought the non-traditional casting approach worked relatively well... however there was the obvious lack of racial tension that presumably would have plagued these characters in more obtuse ways had they been black IRL.
And can we just take a moment to contemplate the beauty of the de-Phantomed Majestic. It was its own show worth coming to see! (And for the record, I had seen POTO there several times and was very sad to see it close).
@foreignparticle1320 what a great comment! I wonder why I missed the black boy replacement! Maybe I’m just too set in my preconceived notion of how that scene was done in previous productions.
I think Audra is too protective of her voice to give you those gutteral screams and potentially vocal cord damaging sounds that some of her predecessors embraced. It’s understandable, but I totally get your point.
And yes, a big shout out to the newly refurbished Majestic theater and the return of the chandelier!
Rose was in a car in the orignal production.
@roburbinati358 Was she in a real car that she could drive or a two-dimensional prop car with a driver so Rose was free to sing and snatch boys off the street?
@@MatthewHardyMusical I didn't see it. I wasn't alive. I have the original script. Here's what it says: "The cut-out of a fancy old car "driven" by a rich man and his little son comes on and stops to pick up the children. But as they get in, June signals, and Rose comes running out carrying a suitcase and Chowsie. She sings as the car "drives" across...They pass an urchin tap dancing, his hat held out for money. Rose puts some pennies in his cap, then yanks him into the car and they move on." The car was also used, I believe, in both the Imelda Staunton and Bette Midler versions.
@roburbinati358 Yes that exactly describes what I saw in the Patti Lupone Gypsy directed by Arthur Laurents who probably wrote those stage directions. Audra is driving her own car and they are picking up boys who are begging on the street and in orphanages. I imaging the thought was that a black woman would never be able to hitch a ride with a white man at that time. Although it does beg the question, If madame rose could afford a car why did she ned 88 bucks from her father? Maybe she stole the car? lol
@@MatthewHardyMusical I left ot the line just before the SD I quoated, that June and Louise were "thumbing a ride."
Absolutely
Honestly, during the transition I took it as that at some point over the years, Rose replaced the young black kids in the act with white kids, aside from June and Louise of course. I didn't see it as those being the same kids grown up.
I agree- this is how I took it too
You're probably right. It didn't occur to me till I was editing the video that may have been the case. So do you think it is nontraditional casting and the idea is that Mama Rose wanted white dancers to make her act more appealing to a white audience? Or that she started in a black community and then branched out into the whiter world of show business? That would explain why the strippers are all white.
@@MatthewHardyMusical it could be open to interpretation, and I don’t think I thought about it consciously too hard in the moment, but it does feel like it was an intentional choice by Rose. It would have allowed her to be able to get the act booked for a larger audience demo, including white audiences.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I think it was meant that she fired the boys and replaced them with white dancers to try and fit in with the white show circuit. But I think it could go either way to your point.
Yeh you're right. I came to same conclusion after giving it some thought. Interesting concept!
I absolutely loved this production and think she might win her seventh Tony.
I think it will depend on what Nicole Scherzinger posts on social media over the next 4 months. lol Thanks for the comment!
I saw both Audra & Nicole. Audra’s lack of a belt might play into not getting a Tony. Nicole’s voice was the best Norma EVER, but I didn’t like the “Park & Bark” concept. Sure…any great singer could stand at the edge of the stage and sing these songs too. But, should she be disqualified because I didn’t like the staging? Absolutely NOT. I’d be happy if either one receives the statuette - OR BOTH.
@1960mikey Nicole is definitely showing stronger singing chops but I think Audra is showing stronger acting chops. Audra is living in a fully realized character where as Nicole is doing an entertaining tongue in cheek performance that comments on Norma's absurdity as opposed to really inhabiting this crazy character. That being said, Nicole is doing a bigger departure from what has preceded her and Audra is not. Which should be rewarded with a Tony?
@ you mention TiC performance, is she still doing the RayGun moves?
@1960mikey I would assume so! As well as WAP choreo.
Color blind casting can work and even enhance a shows impact, in Hamilton just brilliant, but 20th century real life personalities like Gypsy Rose Lee and Madam Rose, the transition is more like “what?”
Ironically, casting Hamilton with white actors would be considered non-traditional casting. lol Just wait till they license it for schools!
Really?
That is an interesting (but somewhat bizarre) comment.
Really?
That is an interesting (but somewhat bizarre) comment.
Good review- Laurents was very protective of Gypsy I wonder what he would think of this production
Good question! What did he think of Sam Mendes production? I don't know if he'd be open to exploring the racial dynamic of Rose being a woman of color or not. Thanks for watching!
I’ve read that he hated that production with Bernadette Peters and that’s why it was revived so soon with Patti LuPone
@@NickyMay16 he refuse to let Liza Minelli do it- I'm sure he is currently spinning in his grave
I really enjoyed your review and thoughts. I haven’t seen the production but I’m a Broadway Veteran, a scholar in Black Performance Studies and History… and one thought I believe is Mr Wolfe would have been going for in not changing the script was that Black Mama Rose knew that lighter skinned daughter could pass for white. A Black Mama Rose would so do something like that… make them “appear white”. Again George Wolfe stated emphatically, Audra as well was sayIng that they would not be changing a word of Arthur Laurent’s book. So without seeing the production (I live in SF) but after seeing a still of June or Louise in “White Face”? perhaps that’s what was happening… just saying.
@MADHAUSMARKALLAN OMG! I think you are right! I completely missed that aspect of the casting of June as a lighter skinned black woman. And I didn't realize she was wearing lighter make up, but now that you mention it, I do remember thinking that Jordan looked a lot paler on stage! And then she puts Louise in a cow costume so we can't see her skin color and casts white chorus boys!! And then she gets Herbie, a white man, to act as her agent! Rose was white washing the act! This is all coming together for me now. Thanks for sharing your insight!
Mama Rose in the car collecting Newsboys was introduced in the Angela Lansbury-starring production in the 1970s.
@robertd.carver6240 Interesting! Collecting is such a nice way of saying kidnapping.😝
No not correct
Here’s my story about colorblind casting. I saw a revival of Carousel a few years ago and the actor playing Billy was black. My husband went in blind and at Intermission said everyone in town hates Billy BECAUSE he’s black. And I had to explain, no they hate him because he’s a bum who beats his wife. But it occurred to me that sometimes colorblind casting doesnt work.
Your husband's reaction is very telling! Are you referring to the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel? I remember thinking that the show's approach to domestic violence was very problematic for modern audiences and not helped by the color blind casting. Interesting that the 1994 revival of carousel used non-traditional casting by having Audra McDonald play Carrie. That casting choice was very well received. I also have to clarify that after I recorded this review I decided that this production of Gypsy is indeed non-traditional and not color blind. It think we're meant to see Rose's race as another obstacle she has to overcome.
I saw that revival of Carousel with the black actor playing Billy. Carousel is based on Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom but was adapted to take place in 1873 on the Maine coast. The story follows Billy Bigelow, a carousel barker who falls in love with Julie Jordan, a millworker. To me in 1873 a Black Billy and White Julie would never happen. Just the times - good, bad or not - it was not the historical time for interracial couples. Carousel was one of my very first Broadway plays with Grandma. I walked out of this production unhappy. Signed, NOT - WOKE.
@Themin1 Yeh. I think you were meant to not see color in that production. In musicals we look past the fact that people are bursting out into song and dance yet why do we struggle to suspend our disbelief when it comes to race? Food for thought.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I understand what you are saying. I go with the reality of the time period. And my attitude is stop trying to change the narrative. IMO Gypsy......is based on a person IRL. That and that only should keep it focused on the actors and not race. I just read an article by Marcia Michaels the comedian. This is how I got to this video. She plainly stated - will there ever be a WHITE -- Porgy and Bess? Leaves the reader thinking. Whynot - but IMO I doubt that will never happen.
I thought that show made the worst and unintentionally racist, casting mistake by casting in African-American as Billy Bigelow, because the character embodies the worst of stereotypes that people foolishly believe about African-American men.
I loved Imelda Staunton, just wonderful. I really love it when an actor “doesn't lose” his acting even in singing; perhaps in Gispy this is more true than in other musicals. The character was really organic and believable both when she sang and when she acted. With all due respect to extraordinary Broadway actresses.
