CONFIRMED: Audra McDonald-led GYPSY to begin previews Nov 2024- Page 18

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 4:56pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Dynamic pricing has kicked in for just the first preview,"

I assume jumping up due to demand?

[east side story]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 4:58pm

Purchased tickets for mid-December! I have always adored McDonald, but what sold me on this production is Wolfe's direction, and the fact that Arthur Laurents won't be there to give George the same "help" that Sam Mendes got in 2003. 

[incomesabby]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:34pm

good time to say I have a $79 first preview ticket up for grabs. Reason being that a better seat for the same price opened up right after I hit purchase 😩 and I couldn't resist moving up a row based on people's comments about the rear mezz here.

So not sure how to get rid of it now... but I do know there's people out there who would want it (don't flame me if you see it on theatr lol)

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:40pm

Ok so...

Louise: Joy Woods, Hailey Kilgore

Herbie: obviously Norm Lewis

Bummed that we won't get to see Jennifer Simard tackle Mazzepa or Tessie Tura

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:42pm

incomesabby said: "good time to say I have a $79 first preview ticketup for grabs.Reason being that abetter seat for the same price opened up right after I hit purchase 😩and I couldn't resist moving up a row based on people's comments about the rear mezz here.

So not sure how to get rid of it now... but I do know there's people out there who would want it(don't flame me if you see it on theatr lol)"

Call Telecharge customer service, and they'll probably refund the first one if you explain what happened.

 

[singer234]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:53pm

I wonder if Anika Noni Rose would consider doing it. If they want to allow the standby to take a different route vocally, Jeanette Bayardelle would be incredible.

[binau]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:57pm

It is crazy to think it’s the first time in 65 years that there will be a production of Gypsy on Broadway that could genuinely be free from the directorial shackles of Arthur Laurents. I’m so curious what we are about to see. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 6:59pm

singer234 said: "I wonder if Anika Noni Rose would consider doing it. If they want to allow the standby to take a different route vocally, Jeanette Bayardellewould be incredible."

Anika as the STANDBY?! Surely not - Anika arguably means more to the general public than Audra does!

[singer234]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 7:02pm

I was thinking more a Donna Murphy situation. She probably wouldn't, true, but I'd love to see her for a replacement stint if it ever gets there, a la Sweeney.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 7:05pm

incomesabby said: "good time to say I have a $79 first preview ticketup for grabs.Reason being that abetter seat for the same price opened up right after I hit purchase 😩and I couldn't resist moving up a row based on people's comments about the rear mezz here.

So not sure how to get rid of it now... but I do know there's people out there who would want it(don't flame me if you see it on theatr lol)"

Telecharge will definitely allow you to exchange,  I've done it multiple times.

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 7:08pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "singer234 said: "I wonder if Anika Noni Rose would consider doing it. If they want to allow the standby to take a different route vocally, Jeanette Bayardellewould be incredible."

Anika as the STANDBY?! Surely not - Anika arguably means more to the general public than Audra does!"

To the theater public???ummm...maybe???...to the general public??? Hard no.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 7:20pm

singer234 said: "I was thinking more a Donna Murphy situation. She probably wouldn't, true, but I'd love to see her for a replacement stint if it ever gets there, a la Sweeney."
 

The Donna Murphy/DOLLY situation was a complete anomaly, the only such moment in modern history that someone of that stature did one performance a week (+ vacations), and it happened under much different circumstances:

• Bette is a much much much much bigger star than Audra
• Donna was the rare alternate who did not stand by
• Donna did not begin until after the Tony Awards so there would be no issue of comparison for the voters. That worked for a show that opened in the spring, but Gypsy begins 7 months before the Tonys and is only on sale through June 29.
• Good as she was (the best Dolly I saw in that revival), it was an expensive flex by a producer who does not work anymore. Putting the standby on once a week probably would have sold nearly as many tickets, and the costs would have been far lower.
• that arrangement only works for someone who is otherwise fine with being unemployed 6 days a week (or, in the very unique and not-replicated Kathie Lee Gifford/Putting It Together situation decades ago, hosting a talkshow)
• it was, to my knowledge, a rather unhappy experience for a lot of people involved.

Since Audra has no day-off noted, we can safely assume she's contracted to do 8 shows a week and any reduction in her performance schedule would occur on an as-needed basis.

Updated On: 5/31/24 at 07:20 PM

[singer234]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 7:24pm

lol k.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:08pm

I don't live in NYC but bought tickets for Saturday December 7th, matinee which had much better availability than that Saturday's evening performance.

