AUDRA GYPSY Reviews — Page 40

I finally saw this in my semi-annual trip which has just ended. Add me to the club that was disappointed by the overall experience, although there will always be things to love.

Plusses (in comparison to other Gypsy productions:

-- This was the first time I ever enjoyed All I Need is the Girl. I have always seen it as a filler to get Tulsa some air time before being told that he ran away with June. I loved the choreography and the actor playing Tulsa was the best I have ever seen.

-- I thought that Joy was the absolute best I have ever seen playing the young June. I believed Little Lamb for the first time ever. (I have always viewed All I Need and Little Lamb (along with Caroline) as the scenes to be tolerated in all productions of Gypsy, and I thought she was fine as grown-up Gypsy.

-- Audra's performance of Rose was positively ferocious. Her Rose's Turn was probably the best I have seen. She joins Angela Lansbury as my favorite Rose's Turn, with BP being the third best to me (I did not like Tyne Daly's or Linda Lavin's at all, I saw several decent stock performances that were adequate, and I missed Lupone's because, at the time, I was 'all Gypsy'ed out'..

On the other hand, I am still not sure about Audra's performance in two respects, however. In her second Act acting choices, she felt like the oldest Rose I have ever seen, something that I am probably overly sensitive to since Rose was actually about 40 - 45 years old in real life when that scene took place (If I remember correctly, she was 21 when June was born and 22 when Gypsy was born). I also thought she played her as 'very black' (her speaking voice, specifically), which re-surfaced for me the entire issue that Gypsy would never have played the theatres mentioned in the script if she were black. So the question is: can I view it as a great performance if I do not like some of the choices that she made? One other point: not once did I feel that her voice did not work for the score. Her singing was great. If anything, I would worry whether she is damaging her voice, given the ferociousness of her performance.

-- I liked the use of the passarelle judiciously, especially in that barn of a theatre.

Minusses:

-- Arguably Gypsy has the greatest overture ever. I don't think the orchestra played the overture as well as I have heard it in the past. It lacked excitement (and the theatre lights were out the entire time.

-- It just felt tired multiple times, especially in the Mr. Goldstone number, which was absolutely the worst rendition I have seen.

-- The interpolation of the Josephine Baker (I assume) reference into Let Me Entertain You was awful. I have always felt that that number comes within seconds of being too long; this time it did, buy a couple of minutes.

-- I did not like the performance of Dainty June. I am going to sound like John Simon here (remember him), but the actress seemed a little 'horsey' to me.

-- I always like Danny Burstein and I liked generally liked him in this, but I felt that his performance was a little sluggish as well...perhaps



FInally, even though I probably think this was the weakest Broadway production that I have seen, I suspect that people who have never seen Gypsy will not even notice the negatives that I have.

I was let down by this Gypsy as well. I love Audra. But I much prefer Tyne Daly's mother earth and Patti's bravura. I am in agreement with the previous poster who would give it to Jennifer Simard. But I know that is not going to happen. And yes; Audras win will always have a asterix to it for the small informed broadway niche. And who cares about the masses. They don't care about the Tonys period.

Forgive me everyone. But the user I am refering to does not accept private messages. But sure knows how to send them. Sutton; perhaps you should concentrate on taking care of yourself and not stirring the pot on a chat board. I forwarded your message to me to the moderator just so they have it on record. I am sure I am not the first. I do wish you well.



Happy Friday everyone. It is Tonys weekend. Lets have our strong opinions and disagreements. They should be all in fun. No one here needs hand holding. If you can dish it then you can take it. But lets try be kind to one another. And yes; I should take my own advice. Seeing Dead Outlaw in a few. Great night for some theater.

FolliesCabaret said: "SteveSanders said: "When Aaron Tveit's Tony was mentioned in another thread, some here certainly associated the asterisk with unworthy or unlikely to have won except for special conditions."

Which I also find unfair, not only because 60% of the voting committee had to vote for him to win (it could have gone to nobody!) Butalso, who was going to win against him? Issac Cole Powell? Robert Joy? Chris McCarrell?Daniel J. Watts? I don't believe anybody should have an asterisknext to their Tony win, but some people act like there was this mammoth, magical, fantastic leading male in a musical performance that Covidcut short or something. Unless I'm genuinely misremembering, who else could have possibly won this, even with competition?"

