GYPSY Previews- Page 19

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 10:20pm

If I were Audra I would leave via the front door to avoid the hassle 

[akhoya87]

Posted: 12/2/24 at 11:07pm

Just wanted to add my $0.02 re:  the 12/1 evening performance. 

Audra:  Phenomenal.  I was skeptical about her voice being a mismatch for the role, but with the acting, it works.  And the acting is otherworldly good.  Received a well-deserved standing O post-Rose's Turn, except for one celebrity in the audience who was rather ... icy and stayed seated.

Danny:  Still finding his Herbie, I think -- but he plays the honest, earnest broker well.

Jade Smith:  A triple threat in the making.

Joy:  Going to cut against the grain here and say I rather liked her performance.  During the Dainty June number, Tony d'Alelio's top hat flew off and landed on the house right side of the passerelle.  The hat just sat there for a while.  During If Momma Was Married, Joy seamlessly picked up the hat and incorporated it into her number, almost as if the whole thing were planned.  I thought it added a nice touch to the number.

That said, the Let Me Entertain You sequence didn't work for me.  There was no growth, no evolution -- she just went from bad to good in 15 seconds.  Her stridency during the dressing room scene didn't bother me all that much; I thought she made it work.

Jordan:  Gratingly good.  

The set:  Felt a little cheap.  Quality-wise, somewhere between Funny Girl and Kiss Me Kate in London (feat. Stephanie Block).  

The strippers:  +1 to Lesli Margherita being a hoot.  Absolutely steals every scene she's in.  Gotta Get a Gimmick was incredibly funny.

The stripping:  I've seen racier episodes of Downton Abbey.  

Choreography:  Fine to good.  Kevin Csolak is very good as Tulsa.

 

Updated On: 12/2/24 at 11:07 PM

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 11:26am

Auggie27 said: "I can't believe people are fretting about this or any star not doing stage door protocols in previews. Or hell, any time. The lackof understanding about what it takes to get a behemoth of a show on its feet - and remain there, 8 times a week - is staggering, particularly on a theater board. No one is under obligation to greet the public en route from the dressing room to waiting transportation. Please open your minds and hearts to what this body and voice punishing process - and sustained discipline in general - demand."

If she has the sustained discipline to do the show, she can have the sustained discipline to greet each fan with autographs, a kiss on the cheek, a personalized compliment, a brief Broadway anecdote and a thank you before she makes an astonishing getaway waving from a helicopter like Diana Ross exiting her Super Bowl halftime show.

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 11:49am

OharaFosseWolfe888 said: "Anshel2 said: "Does Audra stage door? Does she sign? I have a Ragtime benefit poster that was signed by all who attended, except Audra. I'd love for her to sign it."

Per her last IG post "Just a note to thank those of you who are waiting at the stage door after@gypsybway🌹While we are in previews and still rehearsing every day I’m not going to be signing as I’m trying to make sure I stay healthy. Thank you so much for understanding! 🙏🏾❤️🌹" I think people are forgetting or genuinely don't know that the entire cast is in rehearsal every day from about 10am - 5pm and then doing the show at night and the weather just changed."

I think it’s fine not to autograph/sign anything. Before pandemic at Hello Dolly, Bette Midler never or rarely signed anything. At stage door most times she would just wave at everyone and then go to her car. Once she did give us a handshake and thanked us (of course she was wearing a glove). 

 From looking at Telecharge, it’s not really sold out. The Majestic is a huge theater and during slow weeks I have a feeling this show might be on TKTS…. Unless they already have a discount code?

[JasonC3]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 11:50am

verywellthensigh said: "If she has the sustained discipline to do the show, she can have the sustained discipline to greet each fan with autographs, a kiss on the cheek, a personalized compliment, a brief Broadway anecdote and a thank you before she makes an astonishing getaway waving from a helicopter like Diana Ross exiting her Super Bowl halftime show."

Generous guy that I am, I'll totally accept a stage door kiss from Will Swenson in order to ensure Audra remains healthy.

 

[yyys]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 12:02pm

Gypsy was on TKTS this past Sunday.

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 12:32pm

Auggie27 said: "I can't believe people are fretting about this or any star not doing stage door protocols in previews. Or hell, any time. The lackof understanding about what it takes to get a behemoth of a show on its feet - and remain there, 8 times a week - is staggering, particularly on a theater board. No one is under obligation to greet the public en route from the dressing room to waiting transportation. Please open your minds and hearts to what this body and voice punishing process - and sustained discipline in general - demand."

Where is this response coming from? I don't see any "demand." I see one person here asking a simple question: does she stage door? No complaint in this thread  in response to her IG post. That post itself may imply that there are fans "out there" who have complained (although that's questionable), but says nothing about people on "a" theater board, let alone this theater board, where, as far as I can tell, everyone gets it and respects that she is reserving her energy for the preview process. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:32pm

Auggie27 said: "I can't believe people are fretting about this or any star not doing stage door protocols in previews. Or hell, any time. The lackof understanding about what it takes to get a behemoth of a show on its feet - and remain there, 8 times a week - is staggering, particularly on a theater board. No one is under obligation to greet the public en route from the dressing room to waiting transportation. Please open your minds and hearts to what this body and voice punishing process - and sustained discipline in general - demand."