I am now wondering if Gypsy will have an alternate at certain performances and if I bought a ticket for a time when Audra won't be performing. Does anybody know if Audra will really be singing two Saturday shows? And if there's an alternate, can I get my money back or switch to a performance when Audra will be singing.

Any advice?

 

 

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:16pm

Audra has certainly sung more difficult roles. There is no indication that she will have an alternate, and no other Rose in the past needed an alternate.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:24pm

BroadwayBaby6 said: "I don't live in NYC but bought tickets for Saturday December 7th, matinee which had much better availability than that Saturday'sevening performance.

I am now wondering if Gypsy will have an alternate at certain performances and if I bought a ticket for a time when Audra won't be performing. Does anybody know if Audra will really be singing two Saturday shows? And if there's an alternate, can I get my money back or switch to a performance when Audra will be singing.

Any advice?"

Since Audra has no day-off noted, we can safely assume she's contracted to do 8 shows a week and any reduction in her performance schedule would occur on an as-needed basis.

[Graymerchant]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:38pm

Do we have indication on who is on the design team? Hoping this is indicative of Dolly’s spectacle... 

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:45pm

I've been thinking about her vocals and how she'll sound singing the score, and I think it's likely it will sound similar to how she sang "Old Maid" from 110 in the Shade. They famously lowered the key for her, obviously to give her a more raw and somewhat "beltier" sound. 

Here's a video of it live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYvs2Up4E8o

Another example is her "Rainbow High."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZijZu_tojw&list=RDqZijZu_tojw&start_radio=1

She is certainly not going to sing Rose in her operatic soprano like some are fearing. 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 8:56pm

I am so hoping for Hailey Kilgore as Louise. She’s been away from the stage for too long and she’d be perfect.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 9:06pm

Audra singing "Rose's Turn":

https://www.tumblr.com/thefolliesgeorges/696628851374194688/audra-mcdonald-roses-turn-audra-mcdonald

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 9:40pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Audra singing "Rose's Turn":

https://www.tumblr.com/thefolliesgeorges/696628851374194688/audra-mcdonald-roses-turn-audra-mcdonald"

This makes me even happier for snagging tickets. Cannot wait for this!!!! Too soon to start a count down? heehee

[lenovox1]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 10:10pm

ljay889 said: "I've been thinking about her vocals and how she'll sound singing the score, and I think it's likely itwill sound similar to how she sang "Old Maid" from 110 in the Shade. They famously lowered the key for her, obviously to give her a more raw and somewhat "beltier" sound.

Here's a video of it live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYvs2Up4E8o

Another example is her "Rainbow High."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZijZu_tojw&list=RDqZijZu_tojw&start_radio=1

She is certainly not going to sing Rose in her operatic soprano like some arefearing."

The highest note in the Merman version of Gypsy is the C above middle C. 

Historically, on B'Way, she's belted higher and she belts higher currently in concert. She'll be fine.

I'm sure she'll approach it very differently than Merman, Lansbury, Daly, Peters, and La Lupone, but they have all approached the score very differently from one another.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/30/24 at 11:24pm

Graymerchant said: "Do we have indication on who is on the design team? Hoping this is indicative of Dolly’s spectacle..."

GYPSY doesn't strike me as a show that needs the opulence of DOLLY. Wolfe also told the NYT “The thing that keeps on resonating with me is the idea of not enough: not enough space, not enough love, not enough money,” which might indicate that maybe he doesn't see this as an extravagant story.

Unless he switches up his team from other recent shows, we'll probably get some combo of
- scenic by David Rockwell, Santo Loquasto, or Riccardo Hernandez
- costumes by Toni-Leslie James, Santo, Ann Roth (maybe retired now?), or Emilio Sosa (Audra's frequent collaborator)
- lighting by Jules & Peggy

Updated On: 5/30/24 at 11:24 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/31/24 at 7:34am

Do you think Billy Porter would be involved in this production? Like perform as Mama Rose once a week to give Audra a break?

I loved his impromptu performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at the Tony Awards a few years ago.

Updated On: 5/31/24 at 07:34 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/31/24 at 9:17am

Wick3 said: "Do you think Billy Porter would be involved in this production? Like perform as Mama Rose once a week to give Audra a break?"

...................what?

no!

See comment #436 outlining why the Donna Murphy DOLLY situation (if that prompted your detached-from-reality thinking) was a total anomaly, not a precedent-setter.

I doubt Audra needs "a break" –– since Audra has no day-off noted, we can safely assume she's contracted to do 8 shows a week and any reduction in her performance schedule would occur on an as-needed basis –– and if she did need a break, her once-a-week alternate would not be a cis man with more than twice as many followers. You'd hear the feminist screams from miles away!!