AUDRA GYPSY Reviews- Page 20

[frankiec]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 6:08pm

I was at the matinee. All principals were in. The energy was palpable in the audience. Audra sang and acted the hell out of Mama Rose! You would never know this was her first show back after being ill. HUGE standing ovation after Rose’s Turn. And her book scenes are so layered. Just wow. 

[Strange Lupone]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 6:14pm

Auggie27 said: "Anyone at the matinee? To return to the reason we’ve been on this board for 20+ years."

I was there. Audra was in sensational voice and is playing the f*ck out of the role. She’s very nuanced and VERY funny. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 6:22pm

Curious to know if any kind of speech was made at the curtain call?

[frankiec]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 6:27pm

Nothing at curtain call. The word from merch is that half the cast was sick. So was half the house staff apparently. 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 6:40pm

I saw this review of today's show on social media: "I'll engrave the Tony myself"

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 9:02pm

frankiec said: "Nothing at curtain call. The word from merch is that half the cast was sick. So was half the house staff apparently."

as well as crew & musicians. there was definitely a bug going around the Majestic theater this week.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 9:40pm

I'm reminded of the MRS. DOUBTFIRE opening post-Covid where everyone got sick afterwards. (they were one of the few shows that held an opening night party that fall)

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 9:54pm

frankiec said: "You would never know this was her first show back after being ill. HUGE standing ovation after Rose’s Turn. And her book scenes are so layered. Just wow."

I was at the Sunday 12/22 performance. TBH, you would never know that was her last show while being sick. We were all flabbergasted when we later heard about her cold. It was like watching someone win a marathon and then finding out they had a broken foot.
 

Ditto to your reaction. Just wow.

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/29/24 at 10:17pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I'm reminded of the MRS. DOUBTFIRE opening post-Covidwhere everyonegot sick afterwards. (they were one of the few shows that held an opening nightparty that fall)"

Yup I remember that. Sounds like the opening night party was a spreader event.

For next few years, I doubt we’ll have an opening night party a few days before the highest grossing week on Broadway.

[Penna2]

Posted: 12/30/24 at 1:07am

Linda Lavin Dies 12/29/24

RIP.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 12/30/24 at 4:03pm

Sorry if this has already been covered, but can someone share what vignettes are included in the strip in this production?  It's different in every cast recording, and I know it's changed in the script over time.  For my money, the more, the better - make it a 10-min sequence where we actually get to see the transformation from Louise into Gypsy Rose Lee, which frankly comes out of nowhere in the show.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/1/25 at 11:30pm

Went back for the third time tonight.

The energy in the room was palpable and all cylinders were on fire - well - most of them.

The production is still flawed in that Wolfe’s approach of “let the characters’ race speak for itself” is still a dud unfortunately and that hasn’t changed from previews. 

AUDRA HAS FINALLY NAILED HER VOCAL MIX! And because she did, she was more terrifying in a soul-baring way. This was the first time I thought her “Rose’s Turn” was an EVENT. 

Burstein, Tyson, and especially Margherita remain very strong.

Joy Woods…sigh…I still don’t understand what everyone sees in her. Everyone else had so much growth during previews and she just remains a vocally flat cardboard cutout of a person until she’s pushed into stripping and it’s a total 180 that more whiplash-inducing than a character arc. 

While I am inclined to partly blame Wolfe’s direction, he can only do so much. Sometimes, your really can’t turn a no talent ox into to a star.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/1/25 at 11:44pm

I was there tonight as well and agree pretty much 100% with what was just said above. I think I said early on that Audra needs time to find her Rose and she absolutely has and I find her incredible. If I were a Tony voter this year, this is who my vote would be going to. 

As for Joy Woods, I agree with what you said above but for me, I still find her post-strip to be the same. Shes giving more emotion but compared to the nothingness of her character for 2/3 of the show, I guess you can say it’s better? I don’t know. And I have no idea if the direction is impeding her performance or not but it just doesn’t ever work, for me. 

Jordan Tyson’s June though continues to WOW me. Talk about a damn star. The things she’s found to do amaze me. 
 

[pupscotch]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 8:42am

Saw this last night and WOW, Audra was truly sensational. Obviously her voice is phenomenal but she owned this role and her Rose’s Turn was something to behold.

That said, I thought Burstein was surprisingly weak. Wonder if it was just an off night for him since he’s normally someone I love to see on stage but he was distractingly bad in his first scene. He settled in after that but I never thought he was great.

[east side story]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 9:30am

Saw this about a week before opening, and agree with many of these points. Burstein was surprisingly hollow, but then I remembered I felt the same way about him in Cabaret 10 years ago. Herbie is a nothing burger if the actor playing him is not making a meal of what is on the page. Woods does not have enough gas in the tank to deliver on Louise’s arc. It’s just not there. I would have also loved if Wolfe trimmed a few minutes off the run time. Many of the scene transitions felt very clunky to me. And the car during the Some People reprise? You have Louise’s backup dancer’s wearing unitards from Asos, but spent money on a car for 45 seconds of stage time? In any event, any production of Gypsy is going to be better than most productions on the boards due to that book and score, so you are still going to experience something wonderful. But this production is simply good, not great. I wish Audra had a stronger production around her because she is remarkable, as always.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 9:48am

And I think that’s where I finally landed at also, with this production. it succeeds because of Audra and in spite of most other things around her. Obviously any success of this show lives or dies on its Rose but I don’t remember ever seeing it done where so much around the leading lady is as weak as I found this. 

So yeah, an exceptionally uneven production that’s bolstered by and made unmissable by its Rose. 