@MarissaDellaPasqua2756 Thx for the recommendation. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Imelda. I’ll have to check out one of the bootlegs.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I think the whole production with Staunton is here on TH-cam, and is rentable on Amazon Prime. Be forwarded though -- she plays Rose the way I imagine George C. Scott would have.
@scotthayes6965 Interesting comparison! Definitely going to check it out!
@@MatthewHardyMusical
It's free on Tubi....there's also a DVD of that production.
Matthew,
“Gypsy” is my favorite musical as well.
I have not seen this production, but I can not help but think your observations are spot on.
The terms “ non traditional “ and “ color blind” are relatively new terms for me.
Would “Hamilton” be “ non traditional “ or “ color blind” casting? just discovered your channel and have subscribed ❤️
Great question! I wouldn’t call Hamilton non-traditional because it’s a new musical, and there’s no established tradition. Ironically, if you performed Hamilton now with white actors, that would be considered non-traditional because the roles have traditionally been played by people of color.
Hamilton is color-blind in the sense that the characters don’t see each other based on race. However, it’s not 100% color-blind for the audience, as we’re viewing the story of the Founding Fathers through the lens of contemporary music and the struggles of people of color to find their place in this country.
While most of the characters can be played by actors of any ethnicity, casting them all as white would detract from the essential element that makes the piece so groundbreaking.
Hamilton is a new musical, whereas Gypsy is a classic. Apples to oranges. But since we're going there, the next Gypsy should star Ru Paul as Rose and handicapped hermaphrodites in wheelchairs as the farm boys. The three strippers should be deaf, dumb and blind and Tulsa, now renamed Cairo, should suffer from hallucinations and don a straight jacket. Herbie should be a transexual teenaged homeless drug addicted crack dealer from the Lower East Side, who dropped out of NYU. Baby June should be played EXACTLY as Rumpleteaser from Cats and the chandelier from Phantom will now assume the role of Louise. It removes its crystals during the strip number. Of course there must be live cameras pointed at the "cast" backstage, where their reactions are transmitted on giant screens in the theater, which by the way, has been reimagined as a vintage gay porno house from the 1970's. The auditorium will be on the stage and the stage in the auditorium. Everything will be painted black. The audience will be handed cans of spray paint and encouraged to write Silence = Death on anything they can find while a fetid aroma of urine is pumped in via the vents. So let's re-imagine Gypsy for tomorrow's audiences today and charge $500 for a standing room ticket, which will actually be in the restroom where you can see everything on a screen while sitting down. But it will still be Gypsy and that's what really matters.
@dantove963 I would like to invest in this bold new reimagining. :-)
@@MatthewHardyMusical LOL! Just write a 16 million dollar check out to CASH and I'm happy to take it.
@dantove963 No problem! I just need to monetize my next TH-cam video and get 600 trillion views.
Is that why there is that insane song about the "Moo cow, a true cow named Caroline"? Because Mama Rose created it? Wow, I NEVER clocked that before. Thanks for the wonderful insight!
Even experienced Tin Pan Alley songwriters wrote novelty, corny songs for mass consumption. Child singers were also a much bigger thing than before 50s. Idk Have there been any solo pop music child stars in the last 60 years? Michael Jackson? maybe. His brothers may have something to say about that.
@keouine I don't know if it relates, but a lot of famous pop singers and actors started out as child actors in the new Mickey Mouse Club - Britney Spears, Christine Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, JC Chasez, Keri Russell. Some singers also got their start on Star Search which was a kind of vaudeville of the 1980s.
@christophercobb249 You're welcome! That is exactly why those songs are so hokey. Although Stephen Sondheim couldn't help himself when he wrote "She knows a man cow, a tan cow, who can cow her with a glance." Her withers may not be withering with her but that lyric screams Sondheim. He also purposely mis-stressed the word "decade" to show that it was written by someone who wasn't a great lyricist.
Love Angela Lansbury!
Who doesn't! She's a treasure! Did you see her play Rose?
@ Unfortunately, no. But I memorized Angela’s cast album. In college, I played Tessie Tura and understudied Rose. Great memories. That was in 1974!
@@MatthewHardyMusical Yes, a treasure. Midler too. But their Roses weren't belters, which was especially surprising with Midler. She has a huge stage presence but lacks those "take no prisoners" top notes we associate with Merman and Lupone. Once having heard them, I can't help but miss them. But what a crop of great interpreters of a great role.
The best! Her performance is legendary!
@@susanmarie2231 my parents brought the cast album after seeing the show and for me that is the one I memorized and hear in my head and I think the very best!
I think everyone in the audience was baffled by the black to white boys. Going into the show, we knew Audra wasn’t going to belt those notes - and it did not bother me to hear a different take from Ethel’s Rose. I’ve watched the made for TV Bette’s Gypsy a 1000+ times. I did notice the stage pieces, the transition and Louise and Tulsa duet.
Adding one other comment… I took 2 people that had never seen this musical, nor had they any prerequisite theater classes. They kept saying Louise is a great performer, I reminded them in Louise’s own words, “I haven’t got any talent”
Thanks for sharing. I love seeing people’s reaction to a classic show who haven’t seen it before. What did your friends think? Were they bored or confused?
@@MatthewHardyMusical They appreciated everything! in the end... I think they loved the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes more. I did give them a slight education of the history of the show and that it is based on Gypsy Rose Lee story. Plus... They did recognize a few of the songs.
@1960mikey You know I’ve never seen the radio city show! And now I’m away for the holidays so maybe next year! Thx for the comments!
The characters in Gypsy were real people who were not black. It’s a story based on a life, it doesn’t matter the color you are. But, I hear there is under current of racism brought to the show, is that true? Color blind casting is good, but would a production of A Raisin in the Sun with a white cast be accepted?
No, it's not true.
@brainbryan I feel that the creative team for this production is subtly addressing issues of racism in show business. I didn’t realize this until I started having conversations with people on this feed, but the play begins with Rose presenting her girls at Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show, which appears to consist entirely of Black performers.
As the play progresses, Rose changes her Vaudeville act to appear more white as they become more successful. She puts her lighter-skinned daughter, June, front and center, while eventually hiding her darker-skinned daughter, Louise, in a cow costume. She starts with black backup dancers and later replaces them with white dancers. She even seduces Herbie, a white man, to act as her agent.
It’s a fascinating take that I didn’t fully grasp until afterward.
@AR36-45 welllllllllll....
@@MatthewHardyMusical it’s very subtle, critical race theory-ish. I saw and worked on Carousel with Audra and it was colorblind casting which worked perfectly, yet all her covers were black. It’s hard to say why, but I do know technically you light a black person very differently then a white person onstage and sometimes there are other factors, like money costs to re light the show, involved why people are cast that have nothing to do with best choice, black or white
That's really interesting. I didn't see the Carousel revival at Lincoln Center but from the reviews I read I was lead to believe that Audra's casting was non-traditional as opposed to color blind. How did they cast Mister Snow and their children?
I saw the show last week. I totally agree, with you on everything. Audra, is wonderful. I hated the striptease segment, with Gypsy. Boring, no tease whatsoever. Really was quite disappointed with that. Not too much applause. Guess, that says a lot about it. Aside, from that. It is good show.
Thanks! I actually came home after the show and watched the strip segment from the Bette Midler made for TV movie to remind myself that the segment can actually be quite effective.
I saw the original show and Ethel Merman just stood firm and belted out her numbers, with little or no acting. The final scene when Gypsy enters there was no connection. Tulsa in that production was great. I saw Angela Lansbury in the Boston tryout of Gypsy, it was a different show culminating with Gypsy 's entrance at the end of the show. It was deeply touching, the recognition of a woman who had pushed her aside but in that final moment trey experience forgiveness and love.
@LiamMurphy-b2z Wow! I'm jealous! Ethel wasn't know for being the greatest actor, but I think writers loved her because she was able to stand there and send their material all the way to back row. I recently came across an audio recording here on TH-cam of the final dressing room scene between Rose and Gypsy and I was so surprised to hear that Ethel missed the joke where Gypsy says they will be doing the photoshoot in the bathtub. Rose's disapproving "Louise!" Followed by Gypsy's "It's for Vogue.' Roses approving "Louise!" But Ethel rolled right over it and there was no laugh. I need to go to the performing arts library and see what video footage there is of Angela and Tyne.
