AUDRA GYPSY Reviews- Page 30

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/5/25 at 4:59pm

quizking101 said: "You aren’t missing anything with Joy being out. Honestly, I’ve been 4 times and each time, she had the same dead eyes in “Little Lamb” and flat notes in “If Mamma Was Married”. The last two times,I used the latter song as my own intermission to go pee."

Woods was also my least favorite part of the evening when I went. Very low energy. 

[poppi K]

Posted: 4/8/25 at 9:04am

Saw it Sunday, Joy was out but  Shanel Baily was Fantastic, Last min stand in for Danny Burnstein was Joe Osheroff , who i thought did a Great job on short notice. Audra was Amazing as always. 1st act i thought Jordan was outstanding.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/21/25 at 3:34pm

Tiny Desk Concert with the cast is premiering tomorrow. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 9:43am

 

[EthelMae]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 11:37am

I just read on here that someone thought Ms. Woods has “dead eyes “ while performing Little Lamb. Well, I had a Rush seat down front Orchestra and at that performance, Ms. Woods had tears falling from her eyes. She got an ovation I’ve never heard for this song in prior productions I’ve seen. 

I have seen Shanel Baily twice and she is also wonderful in the role.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 11:44am

I'm sorry but hearing her sing Some People without the full orchestra further expands my distaste for her voice on these songs. :/ 

Glad some people (ha) are loving her, but it just doesn't work for me and that's ok.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 3:25pm

Watch: Audra McDonald and the Broadway Cast of Gypsy Give a Tiny Desk Concert | Playbill

 

https://playbill.com/article/watch-audra-mcdonald-and-the-broadway-cast-of-gypsy-give-a-tiny-desk-concert

[broadway86]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 3:28pm

OhHiii said: "I'm sorry but hearing her sing Some People without the full orchestra further expands my distaste for her voice on these songs. :/

Glad some people (ha) are loving her, but it just doesn't work for me and that's ok."

Agreed. Audra is a world-class vocalist, but I find it hard to believe that the songs in these keys are the best fit for her. They certainly don't sound like it.

[binau]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 3:56pm

At least we are grounded on the same thing now - for me except for the occasional creeping into a range that feels a little high (goodbyeeeee to blueberry pieeeee) I think it sounds great and powerful. Very thick, low - e.g. "got the dream but not the GUTTTSSS" "Hum Drum people I suppppppppppppose" and that last note all working very well for me. To me it doesn't sound like a sopranos singing Rodgers & Hammerstein....out of curiosity did either of you see Marin Mazzie in next to normal and did you have the same problem with her vocals too? 

[Penna2]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 3:58pm

binau said: out of curiosity did either of you see Marin Mazzie in next to normal and did you have the same problem with her vocals too?"

Marin Mazzie could sing anything IMO and sound great. 

[Mskuphantm]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 4:28pm

I agree wholeheartedly that Marin Mazzie could sing anything.  And even though she and Audra have similar ways of approaching their respective singing, Marins voice had a slightly different timbre to where her high notes while could be sung legitly could also be sung belty.  And while I have zero problems with Audra's take on this vocalization of Mama Rose, I honestly love her vocals in this,  her high notes are definitely leaning more into legit soprano than belt, which I think may actually help with a vocal turnaround to not continue be in true belt the whole night to help with vocal fatigue.   Just my opinion and my taste. 

[broadway86]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 4:32pm

binau said: "At least we are grounded on the same thing now - for me except for the occasional creeping into a range that feels a little high (goodbyeeeee to blueberry pieeeee) I think it sounds great and powerful. Very thick, low - e.g. "got the dream but not the GUTTTSSS" "Hum Drum people I suppppppppppppose" and that last note all working very well for me. To me it doesn't sound like a sopranos singing Rodgers & Hammerstein....out of curiosity did either of you see Marin Mazzie in next to normal and did you have the same problem with her vocals too?"

That's the thing, I don't understand why they didn't just lower everything to the original keys, it would sound incredible. I can't imagine what the issue was there... maybe these decisions were made for her vocal safety. Can't say for sure, but it sounds uneasy to me.

I've only heard Alice Ripley sing "Next to Normal", but I'm curious what Marin did with it.

