So I saw the show Tuesday night.
Apart from the extremely annoying lady who decided to sing the lyrics to her friend until a couple of us gave her a look, and the idiot who didn't turn his/her cell phone off (someone actually yelled "turn it off"), the show was amazing.
Sami Gayle and Leigh Ann Larkin made June one of my favorite characters. I can't rave enough about Larkin, she was just so unique in her take of June and so truth to the character at the same time. "If Momma Was Married" was a highlight, there was real anger and yet she had a very touching moment with Benanti's Louise when she grabs her hand at the end of the song.
The strippers were GREAT. I wanted to give them a standing ovation at the end of their number, they just nailed it. Particularly Marilyn Caskey as the ironically named Electra was just a riot. She truly let the lyric "I'm electrifying and I'm not even trying" define her character and it made for the funniest moment in the show for me. It was just a killer number and the audience went crazy for it.
Boyd Gaines was amazing as Herbie as expected and Benanti couldn't have been better as Louise. When I thought she couldn't get better, the dressing room scene came along and I was blown away. I didn't see that coming at all, whereas she could've been swallowed by LuPone, she matched her and even made LuPone's Rose look pathetic. It was a thrilling moment to hear her scream like that, to see her be Gypsy Rose Lee. Oh and in the stripping when she holds the fur shawl as she declares herself Gypsy Rose Lee...that IS gay heaven, just brilliantly staged and brilliantly acted.
I'm not a LuPone fan but she really showed how fantastic she can be with this role. To be honest I wasn't particularly fond of her "Some People" but she seemed to be getting better and better. She had great chemistry with Gaines and Benanti. "Together" was one of the best parts of the show and performed so differently from the rest of the productions. Her "Rose's Turn" was all that has been said and MORE. I had heard different comments about her last "for me," I thought it was probably her best moment in the show and what makes her "Rose's Turn" my number one (along with Peters').
I must thank City Center, Laurents, and the whole cast for providing us with such an amazing experience. An event all around.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