I was young when I saw the show and Ethel Merman bored me. She had a powerful voice in her delivery, but she bored me as did most of the show. Except the number with Tulsa and the strippers, the woman with the horn was amazing. I felt if they did "Let me entertain you" one more time I would leave. Then I saw it with Angela Lansbury in the Boston Tryout and fell in love with the show. I lived in Boston and saw Barbara Streisand in "I can get it for you wholesale", Julie Andrews in "Camelot", Mary Martin in "Sound of Music", all tryouts. I was a major fan of Angela and saw her in a "Taste of Honey"." Dear World," "Mame" and "Sweeney Todd" But I also saw a show you never heard of, "A sixth finger in a five-finger glove" There were more people on the stage than in the audience. My sister worked for the bank that held the acount for the Shubert Theater. When a show would open they would paper the adince.
Thanks for sharing your insights as someone who was there!
Love your review.
We actually have tickets for the Monday evening performance, December 23rd.
We have to admit that Hamilton shook things up regarding non-traditional and color blind casting for true, real life characters.
I'm quite sure that there will be future productions to do the same.
It's a brave and colorful new world. Please come back and let me know what you thought of the show after you've seen it.
Sadly the cast has the flu and "Gypsy" was cancelled on Dec. 23. I hope you can reschedule.
@gregorylane4338 Oh no! Could you imagine being the person in the cast who got the star sick? Better hope it was one of her real kids and not one of the kids in the show!
I saw the 5th preview and I agree with EVERYTHING you've said. COMPLETELY. EVERYTHING. I had the same thoughts and shared with others exactly as you shared here. Why? Because as you said, the piece works as it is. It's perfect. I feel they went into it to make changes and didn't take in that the changes would diminish the piece. And everything you said about Audra's INCREDIBLE voice is also true - she didn't sing the 5 or 6 'money notes' in her belt, when what was needed WAS the belt. The songs were written for those specific notes to be belted. Using her head or mixed voice could have been okay IF the power was still
there but it wasn't. Choosing the head/mixed on other notes that are usually belted was fine (I guess) but those 5-6 'money notes' needed to be belted should be belted, in any production. They are the exclamation marks (!) of Rose's thoughts and emotions. Whether joyful, raging, or crazy. No if, ands, or buts. The guts and fierceness of Rose was turned down a few notches at the precise moment when the end of some songs needed an exclamation mark not an immediate flip into head voice and a soft sound of pretty and calm. The experience for the audience turned the singing into a fine bus & truck. Each of those 5 or 6 times the songs never got the final 'pay off'. Having said that, Audra's singing is beautiful throughout and her acting (especially in Rose's Turn) is SPECTACULAR!
Thanks for the comment and for agreeing with me! :-) After posting my review I often watch it again and disagree with myself! I think they raised the keys for most of the songs to put them in a soprano register. I am REALLY curious what they would have sounded like if Audra had just sung them in the original keys and not used her head voice at all. For a lyric soprano she actually has some really good low notes so I think she could have handled it. But what do I know? I'm sure she played around with each song to find the key that would work best. Still I wonder....
That's very interesting. I didn't realize that the songs had been raised. Like you I missed the growth of the strip sequences. There wasn't much to each one and then suddenly in the Garden of Eden they gave us Josephine Baker dancing up a storm! Impressive dancing for sure but not Gypsy Rose Lee. It's as if they knew the actress could dance so they gave her a big dance number. They also lengthened Tulsa's dance break but that didn't bother me too much nor did having a Mazeppa who could play the trumpet quite well and a lot. Things like that got an ok from me but the belted money notes were a loss unfortunately. The performer I really enjoyed (which surprised me) was Dainty June (the grownup). Now she had the makings of Madame Rose. She was barreling through the production throughout. She had the grit, anger, and belt that was like a Madame Rose. As I later shared with friends, it was as if the director rehearsed the show as a straight play. The acting scenes were all first rate and believable. It felt like had been given a lot of investigative rehearsal time. And then just before previews they inserted the songs and choreography which had all been rehearsed separately for weeks in another studio. The one thing that I also really agree with you on but didn't notice when I saw the show was when the four young black boys became four white teenagers. You are so right about that, too. One or two of those teens needed to be black. And the three strippers could have one black woman. In fact, I think an all-black production (like Pearl Bailey's Hello Dolly) would have been quite effective and permissible on Bway these days. In the end and as you said, the production was a way to see Audra in all her talented glory. She's a great talent for sure. @@MatthewHardyMusical
I didn't realize Tulsa's dance break had been lengthened. Now that you mention it did feel long and it got some applause half way through which made it seem like it ended twice. Loved Mazeppa's trumpeting! I really enjoyed Jordan's performance as June too. They also did a good job of casting a baby June that looked like she could believably grow up to June as an adult. When I edited the review I added a thought bubble that said "Maybe Rose fired the black dancers and replaced them." and then after posting the video I realized that was exactly what happened. Mama Rose is white washing the act for white audiences as they become more successful. So the boys weren't growing up, they were being replaced! This is why the strippers were white (and asian but I couldn't tell from my seat). I think they were showing that Louise stood out because she's black. Maybe that was her gimmick?
Wow. That's an interesting possibility. I wonder if other audience members picked up on that??? (I splurged to buy an expensive ticket and was sitting in the orchestra third row center. Audra did Rose's Turn practically on top of me! Sweat and spit flying! She was electric when she was down in front of the actual or orchestra. Passorale???).
@Chris-y4t9j Passerelle! They were making changes to that sequence throughout previews so you probably saw the transition in one of it's earlier forms. They involved Rose more in the transition to try and show that she was re-casting but even at the press preview I attended, it completely went over my head. It wasn't till I was recording this video that I even entertained the idea that Rose was firing the black boys and hiring white boys. I'd love to hear from more people who saw the show after it opened to know if they understood. BUT the thing is people are reading reviews before seeing the show so they are being cued into the change in concept which means they won't experience the show in the same way we did. I love that you got to see Audra so up close and personal!
First, as a black performer / I have always called for an all black and color conscious cast of Gypsy. The vaudeville era had so many black stars of their own and time that would’ve suited this story perfectly.
When I saw the casting of Herbie, I knew that it wouldn’t be as “risky” and make a statement with an all black cast - like they have with Hello Dolly with Pearl Bailey. I’m sure they did this to be more “mainstream” 🤨
All of Your points about casting and race makes total sense
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I did come to the realization after I recorded this video that I think the intention of the creative team was to do non-traditional and not color blind. I misunderstood the black children turning into white adults as being color bind, but I think the idea is that Mama Rose replaced them to appeal to a white audience as they became more successful. I think it is a valid choice, but I'd still LOVE to see an all black production of Gypsy with some new orchestrations that really lean into the sounds of black America during that time period.
@@MatthewHardyMusical you and I both. but we both know exactly why that won't happen...sadly
Yes...keep it going! Let's have Latina Mama Rose next as music and dance is so inherent to our culture and we are always left behind in the story of this country. 🥰
@Thisismyusername227 I don't know! I think this could have been an opportunity to do it. Although the new orchestrations might be difficult to get approved by the estate of whoever makes those decisions. Although they did manage to get approval from the Robbins estate for new choreography.
@officialmichaelcarrasco Who is in your dream latin cast?
Is considered one of the hardest shows to be in because the actress who plays mama is in almost entire show
Right? It's basically a one woman show with a HUGE cast. I was thinking the girls who play the Toreadorables have NOTHING to do for the whole first act!
@@MatthewHardyMusical yes the movie paints mama rose as a villain but if you think about she wants the best for her kids. I would love to see a play based on mama roses youth
A Madame Rose origin story! I went down a rabbit hole after recording this review. It seems that there are a lot of discrepancies between June and Louise's accounts of their mother. They both seem to be unreliable sources.
@ their is a new book about by a man who did so much homework on rose
There you go! I wonder if he's open to the idea of it being adapted to a play?
We had almost entirely the same reaction to this show! With the exception of the night that I went i actually did not think the 2 of them had good chemistry she actually seemed afraid of him the way she’d kind of shrink and back away here and there. But other than that I agree completely with you’re review!!!!
Thank you! Were you confused by the race switch of the boys as well? I've since come to understand what was happening there but I was so confused in the moment.
