Gypsy is a grand, brilliant affair. Then and now and forever. And Toby’s Dinner Theatre is giving it a first class production.
This is the story of Rose (Cathy Mundy). The precursor to the backstage moms of today. The first mama to be immortalized for her gloriously, over-the-top, selfish, crazy, singular mindset: make my child a star. The child here is June (Louisa Tringali), backed by her demure older sister Louise (MaryKate Brouillet). As you can imagine, or likely already know, Rose pushes her girls from stage to stage, designing routines that come to her in dreams (think newsboys and cows). She’s had three husbands and along the way catches the eye of Herbie (David Bosley-Reynolds), who trails her like a love-broke fool, agreeing to represent the girls and their merry band of boys, led by Tulsa (Shiloh Orr). They trudge across America, some time during the 1920s and the Great Depression, seeking a place on the Orpheum Circuit in the dying days of vaudeville until June, fed up and nearly grown, runs off. That leaves Louise to lead the revamped show until she finds herself fan dancing in burlesque.
Gypsy, which premiered in 1959 and became a film in 1962, is based on the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee who, for a time, was America’s number one stripper, having imbued the shedding of clothes with smarts and class. She really did have a little sister named June Havoc, who became an actress, and an overbearing stage mom-ager named Rose who may have killed another woman. The drama. No wonder this became a musical—a delicious one, at that, often described as America’s greatest. Thanks in large part to the complex Rose.[ezcol_1third]
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Gypsy
closes March 17, 2019
Details and tickets
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And, Cathy Mundy as Rose is Toby’s triumph. Mundy bites into the role like she’s shredding steel with her bare teeth. Her voice—supremely nuanced—is a smokestack of verve that carries nearly every song and gives Rose the brash assurance of a million men, all the way to the end when she finally admits she did it for herself. Just because she wanted to be noticed. Singing “Rose’s Turn,” she takes center stage demanding the accolades she feels she’s owed as lights flash her name all around.
Brouillet, as Louise, plays a girl who comes into her own in a surprising way—transforming from child to sex symbol in mere seconds during “Let Me Entertain You / Gypsy Strip Routine,” a darkly twisted turning of the song “May We Entertain You” from her and June’s childhood act. It is also here that her full voice, which has been mostly playing second fiddle to June and Rose (mirroring her role as third wheel in the family), is finally unleashed, channeling both charm and innocence in a sultry mix.
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Tringali is superb as well—as are the “baby” versions of June and Louise—while Bosley-Reynolds is a bear of a man, giving Herbie a sweet sensitivity Rose does not deserve. Orr shines in an exquisite rendition of “All I Need is the Girl,” which is choreography at its best. Elegant. Romantic. Classic.
And then there are the hardened strippers—Mazeppa (Tina Marie DeSimone), Electra (Heather Beck), and Tessie Tura (Elizabeth Rayca). A trio of ladies that bestow Louise with well-intentioned (if slightly inappropriate) advice: “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.” Funny and a shade shy of raunchy, DeSimone wielding a trumpet with flare buoys the whole shebang in Act II. Moments like this—and the cow that turns up (and never really leaves) in Act I—keep the show from sinking into insurmountable sadness, as this is a family full of needy, desperate people. Which makes sense with Rose at the helm. Always hustling. Always dramatizing. Always guilt tripping. Always needing to be seen and never noticing. Right until the end, when Louise—now fully Gypsy Rose Lee—offers her mother understanding, and companionship, despite everything.
As always, I like to take a moment to marvel at the amazing way in which Toby’s pulls it off. Gypsy is a smooth operation, with streamlined set pieces and direction that keep sightlines clear. All the better to see Rose. They’ve also got a big ensemble that comes and goes seamlessly and performs flawlessly in every sequence.
Gypsy Rose Lee may have faded from public recognition, but her legacy is alive with Gypsy at Toby’s Dinner Theatre.
Gypsy . Book by Arthur Laurents . Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Toby Orenstein and Mark Minnick. Suggested by the memoires of Gypsy Rose Lee. Choreographed by Mark Minnick. Music Directed by Ross Scott Rawlings. Featuring: Cathy Mundy, MaryKate Brouillet, David Bosley Reynolds, Louis Tringali, Nina Brothers/Camden Lippert, Sophie Crossland/Maddie Ellinghaus, Shiloh Orr, Justin Calhoun, AJ Whittenberger, James Mernin, Elizabeth Rayca, Tina Marie DeSimone, Heather Beck, Jeffrey Shankle, Russell Sunday, Robert Biedermann, David James, Coby Kay Callahan, Maggie Dransfield, Amanda Kaplan, Santina Maiolatesi, Hannah Dash, Jonah Hale, Nathan Pham, Jackson Smith, Cooper Trump, Brooke Webster, and Dudley Foley/Daisy Sunday. Orchestra: Ross Scott Rawlings, Greg Knauf, Lisa Mattia, Reenie Codelka, Ann Prizzi, Nathan Scavilla, Mike Barber, Tony Neenan, Steve Haaser, Katie Kellert, Charlene McDaniel, Patrick Crossland, Jay Ellis, Dan Pendley, Bob LaForce, and Glenn Scimonelli. Production: David A. Hopkins, Scenic Designer; Lynn Joslin, Lighting Designer; Janine Sunday, Costume Designer; Mark Smedley, Sound Designer; Emily Thompson, Technical Director; John Pantazis, Assistant Technical Director; Amy Kaplan, Properties and Set Dressings Coordinator; Gaby Castillo, Assistant Properties Coordinator; Rachel Kemp and Shiloh Orr, Dance Captains; Coleen M. Foley and Heather Williams, Light Board Operators; John Pantazis and Emily Thompson, Sound Board Operator; Gaby Castillo, Jacob Hale, Andre Hinds, and Brian Wensus—Running Crew; Megan Henderson, Carrie Seidman, and Mary Quinn—Wardrobe Assistants; Jayson Kueberth, Wig Designer; and Andrew Wilkinson, Stage Manager. Production Stage Manager, Kate Wackerle.