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 11:29am

east side story said: "Saw this about a week before opening, and agree with many of these points. Burstein was surprisingly hollow, but then I remembered I felt the same way about him in Cabaret 10 years ago. Herbie is a nothing burger if the actor playing him is not making a meal of what is on the page. Woods does not have enough gas in the tank to deliver on Louise’s arc. It’s just not there. I would have also loved if Wolfe trimmed a few minutes off the run time. Many of the scene transitions felt very clunky to me. And the car during the Some People reprise? You have Louise’s backup dancer’s wearing unitards from Asos, but spent money on a car for 45 seconds of stage time? In any event, any production of Gypsy is going to be better than most productions on the boards due to that book and score, so you are still going to experience something wonderful. But this production is simply good, not great. I wish Audra had a stronger production around her because she is remarkable, as always."

THIS.  And I have felt this way about Burstein in just about everything.  Even his Tevye felt empty of anything.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 12:16pm

It’s interesting to read the responses to the Met’s AIDA (directed by Michael Mayer), in which a sick tenor went on for opening night and they’re being berated in the press for not sending on an understudy instead. (Peter Gelb, head honcho of the Met, even went so far as to make an announcement at intermission that he was unwell but would be continuing with the performance.)

A little off topic for this thread I know, but it’s the Broadway show most visibly impacted by illness recently.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 12:31pm

I'm intrigued to read that McDonald has made significant adjustments in her vocal mix. Those of us who aren't singers, but have ears long trained to singing actors making adjustments are curious (I can personally go back to Joan Diener's Aldonza in London when I was a teen, and she sang the role differently than on the OBC album; though I understand hers is not really a comparable). Are the mix changes more toward the operatic side of her range, or has she found more in her chest tones? Or is the comment more about the fluidity in the negotiation, finding a new synergy. Some reviews noted that the leaps between the two ends of her voice gave the character power, i.e,, when Rose self-presents in the chest voice, she's less in control. A fascinating use of a gorgeous instrument.  Anything that can be offered is appreciated. This topic - about all voices, not just this peerless star's -  never loses its relevance. 

Updated On: 1/2/25 at 12:31 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 1:11pm

Patti LuPone also changed the way she sang EVITA prior to Broadway during its pre-Broadway West Coast mini-tour. The American Premiere Cast Recording of EVITA was done prior to its Broadway premiere so LuPone sings the score like she did during this West Coast tour.  Everyone who saw LuPone on Broadway (including those who've heard those countless bootleg audio recordings) can confirm she sang the score differently on Broadway.  

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 1:22pm

Auggie27 said: "I'm intrigue to read that McDonald has made significant adjustments in her vocal mix. Those of us who aren't singers, but have ears long trained to singing actors making adjustments are curious (I can personally go back to Joan Diener's Aldonza in London when I was a teen, and she sang the role differently than on the OBC album; though I understand hers is not really a comparable). Are the mix changes more toward the operatic side of her range, or has she found more in her chest tones? Or is the comment more about the fluidity in the negotiation, finding a new synergy. Some reviews noted that the leaps between the two ends of her voice gave the character power, i.e,, when Rose self-presents in the chest voice, she's less in control. A fascinating use of a gorgeous instrument. Anything that can be offered is appreciated. This topic - about all voices, not just this peerless star's -never loses its relevance."

There is more of an appropriate balance. The first time I saw her (12/1), the leaps were jarring and that took me out during her biggest songs, because it made her Rose less believable as someone who possibly couldn’t make it as a star and so lives vicariously through her kids. This time around, she was able to push her character decisions (betrayal in particular) into her vocals and so everything landed with more ferocity.

She certainly has the range (I mean, a classically trained soprano who won a Tony for playing Billie Holliday - c’mon!). It was just a matter of working the kinks out in this massive undertaking of a score.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/2/25 at 2:45pm

Auggie27 said: "i.e,, when Rose self-presents in the chest voice, she's less in control."

Auggie - I would say it's the opposite of what you've posted (and noting that what I'm really talking about are the three big numbers - Some People, Everything's Coming Up Roses and Rose's Turn). For those three numbers, when she is using the full resonance of her chest, she is most in control. It's when she leaps to the head/mix that her emotions overtake her. That particular part of her range is unlike anyone else's I've ever encountered. It sounds on the verge of breaking at all times, but it never actually does. It's clearly well supported, but it sounds dangerous. 

[George in DC]

Posted: 1/3/25 at 11:29pm

I finally got to see this. Audra is wonderful, Danny even better and Joy Woods is not which brings down the last two scenes she is in. Imagine how great this would be with a perfect Louise. I think  the production is lacking (yes George C Wolfe, a man I have admired for decades, directed a lackluster show) .  (edited)

Updated On: 1/4/25 at 11:29 PM

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 1/4/25 at 12:37am

George in DC said: "I finally got to see this. Audra is wonderful, Danny even better, but the production is lacking (yes George C Wolfe, a man I have admired for decades, directed a lackluster show) and Joy Woods is dreadful, which brings down the last two scenes she is in. Imagine how great this would be with a perfect Louise."

Calling Joy Woods dreadful is highly dramatic. Is she not the level of Louise folks are expecting, perhaps not. But she’s giving it her all and she sounds fantastic. I blame the director more than I blame the actress. 

I really don’t think we needed Gypsy. This production doesn’t give us anything new to see in the way that Sunset does. Audra is acting her wig off, but the role is simply not in her vocal pocket. 

It’s worth seeing, but overall I wouldn’t call this evocative or special in 2025.
 


 

 

[George in DC]

Posted: 1/4/25 at 11:51am

You are right, she is not dreadful, she is just bland, not very memorable. But then she is surrounded by enormous talent who outshine her in every scene.



"

 

Updated On: 1/4/25 at 11:51 AM