@ 100% and then I honestly just kind of figured “oh maybe the older kids are just new boys she’s replaced the other kids with as they got older.” Because I was absolutely under the impression the small boys just weren’t the older boys to which I also thought “why this decision also?” It strangely distracts from the show as a whole. I mean we move past it and then fine we’re just back into the land of “misguided direction” but it was one of the factors that pulled me out of the story for a minute
Yeah, sometime the problem with these ideas is that they pull you out of the world of the play for a minute while you try to make sense of it.
Well, you didn't seem bored but you were, at times, confused. Am I summing it up? I became confused when you were discussing Louise and the "Big Strip" sequence but I think I know what you were trying to say. As much as I would love to come to NY and see this, I won't be able too....thanks for your review!
Yes! You are correct. I usually do a little sum up at the end but I missed it on this one. What was confusing about my big strip comment? Happy to clarify!
The children do not grow up in that sequence, the act grows up and the kids have been replaced by older performers.
Well, I don't think Madame Rose replaced her daughters. But yes, in this production the only explanation is that Louise and June grow up and the boys are replaced to make the show whiter. I don't think the act ever grows up. That's the problem! Thanks for the comment!
@@MatthewHardyMusical Ah no. The boys are the same throughout. They are named for the Towns in which she found them: Tulsa is picked up as a boy and remains with the act into his teens. This is part of their frustration, that the act has not changed although they have. If she picked them up as teens, they would know the act was for younger people, and would not have gone with her.
@dreamhousemovies I think you are 100% correct in what was intended when Laurents wrote the script. But in this version they have changed it so that Rose is replacing the young black boys with white boys as their act travels across the country. I was confused because I had the preconceived notion that the boys were just getting older.
I really appreciate the commentary about the creative team not allowing themselves to stylize elements of the show (you mention choreography and set design, specifically) within the confines of the material, but forcing in something that is impressive and showcasing of their ability. Another great example of this on Broadway in recent years is any show that recreates popular vocal groups as part of the show - think MJ, Motown, Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Jersey Boys - where the choreography is so over-the-top and in authentic to how The Jackson Five or The Four Seasons would have performed. I appreciate artistic interpretation, but these types of things really take me out of the experience because of the startling removal of me as an audience member to see a Motown group or June & Her Newsboys doing triple pirouettes.
Amen! I agree 100%. I actually saw this production of Gypsy twice. I saw the second preview and the first press preview, and over the two weeks of previews they toned down the dance sequences. When I saw it on the second preview I thought "those untrained dancers who are getting paid in chow mein are too good!" Choreographing this show is kind of a thankless job because you don't have any opportunities to really show off. This is why a director/choreographer like Jerome Robbins is really ideal.
I love your pov!
Thank you!
You really know what you're talking about.
Thank you! I know a good bit of stuff having worked in the industry for a while, but there's plenty I don't know - but I'm good at faking it. :-)
I think in this case there is truth in advertising: this is AUDRA as much as GYPSY.
RIGHT!? This must be a limited run. What will they do when Audra's contract ends?
Polite respectful accurate critique
Thank you! Love to hear that.
Prefer Audra as an actor much more than a singer. I do not like her voice at all, unless it's a classical piece. From what I've heard of this production, she was miscast.
Yes, you could say she is vocally miscast.
Totally agree. She is miscast and the "money notes" in head voice were acoustically flat. Zero chemistry among the actors and the color casting is a disaster for this classic show.
Do you think Audra will win the Tony with this performance?
Depends what Nicole Scherzinger posts on her social media over the next 4 months! :-O Of the past 5 Madame Roses on Broadway 3 have won the Tony for best Actress. So those odds are good. I'm not sure if the fact that a she already has 6 Tonys will work for her or against her. At this point I would choose Audra over Nicole because I value truthful acting over meta theatrics. But the Tony awards are ultimately a marketing tool so we will have to see how things develop over the next 4 months! What do you think?
NO!
LOL
I LOVE this show & I LOVE Audra but it's not a good match (for me). I saw Patti, Bernadette and Bette and was also in a production of it ("Grantziger's secretary" and worked as assistant costumer) I can't afford Broadway anymore so I won't see this. Thanks for your interesting comments- especially about everything being created by Mama.
@wdwnutjm Sure thing! Did you have a favorite Mama from the three you saw? And I think it's okay if you miss this Gypsy. It's not definitive.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I remember seeing Patti and thinking "well, that's it for me - she is the ultimate!!!". that being said, I really want to see Bette's movie again because I was never a big fan of hers until I saw her in Dolly" I am just such a fan of that show for so many reasons.
@wdwnutjm I loved Patti too. If the belting is important to you, you're not going to hear anyone sing it like she did.
Good review. I love Audra but also felt she has the wrong type of voice for Mama Rose but also regarding colorblind casting...;Gypsy is basically a biographical musical, and since the originals were all white and all real people, how does one reconcile that with this casting?
@stuartwise5709 Excellent question! I think the key lies in the show’s subtitle “A musical fable”. It’s already understood that this isn’t a 100% factual telling of Gypsy Rose Lee’s story. Arthur Laurent’s himself commented that Gypsy herself was a very unreliable source for factual information. Because it’s a fable, I think there is a lot of leeway in how the show is cast. And honestly, the whole nature of theater really allows creatives to take big swings. Look at Hamilton!
Gypsy works. I've seen it done by students and it was compelling. Loved your review.
Thx. I’m so glad you liked the review!
The “Some People” transition with the car and signs is from the original.
You're correct! But I don't think they used an actual car as a set piece like they do in this revival. And the choreography for the sign dancers is different because it's not Jerome Robbins choreography. I quite liked what Camille A Brown did with the dancers in this section. Here's the Arthur Laurents direction with Patti it's more tongue in cheek as she kidnaps the boys. lol th-cam.com/video/z6A9vR48Wnc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=76YwRAwR-psTB_kk
Arthur Laurents stated that he reconceived his staging for each of the actresses playing Rose, not creating the original.
100% correct. I was inarticulate. I was trying to say that the understanding of the show and its themes were more similar between Arthur and Jerome than someone like Sam Mendes. I'm sure he approached the staging fresh for each actor that stepped into the role.
Arthur Laurents would take such offence if you had told him he was essentially doing the Jerome Robbins direction in his revivals (read his book on directing--he thinks he completely re-worked it.)
It should be pointed out that while the Sam Mendes production said it used Jerome Robbins' choreography with 'additional choreography by Jerry Mitchell' but actually that was a credits thing and a lot of the choreography was new.
@EricMontreal22 You're right! I take it back. I was more trying to suggest that Jerome and Arthur's understanding of the text were very similar as compared to someone like Sam Mendes. Of course Arthur would change the staging and direction to suit the actor playing Rose. After all he's working with big stars who couldn't be put in cookie cutter direction. Thanks for calling me out! :-)
@@MatthewHardyMusical Right! From Laurents' On Directing he also seemed to think that Robbins was great at stage images and working with dancers but not with any dramatic acting (others of course would disagree here) so he claimed he properly put the focus back on this in his Gypsy productions (and his WSS revival which I strongly disliked but what do I know? ;) )
I could see that coming from Arthur as the book writer. Writers often struggle with directors not fully grasping their vision.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Yeah I think Laurents really struggled with his contribution being the least recognized--for West Side Story anyway (where Bernstein and Robbins get most of the glory--Laurents showed him though by cutting to ribons the dream ballet when he directed it :P ) but the irony is a lot of musical theatre common wisdom DOES credit Laurents with writing the best book for a traditional (R&H style) musical with Gypsy... But you wouldn't realize that from his rants in his book (which IS an entertaining read...)
I'll have to check it out! I saw Laurents speak at the performing arts library in 2009 when he was 91 years old and he was so quick and sharp. I remember thinking, "I want to be like that when I'm 91." It really is a great book for a musical and a much harder task than adapting a play or a novel that already have a solid dramatic structure.
5:49--Jerome Robbins understood the assignment.
Yup!
I watched the show on its third night of previews, and I didn't like it. Great acting all round but the production felt dated. And I was really hoping that Audra would belt out those famous songs.
I actually saw the 2nd preview and then went back for the first press preview. The show improved over the two weeks. They toned down some of the dancing so the dancers were more believable in their characters and some of the Louise scenes got better. But I don't think those changes would change your reaction to the production feeling dated. and Audra certainly didn't learn to belt over the two weeks. lol I enjoy it as a period piece.