[binau]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 5:07pm

After a couple of performances of next to normal with Marin (who also didn't get the luxury of a long rehearsal period, although I understand she did of course rehearse with Michael Grief) if I recall what they did was work a little on the keys and placement of the sounds to minimise awkward head voice legit soprano moments where they weren't dramatically called for (of course, when they WERE such as in "So Anyway" it was absolutely beautiful). 

I thought that they'd try and do the same with Audra - from the sound of Some People they might have MARGINALLY compared with an early preview I saw but for the most part they seem to have kept the choices. I think even Jesse Green's review in the NYTimes kind of references some of the jarring nature at least qualitatively by saying Most of McDonald’s keys have been raised, sometimes in mid-song!  

Will be super interested to see what translates on the cast recording. Ultimately I can accept Audra's vocals I just am a little forgiving in the couple of moments in each of the big songs where it doesn't work. Same way I guess I can manage to find a way to ignore the parts of Bernadette's voice that don't work and focus on the value otherwise there would be less to love!

 

[EthelMae]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 5:19pm

I don’t know much about music but I found this when I did a search on Google:

 

“Yes, a trained soprano can damage their voice if they only belt and don't maintain proper technique and vocal health. Belting, when done without the right support and balance, can strain the vocal cords and surrounding muscles, potentially leading to vocal fatigue, decreased control, and even damage.”

 

[Penna2]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 6:27pm

broadway86 said: 
I've only heard Alice Ripley sing "Next to Normal", but I'm curious what Marin did with it."

There are a number of videos of her singing "Next to Normal" on You Tube.

[getatme]

Posted: 4/22/25 at 7:48pm

I thought the Tiny Desk concert was overall wonderful, but I also haven't had a problem with Audra's voice on the material. I didn't go in expecting her to belt the whole thing but I think the balance she strikes is great. It's not as if her soprano is thin and lifeless, it's resonant and powerful still.

Burstein/McDonald/Woods's take on Together Wherever We go is just bursting with, for lack of a better word, joy.

I think Jordan Tyson sounded rather less than stellar in this video, however. Seems that scream belting at the top of her lungs and delivering her dialogue in an equally high pitch might be doing some harm.

[binau]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 2:26am

Something I've been thinking of: One of the very different things about the Audra revival and Patti revival in my opinion is the stature of each of the stars at the time was/is very different, which gave each production a completely different subtext. 

People may not remember this but it didn't used to be as 'cool' to like Patti AT ALL - and there was much more rivarly in the Bernadette vs Patti debates. Patti was kind of seen by some of her detractors at the time as this distasteful belter who couldn't articulate her lyrics properly and didn't really have subtly in her acting. Bernadette was a darling of theatre lovers, her Gypsy practically bestowed upon her with the prestigious privilege of having Sam Mendes direct her fresh of 'Cabaret' and 'American Beauty' (who originally chose Patti actually but Arthur Laurents blocked this in his bitter feud with Patti who wouldn't do his play because she found the pay offer 'insulting'....and recommended Bernadette to Sam Mendes instead). This would be yet another role that Bernadette 'stole' from Patti - Patti having unsuccessfully tried to replace Bernadette in Sunday (Sondheim famously complaining that Patti was belting in her audition), was up for the Witch in Into the Woods ("negotiations broke down - and then Bernadette got everything I asked for" - according to Patti's book). Allegedly complained in personal circles (according to that New York gossip forum I forget the name) that Bernadette was doing "Annie Get Your Gun" and called Trevor Nunn about starring in "A Little Night Music", who 'never called her back' (Bernadette of course replacing CZJ in the revival). I've since tried to get the gossip from some people who have worked with Patti, and someone dished that Patti has always been jealous of Bernadette's beauty and success - allegedly at one of her concerts backstage mocking Bernadette's voice when she told Patti she couldn't wait to see Patti in her show. Patti also had her embarrassing failure of being fired by ALW in "Sunset". 

While Bernadette had Gypsy practically handed to her - she had to fight against type and ultimately couldn't win everyone over. The NYTimes raved but had some mixed reviews and a mixed audience reaction (although Bernadette's Gypsy will likely run longer than Audra's and Patti's). Hilariously, Arthur Laurents himself ended up being very difficult complaining about Sam Mendes' direction during previews, reporting on having screaming matches and steering a show in a way behind the scenes that apparently was very difficult for Sam Mendes. In an interview, Bernadette's Tulsa said that Sam Mendes was annoyed that Arthur Laurents was blocking his choices - for example Sam Mendes wanted to have Bernadette's face dripping with make up and being completely ruined after "Rose's Turn" but Arthur Laurents wouldn't have it. Ultimately, the revival was met with a chilly reception for the production and the NyTimes even describes it as surprisingly pedestrian after Cabaret - but Arthur Laurents might have held it back.

