Good morning, and welcome to Broadway News’ Broadway Review by Brittani Samuel — our overview of reactions, recommendations and information tied to last night’s Broadway opening of “Gypsy.”
RUNDOWN
The musical “Gypsy” is an epic feat. Arthur Laurents’ revered musical follows the scavenging, tyrannical Mama Rose, whose relentless ambition drives her to push her daughters — particularly the younger June — to become vaudeville stars. Director George C. Wolfe’s current revival keeps close to the original mastery from Laurents and composer-lyricist team Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim. But with Audra McDonald (who receives cheers like that of the Beatles or LeBron) as Rose, it feels like a different show, an even deeper one.
Centering a Black family coats “Gypsy” with new colors. Everything from the Black children performing Yankee Doodle-style numbers in Uncle Jocko’s (Jacob Ming-Trent) Kiddie Show to Rose and Herbie’s (Danny Burstein) insistence on the preeminent glamour of blonde hair takes on a sharper resonance here. Rose’s obsession with making a star of June (the fair-skinned Jordan Tyson) over Louise (the brown-skinned Joy Woods) may be first and foremost about talent, sure, but boy if it doesn’t also read as a bit about shade. Notions I’ve held about Rose being a “fame monster” were dashed for a far more tragic reading — a Black woman burdened by her towering ambitions.