Excellent review.
Glad you liked it!
Very thoughtful review...
Thanks for watching!
I saw it with Tyne Daly years ago.
@maryk3458 Jeally
This is simply not a role for Audra in my opinion, she is a leading Soprano, not a character actress. This should have definitely gone to Lilias White - she would have sang the house down and she is a dynamic actress as well. But Audra has been campaigning to play that role for almost a decade now and she has 6 Tony's so...
@georgetobey8400 Good for Audra. Looks like she and Rose share some similar qualities. Determination!
White is way too old to play the part but at the right age, she would have been heaven on earth. I have loved her for decades.
The great Lillias White is a character actress abd would not have been able to keep Gypsy going as middle America has no idea who she is. Audra is,well known as a t.v. leading actress beyond her Broadway leading roles.
From your review I think Rose makes changes over the years. As a black woman she is trying to break into professional show business (the white dominated spaces) and to do that she has to make her show “acceptable”. This is why she also needs Herby, a white man, to get her in the door at this time period. Also didn’t Patti and the recent uk production have a car?
I think you're 100% correct. I got confused by the kids' races switching when they grew up, but now I think Rose was actually replacing them with white performers as they became more successful. The Patti Lupone production was director by Arthur Laurents which has her walking around the stage snatching boys from various places. I recall a moment where a Boy Scout troop marches across the stage and she snatches the last one when he shows that he can sing. The UK production may have used a car. I found it interesting that in this production she gets two boys with a sign that reads "Dance for food" and the other she gets from an orphanage. I think the director wanted to make it seem that Rose was helping these poor children and not kidnapping them.
@ makes sense. Can’t wait to see it. And the newly renovated majestic
The transition with Rose in the flat car and picking up boys with signs has been in every Broadway production since the original. It’s Robbins’ staging.
@bernardjohnson5598 Make sure you go to the new mezzanine bathrooms! :-)
@ajnuh This car ain't flat. Madame Rose is behind the wheel driving like she's on Mister Toads Wild Ride.
Please explain the difference between "head voice" and "chest voice." Thank You.
@BroadwayGuy Sure! Chest voice is darker, rougher, and provides the power in one's singing voice. Head voice is lighter and only useful by itself at or near the top of one's range. (I stole that from Quora.) For a male singer the head voice is often called falsetto. I sing in chest and falsetto (head voice) here - th-cam.com/video/J_E7tkVO1NY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=01jLv1rdyYDszi3Y&t=718 Now, I'm nowhere near as good a vocalist as Audra so the difference between my head and chest voice is VERY noticeable. Audra is much better at navigating between the two than I am.
Belt versus Legit.
❤
Pavarotti has a disruption pesssagio
Is making all performances now?
Please note she started with Dinner Theater in Fresno so She probably is channeling that
Who?
@ Audra
What does that even mean?
Seriously you should look up her bio Audra started at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater in Fresno California as a kid and so she gets the Show kid
@KirkLinnDeGrassi Ah! I see what you're saying. Thanks for the info!
They could’ve absolutely reworked the songs to make them actually work for a soprano. A dramatic opera Diva is also an exciting take. Instead of trying to make her voice work on the songs because it does seem like an acquired taste to accept these tried and true belting songs AS this new direction
@Thismeekpotato Thanks for the comment. They changed the keys. I'm not sure what else they could have done.
Nah, it's a belters show. Rose's essence is assertive and brassy, which naturally lends itself to belting. A legit soprano is not the right vocal type, let alone one that is acoustically flat. Audra was miscast and this Gypsy is disappointing.
@@dantove963 I agree it’s supposed to be belted my point was producers were obviously committed to having Audra, they could make the actual music work as much as possible for her voice. Rose could be an antiquated opera act, maybe even more division between her and a new age Gypsy voice. The music could be structured for a Dramatic Soprano so she’s not half belting some parts as is now because clearly belting some parts and switching for others did not please any of us. (It would change the vibe but it’s either that or what we ended up getting)
@dantove963 Thanks for the comment!
@Thismeekpotato I just wanted her to stay in her chest voice.😬
I appreciate your analysis. When I heard they were doing Gypsy with Audra, I thought great, finally an all-Black cast of this classic. I remember a long time ago they came out with an all-Black cast of Hello Dolly w Pearl Bailey and it was groundbreaking, and surprised they didnt do it w Gypsy ages ago. I think that setting it in the world of segregated black vaudeville/burlesque would have been amazing and could add a lot to the Mama Rose character and give the play a whole new depth.
Yes! I wish this would have been an all black cast. But it starts as all black and then becomes white as they become successful. I understand the choice to do it this way but I would have loved an all black cast!
It sounds like they succeeded in eliminating the show's 'grit' and 'power it originally had.
@bearjanman Oh I don't know. Rose had plenty of grit and although her vocals may have lacked the power of a true belt there was amble power in her acting choices. Thakd for the comment!
My problem w/this production is Audra McDonald. Her voice isn’t “brassy” enough for Mama Rose. Her voice is almost too “legitimate.”
@gwmpsp420 You're not wrong.
@ don’t get me wrong, I think she’s a musical theater treasure, just not quite right for this show. (Also MY favorite!)
I agree. But if Audra is performing I will go!
The casting of black actors in the main roles of "Gypsy" makes no sense. I know everything now is supposed to be inclusive and politically correct and I'm all for equal opportunity but, come on, there have to be limits. "Gypsy" is based on real people. Gypsy Rose Lee was not black, nor was her mother or sister and considering the time period, most of the other characters would probably be white. That would be like doing "Sunrise at Campobello" with a black FDR or "Harriet" with a white Harriet Tubman. Although I did read that they considered casting Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman. I can't imagine why they would even think to do that, maybe because of her box office draw. I wonder when we're going to see an all white cast for "A Raisin in the Sun", "Dreamgirls" or "Flower Drum Song". The answer to that is NEVER, it would make no sense. Sometimes changing a cast from white to black does work well, with a good example being "The Wiz", so it can be done, but it depends on the show.
Or a Latino Alexander Hamilton ? 🙃
@garypescl746 Remember the subtitle. It is a musical fable. Not everything is true or based on reality.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I never saw Hamilton, but I remember hearing something like that, so no.
@@MatthewHardyMusical A fable is a story with a message or warning, like the ant & the grasshopper or the fox and the grapes. Fables can be based on fact or fiction. "Gypsy" is based on fact and the basic fact is that they were white. The warning message in this fable is about overbearing stage mothers.
@@MatthewHardyMusical A fable is a story with a message or warning, like the ant and the grasshopper or the fox and grapes. Fables can be based on fact or fiction. "Gypsy" is based on fact and the fact is that they were white. The message of this fable is a warning about being an overbearing mother, doing so can alienate your children.
Audra has the flu ,no under study ,the show must go on!
@thomashess9874 Um... they cancelled 7 of the 8 performances last week. LOL😂
Matthew, you are gorgeous!!😍🥵
The change of the kids is paramount.😢
@dimi374 Yeh. I feel bad that I misunderstood that. But now everyone else can learn from my mistake! Thx for the comment and compliment!
@ Lol, the choreography in Gypsy where the kids become older. To me it’s like changing the choreography in A Chorus Line, the change shouldn’t be dramatic, it should be respectful to the original.
Well, I now understand why they changed it. They didn't want ALL the kids growing older. They wanted only June and Louise to get older. All the boys are being re-cast. So I get it now. Just wish I had been more open to the reinterpretation in the theater so I would have understood it in the moment.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Ah I see, haven’t seen the production yet. Thank you for clarifying that, I will certainly try to see it with an open mind.♥️
Very good review honest
Thank you 🙂
Gypsy is PERFECT.
Preach
I've loved Audra ever since Master Class(although a lyric soprano would never sing Lady Macbeth). I still have a problem with colorblind casts when you're doing a period piece....especially when the characters are real people! Just because we love Audra, who is literally Broadway Royalty....doesn't mean she's right for every role. I saw Angela Lansbury, and she may be my favorite.....but I loved Patti, Bette, and most recently....Tyne Daly. Mama Rose is not really a role for singers, but for actors who sing. There should not be head voice, even a great head voice..Just the opinion of an old Broadway kid( my first show was Fiddler in "66".)