This mixed reception left a gap for Patti to potentially have reason to do the role - Arthur Laurents' Patti 'ban' apparently didn't matter outside of New York and Lonny Price directed Patti in a concert version of Gypsy 'out of town'. At this stage Broadway was certainly not the expected end destination after the Bernadette revival closed something like 2-3 years earlier. Someone sent Arthur Laurents a bootleg of the three big songs "Some People", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "Rose's Turn" and he was impressed. Eventually he changed his mind and took it upon himself as a retirement project to 'right the wrongs' of the Sam Mendes production and offer to direct Patti herself in a concert version of Gypsy off-broadway at City Center. I understand Lonny Price was disappointed but accepted the fate that no one can get in the way of Arthur Laurents and Gypsy. 

You can see that unlike Bernadette, Patti was not 'handed' Gypsy she was practically fighting for it. The NyTimes gave a mixed review to Patti in her off-broadway debut, so at this point it was very unclear if a Broadway transfer would even happen - NYTimes "gave a diffuse, narcissistic performance that seemed to be watching itself in a mirror." She was undeniably Patti with an exclamation point". However, the audience reaction was generally positive. People seemed to recognise that the role fit Patti like a glove and almost no one was complaining about her vocals. Plus, the wider cast seemed to be capturing 'lightning in a bottle' in a way that was not quite there in the Mendes revival. People didn't seem to mind that the Patti production was very, very cheaply mounted - in fact it allowed people apparently to 'focus on the performances'. Arthur Laurents found extreme ways to cut costs, such as getting rid of any literal lambs and replacing them with stuffed animals. And having extremely minimal and cheap sets. 

Eventually, I believe Scott Rudin (of course) who was Arthur Laurents' 'best friend' (why is it not surprising that nasty people get along?) made the transfer to Broadway happen. Patti was very insecure about the NyTimes review - I understand at one point she didn't even want to have an opening night. In a shocking turn of events, the NYTimes gave a rave to Patti and said they'd 'eat their hat' (which I think Patti's husband if I recall told her backstage to great relief). Now, after all this Bernadette rivarly and losing out to the Sam Mendes Gypsy, after being fired from Sunset, after overcoming a previously mixed NYTimes review, Patti finally had overcome all obstacles and was in a production of 'Gypsy' that had the same kind of perfect casting you might have felt with Alice Ripley in next to normal or Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens. 

To have Patti sing "Rose's Turn" had the same kind of subtle mirroring effect of reflecting her own personal career struggles the way that Nicole Scherzinger's performance in "Sunset Boulevard" does. WELLLL, SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN IS IT MY TURN? DON'T I GET A DREAM FOR MYSELF. And it felt like a stunning achievement for Patti to defy all odds to star in this production so soon after the last revival, win a 2nd Tony award at least - IT'S BEEN 29 YEARS she screamed as the Tony band tried to play her out (Patti says publicly she believed she deserved to win for Sweeney and Anything Goes). 

Audra's Gypsy is much more like Bernadette's Gypsy than Patti's Gypsy. She wants to do the role after Gavin Creel suggested she do it at a social occasion - and apparently can find the best in the business to mount a lavish revival straight on Broadway to great expense around her. She is at the peak of career respect and achievement. However, she DOES have to fight against vocal type which she knows and acknowledges is a stress (in the recent George Clooney interview).

HOWEVER, when Audra sings "WELLLLL SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN IS IT MY TURN" it doesn't really have the same effect as Patti's. In a strange way, if would take losing the Tony for Audra's Rose to have this kind of subtext. 

The last thing I'll say is that the public stories for how each actress became interested to do the role is completely different. Bernadette has always known she wanted to play the role and wanted to make it happen. She was in the national tour of Gypsy and described hearing the Rose sing "Some People" as a child and wanted to do it. She gave an 'audition' of Some People at Carnegie Hall (with much greater vocal power than what she could eventually achieve in the show because her voice was peaking around 199 but according to the concert Director Richard J Alexander's podcast Bernadette is a 'complex' person and was very anxious backstage because she said she wanted to play the role and was afraid if she messed up the performance it would stop her doing the role. Bernadette also described the role as like going through therapy and found the experience very important for her. 