Yes, I thought Powell was the early frontrunner whose chances were cut short by covid (and the fact that the opening was pushed back due to his injury in previews).

poisonivy2 said: "I think Audra was really good acting-wise. It's the vocals I found weird. The other night I heard Lea sing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and the approach was so much more natural than Audra's operatic soprano voice."

I agree about Lea's rendition, beautifully sung and acted - hopeful...trying to convince herself as much as Louise and Herbie (even if not present on stage).

I'll be kind of relieved the Tony's are over. Whoever wins, wins and they'll be deserving. But this campaign has been super-toxic.

I'm glad I never took the time to do an in-depth take on why I appreciated the production and have loved watching Audra's performance, which is very specific to it, change over the course of the season. I'm aware that this is not an airport and I don't need to announce my departure, but every time I've opened this thread the production is only being discussed in terms barely relevant to what it is or what is being achieved (or not, to some) at the Majestic. Yawn.

poisonivy2 said: "I'll be kind of relieved the Tony's are over. Whoever wins, wins and they'll be deserving. But this campaign has been super-toxic."

I agree with you. Whoever wins WILL be deserving and I wish we could focus more on the art than all of the politics/emotion.

Scarywarhol said: "I'm glad I never took the time to do an in-depth take on why I appreciated the production and have loved watching Audra's performance, which is very specific to it, change over the course of the season. I'm aware that this is not an airport and I don't need to announce my departure, but every time I've opened this thread the production is only being discussed in terms barely relevant to what it is or what is being achieved (or not, to some) at the Majestic. Yawn."

I'd like to see this in-depth take as a fellow lover of Audra's performance!

Ugh...Audra is out of today's 6/7 matinee.

For what it’s worth, I saw the revivalin early April and was very impressed by Audra McDonald’s performance - and that of Danny Burstein. Maybe I was fooled by technique and actor’s tricks. If so, I hope more actors use them going forward. I get that some people don’t think she is vocally right for the part and, as I haven’t seen dozens of gifted actresses play the role, I can’t compare and contrast (aside from watching old videos and listening to cast recordings). But what I did see was a surprisingly nuanced Rose who can be charming but who is driven by an obsession that felt more understandable and sympathetic, even if no less frightening and delusional, than I was expecting. There’s a racial subtext to this revival - sometimes very obvious, more subtle elsewhere - that McDonald leans into and worked for me.

If I had seen a bunch of otherGypsyrevivals, maybe I wouldn’t have liked this one as much. But this is the one I saw, and while I didn’t love everything about the show, I thought Audra gave a mesmerizing and memorable performance."

Actually, I was very impressed with Audra's performance, as is always the case. Her Rose's Turn was such a gut-punch, and I hope that the guttural rage doesn't damage her voice. My issue is that I didn't necessarily agree with some of her choices, which were all circled around how 'black' Rose should be. That does not mean that I don't think she was amazing. I remember reading a review several years ago where the critic disagreed with the actor's approach to the role, but still thought that he gave a mesmerizing performance. I wish I could remember the show, but I can't.

I've just replaced the names in this much easier to copy/paste than create something new :)

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/10/theater/gypsy-expected-to-survive-tony-snub.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Nk8.7Zyi.Zv_BaDqD-ie9&smid=url-share

'Gypsy' Expected to Survive Tony Snub


What happened to ''Gypsy''?

Despite the direction of George C Wolfe, a darling of the theater because of his production of ''Angels in America''; despite the star power of Audra McDonald in one of the greatest roles ever written for the musical theater; despite many reviews that proclaimed Ms. McDonald's performance a psychologically nuanced revelation, Ms. McDonald and the rest of this revival left Radio City Music Hall empty-handed after the Tony Awards Sunday night.

The musical's weak Tony showing started with the nominations; the production received only five compared with the seven received by its main competitor, ''Sunset Boulevard,'' which won the Tony for best revival.

What went wrong? Although the show suffered from bad buzz before it opened, many critics agreed that the final result was a pleasant surprise. In part the show was hampered by Ms. McDonald's absences because of illness;
But many theater veterans predicted that the awards would not affect the show's sales. They also said that Ms. McDonald's performance during the Tonys of the showstopper ''Rose's Turn'' -- which brought the audience leaping to its feet -- would sell tickets by itself. In addition Sunday night's award for best actress in a musical was a way to reward a newcomer, Nicole Scherzinger of ''Sunset Boulevard.'' Ms. McDonald has already won six Tonys.

Updated On: 6/9/25 at 02:55 AM