@maestromuffin1 “most recently Tyne Daly”?! Do you own a Time Machine? Or a Tyne Machine? (Oof 🤦🏻♂️) I don’t know if I agree with you that the role is for an actor who sings. Because when I think of Ethel think of her more as a singer first. But I 100% agree that the head voice should be avoided. I’m really curious to know what Audra would have sounded like if she had chosen to sing the songs in the original key and never used her head voice at all.
I agree with your review. This Gypsy didn't work and the color casting was very confusing. What were they thinking when the white boys replaced the black boys? There is also no chemistry among the performers. I didn't see Ethel or Angela on Broadway, but I did seen Tyne, Linda, Patti and Bernadette. Comparatively, this production is the weakest and Audra is simply miscast. She can't belt the high notes, which is why she goes into a thin acoustically flat head voice. The result is a lackluster performance devoid of the character's brassiness and gusto. My favorite Rose, and production, is still the Bernadette version. You can see it for free on TH-cam, so no need to waste your money on this. Such a shame, because Gypsy is one of the best musicals ever. Sadly this iteration falls flat.
@dantove963 Thanks for the comment. Interesting that Bernadette is your favorite. Many didn't like her despite Bernadette beng the closest to what the actual Madame Rose looked like. Most people rave about Angela Lansbury who I never saw. I think Patti LuPone is my favorite just because she is that type of woman and she belted the hell out of it. We need someone who has seen all of the Roses to rank them!
@@MatthewHardyMusical It's just a personal thing, but to me Bernadette was the best as was the production. Tyne was amazing too, Linda and Patti not so much .
This is what happens when a new production is produced and they try to be different ,never works!
@thomashess9874 I believe you mean a new production of a classic? It is definitely a challenge. I think the Sam Mendez starring Alan Cumming was VERY successful. I don't know if you watched my year end ranking, but it's not surprising that my two lowest were revivals of classics.
JErome Robbin's work will be missed.
He was BROADWAY! (and BALLET!) Icon.
It is Mendes, not Menendez and Jerome Robbins did not direct the king and I. He only did the choreography. I have no desire to see a Rose who can’t belt. I am not surprised that the alleged colorblind casting is very confusing. This was a dumb idea to begin with.
@NickyMay16 I know I know! I stuttered when I said Mendez. But I made sure it was correct in the subtitles. Thanks for the clarification regarding Jerry. I still found the show very enjoyable despite the fact that this Rose doesn’t belt. I mean, let’s be honest, very few have a belt like Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone.
Some truth to that
The original choreography was pretty much perfect. The trenches were more effective to show the children and act aging, but I didn’t hate the new choreography there.
It's been brought to my attention that they may have involved mama Rose in that transition because they were trying to show that she was replacing the black dancers with white dancers as her daughters were growing up. It makes sense in retrospect but I was confused in the moment. I also thought those Presidential costumes were a bit outside of Mama Rose's budget. She would have probably just dressed them as sailors or other military uniforms that would have been readily available to her.
I really didn't like this new version of the kids "growing up" and especially found it weird that ALL of the little Black children turned White when they grew up.... Choices....
I've come to the realization that only June and Louise were growing up and Mama Rose was replacing the black kids with new white performers. I think that's why they had her take the prop from the kid and hand it to the adult. I'm just so used to the orgiginal staging where ALL the kids grew up. After all they are named after the cities where Mama Rose found them on their journey to Los Angeles. Otherwise they would all be named L.A.!
Yes. Seems like a Dreamgirls Cadillac Car moment with white singers taking over the song at the end of the number.
Enjoyed your review.
I saw Tyne and Bernadette. Both great in their unique way.
@SLisheron1 Wish I'd seen Tyne. I was so excited to see her in Dount and then she got ill right before previews started so I missed her. :-(
@@MatthewHardyMusical Sorry you haven't had a chance to see her. I saw her way back in the day in Call Me Madam at City Center Encores and more recently in Master Class.
I did see her in It Shoulda Been You and Mother and Sons. But neither of those were really a great vehicle for her.
I was at the opening night preview (huge Audra fan) and your review is SPOT ON and in some ways you're being a little too kind.
I also saw the Patti Lupone revival in 2008 and it was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. The direction, stage/costume design, CASTING were all brilliant and then add Patti giving the performance of a lifetime and you have one of the great Brosdway moments.
Unfortunately this revival is not even in the same universe. I feel like George C. Wolf and Camille Brown were both just phoning jt in . The staging and choregraphy lacked any imagination.
I had the EXACT same reaction to the colorblind vs. nontraditional casting choices you mentioned. And like other commentors I thought Wolfe was trying yo make some commentary on what Rose would have to do to succeed on the circuit which is also why June was biracial (and passing?) and in the scene with Mr. Grandzinger's secretary, Rose emphasizes that SHE is June's mother. I guess all of this could have been powerful, but without any additins to libretto, it all falls flat.
I thought both Louise and June were not great actreesses or performers. They both read as too young and the June overacted most of the "If mama was married" scene. It seemed like she had received no real direction. The younger June was EXCELLENT! The Louise was pretty forgettable, even after the transformation.
As a black person, I was hoping the whole cast would be black or atleast POC so i was really sad they chose to make Tulsa (forgettable), the rest of the boys, and the strippers (a highlight, as they should be!) all white.
You hit the nail on the head with Audra. She acted THE HELL out of the role and could stand next to Patti, Lansbury, Tyne, Bernadette , or the great Merman any day. But her performance was severely disminissed by her voice's inabilty to meet any of the big vocal moments on their terms. You named them perfectly. When she sang "Goodbye to blueberry pie" like "When I marry Mr. Snow", i knew her Madame Rose was going to be earthbound and incapable of really reachimg the next level. And we saw that in every big number: a big buildup with a disappointing finish. It's too bad she didnt go to a voice teacher to learn how to belt those 7 or 8 notes.
She should not win a Tony for this performance. I saw Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard the next day and she is giving a performance of a lifetime just like Patti Lupone did in Gypsy 16 years ago. Audra is not on that level in this role, very sorry to say. 😢
I saw Patti. She was born to play that role! Tyne was great too. I love Bernadette but I thought she was miscast.
@thrillingopera8125 Thank you for this insightful comment! I agree with most of what you wrote. That said, I did enjoy Jordan as June-despite the overacting. I took it as June being a bit of a dramatic diva. I also wouldn’t suggest that any of the creatives were “phoning it in” (them’s fighting words!). I believe the creatives were focusing on what it would be like for a Black woman existing in this world.
After all, it’s a musical fable, so we can suspend disbelief and pretend that Rose could have achieved as much success as she did-even though, realistically, there’s NO WAY a woman of color could have gotten away with this during that time period. She would have been killed! However, you’re correct that the text doesn’t fully support this approach, which explains the confusion I had about the casting.
As for Tony picks, I’m going to withhold mine for a few months until I see which way the winds are blowing. And yes, I always try to err on the side of being nice. Everyone is working hard, and theater ain’t easy!
@jenniferlapidus2229 100%!! Patti IS Madame Rose. They are a very similar personalities so the role was perfect for her. And Laura Benanti! I think the best Louise I've seen.
@@MatthewHardyMusicalYes Laura Benanti was the best Gypsy Rose Lee I ever saw out of 3 productions of "Gypsy" I saw. Patti was amazing in a glorious production but Tyne is the most memorable Mama Rose for me but I did see her 3 times! Bernadette was so miscast in a dreary production I am sad to say. You talk about being miscast and not being able to hit the notes... Well that was Bernadette when I saw her. It was painful to see after the great Tyne Daley who owned that role.
Ironically, Bernadette was probably the one broadway actress who was closest to the real Rose Havock in size. Apparantly, she was a small woman.
ABA?..BBA?..what you talkin bout Willis?
LOL I was afraid that might be confusing. Songs are generally divided into 8 bar sections, So an AABA song means one 8 bar "A'" melody is repeated twice then a different 8 bar "B" melody gives us a break before coming back to a final "A" melody. Let's look at Small World from Gypsy -
A1
Funny, you're a stranger who's come here,
Come from another town.
Funny, I'm a stranger myself here.
Small world, isn't it?
A2
Funny, you're a man who goes traveling
Rather than settling down.
Funny, 'cause I'd love to go traveling.
Small world, isn't it?
B (new melody)
We have so much in common,
It's a phenomenon.