Both Patti and Audra insist that the only reason they are doing the role is because others suggested they would be good for it. You can tell by her reaction that Patti loves challenging the perception that she was desperate for the role and her ego much prefers the narrative (which I'm sure is likely the reality but still) that she only did the role because others could see her immense talent meant she HAD to do the role and that it was practically forced upon her because the world just had to see it!111.

The backstage stories behind 'Gypsy' are part of the amazing saga and legacy of this show!

Updated On: 4/25/25 at 02:26 AM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 7:55am

Gypsy on Broadway: Trailblazing choreographer, director Camille A. Brown brings new moves to revival | abc7ny.com

 

https://abc7ny.com/post/gypsy-broadway-trailblazing-choreographer-director-camille-brown-brings-new-moves-revival/16241011/

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 8:11am

The recording is mostly really good, I think, though the "When is it my turn" section of "Rose's Turn" was more raw/desperate and powerful to me in the live performances I saw. There are a lot of nice moments often left off of recordings. I love the way Audra's performance of the dialogue section in "You'll Never Get Away From Me" sits on the orchestration, it's really haunting. 

[dan94]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 8:42am

binau said: " HOWEVER, when Audra sings "WELLLLL SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN IS IT MY TURN" it doesn't really have the same effect as Patti's. In a strange way, if would take losing the Tony for Audra's Rose to have this kind of subtext."

Absolutely shameless. After screeching every other day about how someone is trying to steal Nicole's Tony away from her, you add this bilge into what was otherwise an informative, interesting post, the kind of which are in all too short supply around here in recent memory. It begs the question - who is trying to control the narrative here? How are you not exhibiting the Exact behavior against Audra that you accuse others as perpetrating against Nicole?

You are absolutely correct though, Audra's "When is it my turn? Don't I get a dream for myself?" is utterly unlike LuPone's. This Rose is someone who never had doors opened for her and did not get to dream, because of the mere fact of who she is. The line takes on a mythic quality. It is the cry of thousands of Black Mothers who have pushed their children into worlds they did not know were possible, and the resentment that can come from the hard won battles of progress. That is the subtext you so readily assure us does not exist.

It's acting. You do not have to suffer professional setbacks to succeed at pretending. The Tony should be merely about performance, and what we are faced with is someone who has investigated every. single. line. of their show for the deepest possible meaning. This close technical work had to be done because had they brought the half assed dramaturgy exhibited in some other performances, they would have gotten their ass handed to them.

[steven22]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 8:45am

I went to see this production so early in previews and really liked it. Now that I’m listening to the cast recording, I’m itching to go back and see it again with Audra of course. And is there any truth that Heather Headley could be replacing Audra for a short run this summer? I’d have to go back for her too…

Updated On: 4/25/25 at 08:45 AM

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 8:55am

Unless this pulls some major awards (actress and revival) I don’t see this staying opened after the Tony’s 

[binau]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 9:17am

I love that we are so passionate but I think if you can’t see what the difference is between giving my personal reaction to the subtext of Rose’s Turn between Audra and Patti is based on their career positions at the time (including what the effect of a tony win might be or not for me) that is clearly put in context with a long overview of what Patti’s journey was like - and those that are literally spreading conspiracy theories, misinformation about Nicole or trying to cancel her I don’t know what else to say? The issue isn’t people trying to forward their own agendas or give their opinions the issue is the strange and dishonest ways people are going about it.  
 

And I can make my opinion on this issue clear: i thought Nicole should win; then I thought maybe 50/50 with Audra, now actually no I think it should be Nicole and I think it will go to Nicole. I can be open and transparent about this and people don’t have to agree with me. 
 

I enjoyed both performances and both are very important to me. I’ve been defending Audra’s vocals from day 1. In any other year Audra would have won for me. Not this year sadly the completion is too steep. 

Updated On: 4/25/25 at 09:17 AM

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 9:19am

Just started listening to the new recording and why does the Overture sound completely devoid of life? Listen to the difference on the Bernadette Peters recording - it's astounding. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 11:05am

dan94 said: "

The Tony should be merely about performance”

 

Sure, in theory. But it’s not even close to reality. Campaigning, reviews, money, bias, public persona and “storyline” all factor in enormously.