We could pool our resources
By joining forces from now on.
A3 (with a tag to finish)
Lucky, you're a man who likes children.
That's an important sign.
Lucky, I'm a woman with children.
Small world, isn't it?
Funny, isn't it small and funny and fine?
@ Thank you for the explanation.. I'd have to read it several times to get it.. Love your videos..🥰.. I saw Patti in it, but my favorite is Bette’s.. It's on my local channel all the time…Barbra talked about having an opportunity, but Sondheim kept putting her off.. Would have been an interesting take..👌🏾… I love Patti so much in general.. I saw her and Mandy in Evita 4 times..when Broadway was affordable..🤭
Thanks for watching! When Broadway was affordable? LONG time ago! LOL
Matthew let’s not forget Sondheim s lyrics
How could I? But if I opened that can of worms the video would have been an hour long! I was just thinking today how Sondheim purposely mis-stressed "decade" to show that the lyrics were written by Mama Rose. But then he couldn't help himself and wrote "She has a man cow, A tan cow, Who can cow her with a glance." Which is definitely a Sondheim lyric and NOT a mama rose lyric. Still...gotta LOVE.
@ in the movie version it’s a blue cow a new cow named Caroline.
@warrencroom7621 For the second verse?
Moo cow a new cow named Caroline
@warrencroom7621 I did not know this! I wonder if it was changed because Sondheim realized that he was getting too fancy.
Dear Sir,
First time viewer, first time commenter, obviously, seeking TH-cam reviews on Audra’s Gypsy, hence I find you.
One wonders which performance of Gypsy you attended, upon which you based your remarks. When I stumbled across your clip, it was marked 20 hours ago … and here I am, Monday, December 16, late in the evening, seized by one particular reference that you make.
In your sector labeled “Thoughts on Louise’s journey,” you lament that the crowd work GRL extemporizes eventually spots a gentlemen seated in the mezzanine, whom she points out for his baldness … dismaying you, it seems, because said bald man was not seated below in the orchestra.
If one may be so bold as to inquire: Were you, perchance, in attendance at the Saturday matinee December 14th?
If you were, I am, in all honesty, in all sincerity, in all integrity, the bald man she was addressing. My seat was front row mezzanine on the aisle to the left - my bald dome, freshly shaved, gleaming brilliantly for her to notice as she scanned the front row above, finally setting sights on me. Looking, directly, at me.
I have witnesses.
Since then - me being me - I have made much too much of it, but let’s face it, when does a fellow from Philadelphia well into his sixties get singled out in the course of a Broadway show? Self-centeredness aside, I invite you to think - much as the orchestra may have missed, can you allow that the mezzanine delighted in the attention, albeit from a tired old man from Philadelphia?
It was thrilling, startling, so fleeting as not to be believed, yet here I am, defending the lived experience of what you may think a misfire.
Just saying.
Apart from that, I agree in earnest with every point raised in your review (even were I to be so blunt as to suggest Audra is, fundamentally, not right for the part).
And oh, please, hear me on this: In a show that traffics in naughtiness, I find nothing naughtier than (in past viewings) the moment GRL professes she had been “learning” French/Greek … which took me a number of years to understand, and when I did I was shocked, SHOCKED. Very much disappointed that this line was edited out of the current version. I wonder why.
Please know that I could not have enjoyed your review more, however wounded I may have felt at being the bald man who drew attention away from the orchestra.
My sincerest, best wishes to you for the season.
Brian Fauth
Phildelphia
@brianfauth143 Hey Brian! I WAS at the Saturday Matinee! LOL Small world isn't it? :-) You must have a very bright shiny head to catch Joy's eye from so far away. I love that you had that interactive moment in the theater! I think my comment was more about Joy lacking the "stand up comic" energy that allows us to see GRL coming into her own as a performer. If she chooses someone in the Orchestra then everyone in the theater can see who she is talking to and it becomes funnier. So next time you see Gysy sit down front in the orchestra! :-) In the Patti Lupone revival, Laura Benanti was so great in this scene, but if you've seen Laura in any of her solo shows you know that she is terrific at stand up. I thought the French and Greek lines were in there. She speaks French when she comes out and then says she's also been studying greek and that's how she learned the word "ecdysiast". I don't believe they changed any of the Arthur Laurents script.
I will pass on this one.
I think it's miscast.
Loved Angela and Tyne and Betty Buckley. Did not like Bernadette or Imelda. Wish Liza could of played Rose on Broadway, such a loss. Maybe a version with Lady Gaga is coming ?
@NFNJP Vocally not the ideal casting but I will see anything that Audra is in because I love watching great actors on stage even if they are not perfect for the role. I really wonder what Audra would sound like if she chose to sing the songs in the lower keys and just stay in her chest voice. It's not like Angela Lansbury has a big belt. In fact, of all the broadway Roses, she sang Rose's turn in the lowest key and Audra sang it in the highest - half an octave higher than Angela! I'm posting a tangent talk video about this on Thursday.
I saw this production recently and I thought Audras vocal performance in the dramatic numbers was thrilling. There was a dangerous edge to her vocal placement that had me gripping my seat in fear she might crack or damage her voice but in the best way possible to convey her emotions. I think the production missed opportunities to say and do more with the race elements. It felt like a white staging with black actors.
Interesting! Like I mentioned in my review it's dangerous to stray too far when you're working with a classic like Gypsy that has always been done one way. I think the Director and Choreographer were being careful to not go too far afield. I would have loved to see an all black production. I really want to see eh strippers played by women of color! I'd be really curious to hear Audra sing those songs in the lower keys and not use her head voice at all.
It was a disappointment. Great performers but miscast. Audra’s voice is wrong for the role. She’s a great actor but fails to deliver the final number. Such a shame. The staging and choreography fails too. Sadly it sure isn’t in the same class as the classic productions.
@privateprivate-SO4IF Well, they tried something new! Still, even a less than perfect production of gypsy is still a production of gypsy and I will be there because I love this show so much!
I played Electra.
Yes! I'm sure you were electrifying
Nobody like Jerome Robbins or Bernadette peters on Broadway
That change sounds really awkward, like that isn't what color blind is or I'm missing something, it sounds like segregation.
Would the director have turned away dancers of Mexican origin or East Asians if they auditioned? Can casting directors and agents legally say we're only casting blacks right now. No White or Asian Mid-Easterners or White or Taino Puerto Ricans need submit an audition application? I'm sure they do just not as clearly and unambiguously
@@keouine As far as casting minorities its not that big of a deal, what qualifies as a minority gets kind of strange, as there was the "one drop" rule for segregation and black people, and you will find that people with still very little black blood grew up in black culture and would be more likely to identify as black, not sure how Hispanic/Latin culture words, because it include black and white, like Marco Rubio is definitely white. The government doesn't include half Asians as anything, this includes the continent of Asia minus Slavs like Russia, Ukraine, etc. I do get really confused because its fine if Tilda Swinton takes an Asian male role, so including 2nd wave feminism works somehow too? I don't know, its all really arbitrary tbh.
@@keouine I guess I should add something else, Nicholas Christopher and his brother Jonathan are Bermudan, I am fairly sure they qualify as black, and Nicholas is quite the up and coming playing Pirelli, Sweeney, Jelly, and Seymour in Little Shop, I am fairly sure he is the first in some of those, but I have never heard him billed as "first black Seymour". I would consider the cast for Sweeney color blind, Jordan Fisher was Anthony, Joanna a white Latina, beggar woman E Asian, Nicholas Pirelli/Sweeney alt.
@Gee-xb7rt I did come to the realization after I recorded this video that I think the intention of the creative team was to do non-traditional and not color blind. I misunderstood the black children turning into white adults as being color bind, but I think the idea is that Mama Rose replaced them to appeal to a white audience as they became more successful.
@keouine It has been brought to my attention that Lili Thomas who plays Mazeppa is Asian. BUT to answer your question, yes casting is one of the places where you can deny people work based on their race, gender, age and disability. No one would be turned away from an open call. But they might "type" actors out which is really the same thing. Casting calls aren't so explicit but actors and agents know how to read between the lines so that they don't waste their time submitting talent who the creative team is uninterested in casting. This idea that you can only play what you are or write from a lived experience has gotten a little ridiculous but I hope it calms down as there becomes more representation for minorities and everything levels out.
👍
Team Angela
Did you see her play Rose?
@@dorislachat9581 She was so very good!! I loved her as Rose!!
@@MatthewHardyMusical Indeed I did, Denver 1974 on her pre-Broadway tour. I also saw her in Sweeney, San Francisco 1981.
jeally
@@MatthewHardyMusical I also saw Marlene Dietrich in '71.
It's not a strip club--it's a burlesque house.
Yes, that's what I tell my mother. :-)
Thanks for this review. No one should feel obligated to agree with my tiny and inconsequential opinions, but these whacky broadway revisions and screwy casting decisions leave me cold. Why shoehorn such an enormous talent into such an ill-fitting role? Am I alone in this?
@morph628 Lol. Read the comments. Clearly you’re not alone! I’m fine with it, but I always feel for people who have never seen the show before because I feel like they’re not getting the clearest version of the show. I’m looking at you, John Doyle.
You lost me at AABC songs .... huh?
@Gerry1of1 Sorry! I got technical there for a minute. You're not the first one to comment. Songs are generally divided into 8 bar sections, So an AABA song means one 8 bar "A'" melody is repeated twice then a different 8 bar "B" melody gives us a break before coming back to a final "A" melody. Let's look at Small World from Gypsy -
A1
Funny, you're a stranger who's come here,
Come from another town.
Funny, I'm a stranger myself here.
Small world, isn't it?
A2
Funny, you're a man who goes traveling
Rather than settling down.
Funny, 'cause I'd love to go traveling.
Small world, isn't it?
B (new melody)
We have so much in common,
It's a phenomenon.
We could pool our resources
By joining forces from now on.
A3 (with a tag to finish)
Lucky, you're a man who likes children.
That's an important sign.
Lucky, I'm a woman with children.
Small world, isn't it?
Funny, isn't it small and funny and fine?
Since you asked INDULDGE ME in the thumbnail, I will: You spelled it wrong.
Thank you for pointing that out! I do these so fast that I make lots of mistakes. I have fixed it!
Savviest review I've heard....(I have no interest. Audra is wrong).
@Vino-bv5ic no interest whatsoever? I knew going in that vocally she would not be ideal, but she’s such a tremendous actress that I was able to look past that. Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the review.
Early Preview reviews are not what you see in the final show. Sorry you were dazed and confused, but it seems to me that every review now from the opening is positive and not confusing. There shouldn’t be an opinion like yours very close to the shows opening because that’s not the final show that’s my only point you I’m sorry you didn’t like her version. That’s all on you.
@JudiRadin Thanks for your comment! I typically review press previews, and if it’s not, I make that clear in the video. For Gypsy, I saw both the second preview and the first press preview, so I experienced the same version many critics based their reviews on. I loved Audra as Rose and enjoyed the show overall, though I was initially confused by some of the non-traditional casting choices, which I’ve come to better understand through discussions here. My goal is always to highlight what I loved and what left me puzzled-never to discourage anyone from seeing a production. This one is absolutely worth seeing!
Sunset Boulevard and Nicole; it's ALL Great.
This; Audra is great, the rest is Soooo poor.
I cut this from my review but I really liked Danny Burstein as Herbie and Jordan Tyson as June. And the 3 strippers are great! But it's really difficult to compare Sunset to Gypsy because they're such different interpretations. I think that Sunset will win the best revival Tony over Gypsy because it's doing something more daring. The question is who will win best actress in a musical?
I go to see the sets. I want them to fly and slide.....that's the magic of Broadway. I killed two birds with one stone Thurs night.....Audra and Danny. I can get past all that . They are playing characters. My one fault....the strip....too quick and not spectacular enoungh. It was rushed. Audra, like Tyne acted the hell out of the part, so it made up for it!
Thanks for the comment. I liked the sets that weren't part of the Vaudeville act. Especially loved Gransinger's office with the wood and Tiffany inspired glass. I agree. I wanted a lot more from the strip. This is Louise's big moment, let her have it!
I watched the show on its third night of previews, and I didn't like it. Great acting all round but the production felt dated. And I was really hoping that Audra would belt out those famous songs.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Yes, I think Laura Benanti's was perfect!
I hate preview reviews
@JudiRadin I saw the first press preview. The show had been frozen.
Being a director, having been in GYPSY (Yonkers) under the direction of Richard Sabellico (Yonkers in Lansbury cast/producer Daly), I have high standards for the show and you hit on all the key points that would have been focusing on. The one that hit me the hardest was the choreography. I'm sorry but A CHORUS LINE isn't A CHORUS LINE without Bennett's choreography just as HAIRSPRAY wouldn't be HAIRSPRAY without Tracy's signature wig just as Dolly wouldn't be Dolly coming down the steps of the Harmonia Gardens in anything but a red (sorry Barbra). Somethings ya' just don't mess with. Second, when I saw the final bows, here on TH-cam, I thought, 'Okay, so they're approaching this as a black troupe also having to deal with racism being in the vaudeville circuits. Clever and cool and easy to work ... although I was having difficulty dealing with this being a "fable" based on actual historical people. But, like you say, it sounds like they made it confusing. And, yes, I had concerns over the belter-vs-lyrical voice. I've seen EVITA too many times in which Eva wasn't portrayed by a belter. It just doesn't work for me. All of these things would turn me off about the show but ... who can resist Audra? I doubt I'll get the opportunity to see this production (I could travel to Paris on what it costs to see a two/three hour B'way show, any more) but, forced to choose, I wouldn't hesitate to go see this to see Audra.
Thanks for the post.
Love Richard Sabellico! I used to take his song study class back in the day. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding the choreography. For heavy dance shows like West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Cats etc. the dance really becomes part of the show in a similar way the music and lyrics do. BUT Gypsy isn't' a dance heavy show, so I think there is more room for reinterpretation of the dance sequences. I only missed the Robbins choreography/direction when what was on stage was lacking. I REALLY missed Louise taking off her clothes and then using the curtain as a cover up as she walks across the stage. It's an iconic moment that you have to come up with something really spectacular to make us forget about it.
@@MatthewHardyMusical True! That's another restriction I have in regard to directing the show (and 42ND STREET, for that matter). It would HAVE to have that stage curtain so few newer theaters afford.
As for Gypsy choreography, I have a lot of respect for you and am happy to agree to disagree. It's just one of my own personal little quirks. Perhaps I just like to see how much I remember Robbins' choreography. Funny, I can seldom remember the lines I had in shows like GYPSY and A CHORUS LINE but I can always remember the choreography.
I was working a gate at DFW Airport in the mid-to-late 90s and when I was looking at the list of passengers yet to board, I saw that Richard had arrived on a late inbound flight. I anxiously awaited his arrival but, because he was in a hurry, regretted that we only had a few moments to catch up. He was quite flustered, as late passengers tend to be, but it was good to see him. I doubt he'd even remember me, these days.
I haven't seen him for ages either. I don't know what he's been up to. He's a character. :-) Thanks for the comments and for watching my little videos! And now a 5-6-7-8!
Color blind or nontraditional? Seems overthinking. Is the story about race? If not, trying to decide whether it’s colorblind or nontraditional seems to be a diversion that’s irrelevant and racist.
Overthinking is my brand! I think this production was trying to make it about race, hence all the comments regarding the casting. Thanks for the comment!
I hate colorblind casting. I want to escape into a show and not start thinking about race. Let's cast people that match the character descriptions please. If you want a character to be black, fine, but let's not have them change in the middle to a different race, or have them play George Washington. i don't want a white Mohammad Ali. I shouldn't have to think about it during a play.
After recording the review I have come to the realization that the intention may have been non traditional casting and that Mama Rose replaced the black chorus boys with white boys as the act became more successful. But I missed that when watching the show. Others have said they understood that was what was going on. Honestly I would have been fine if they just cast everyone as black like they did with Pearl Bailey in Hello Dolly. Then we don't have to think about how the racism of the time would be affecting the narrative. Thanks for the comment!
Well, historically white actors have been portraying Black, Latino, and Asian actors for decades. So, let's not get too precious on this casting. The hypocrisy from your people is unreal.
@AR36-45 Hypocrisy is an American institution. Thanks for the comment!
Where in the script does it say the characters are white? It’s also called “a musical fable”.
@@bobbybubby7977 The characters don't have to be anything, but when you change races in the middle of the show, someone is going to notice.