Gurl! Loosen the grip on your pearls!! 

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 6:14pm

Curious...I saw 3rd preview and the deck was brown panels of "aged" overlay. Is that the design or was the actual painted deck not ready in time to be installed?

[binau]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 5:27pm

I have been 'listening' to Audra's Gypsy over and over again, and honestly I find her vocals so haunting and so raw. Very thick sounding with a strong edgy raspy vibrato on the lower notes that is somewhat channeling Marin Mazzie's ability to be a belting soprano. I really think she has broken the mould vocally and I hope they get her in a studio ASAP because there is so much complexity in her choices for us to dig through on a recording. I am sad that some people can't seem to get into it, although there is one moment in particular just doesn't work for me and they need to get a musical director to play with the keys somehow ASAP. If this is the kind of thing that others hear all throughout the score I understand why it might not work for them. 

Specifically, during "Everything's Coming Up Roses" with the key change "you can do it, all you need is a hand, we can do it..." Audra's voice is getting so high that by the time she gets to "Curtain Up, Light the Lights, We've Got Nothing to Hit But The Heights" it truly sounds like a screeching mess although it quickly goes down again and sounds ok. 

I would still give the Tony Award to Nicole, but I think Audra would easily win in a less competitive year and could still win depending on how things go (at this point, I honestly wonder if the winner between Nicole and Audra will be whoever can maintain their vocal stamina until Tony voting time because they are both working so, so hard). 

As for the rest of the production, on more reflection and two viewings in total (albeit early previews) I just don't think much of it given everything that has come before. I think it's long and boring, I don't think a single one of Audra's co-stars are operating in the same league as her and as someone so rightly mentioned yes that choreography is a stinker. I am disappointed and my expectations were high but I think it's possible after years and years of studying various productions of this show I was expecting more than just the same old tired Gypsy everyone knows and loves. I was looking forward to the racial subtext but with the book as written and the show performed as it was I found it difficult to not just to see this as colour-blind casting instead of intentional colour-conscious casting. 

It's now been 2 weeks since the first preview and people were saying that they were having "Shuffle Along" De Ja Vu and that George C Wolfe would evolve the show during previews. Has this happened yet? 

I will finally clutch my pearls and say that they better turn off the lights during the Overture before opening night. Sorry but it's highly offensive to direct the show in a way that will cause people to talk over the most important overture of all time in its HOME CITY. This is not ok.

Updated On: 12/5/24 at 05:27 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 6:38pm

A Little History on Talking Through the Overture (Archival Audio Examples from 1956 to 1981)

[DAME]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 7:01pm

Thank you Morosco.  I appreciated hearing that.  The recent Funny Girl revival did a pretty good job in making people focus during the overture .  There was the welcoming announcement by Harvey setting the tone.  And it was pleasantly amplified .  

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 11:10pm

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 11:11pm

Robbie2 said: ""

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 11:55pm

I assume that the overture starts when it does with the lights up out of necessity because they don’t want to run into overtime but audiences are conditioned for shows to start late? Night I saw it, the overture began at 8:02 and the curtain call ended about 10:58.

It’s not a great solution but possibly better than people stumbling around in the dark during the overture.

[seeseveryshow2]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 12:46am

On Tuesday night, December 3, overture started with full house lights on at 8:01pm.
Dozens of patrons were still scrambling to their seats at 8:01pm, and most folks around me continued to stare into their iPhones during the overture. There were no usual announcements. That’s no way to treat one of the best Broadway overtures ever written.

House lights dimmed to half at the point overture moves into “You’ll Never Get Away From Me.”  Curtain fell at 10:57pm.

Management needs to advertise that the show starts promptly at 8pm. 

Majestic Theatre staff thoughtfully allowed patrons to enter theatre foyer before the house officially opened at 7:30pm. It was a very cold night in Big Apple. 

 

 

Updated On: 12/6/24 at 12:46 AM

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 1:30am

Wall St Journal, Dec 4th:
"The Best Theater of 2024: Surprising Stagings and New Perspectives"
Gypsy was not among list.  Can only imagine the review.

Saw it first night and Dec 5 when it ran till 11pm.  By 10:45p, noticed folks around me constantly looking at their watch.  
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-theater-of-2024-surprising-stagings-and-new-perspectives-7a97f86f?st=aYaPfa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Updated On: 12/6/24 at 01:30 AM

[Strange Lupone]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 1:40am

Stop it. It hasn’t opened yet. And certainly hasn’t been reviewed. No doubt that’s why it’s not included. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 11:10am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I assume that the overture starts when it does with the lights up out of necessity because they don’t want to run into overtime but audiences are conditioned for shows to start late? Night I saw it, the overture began at 8:02 and the curtain call endedabout 10:58.

It’s not a great solution but possibly better than people stumbling around in the dark during the overture."

Do Broadway shows generally start 5-10 min later than the official curtain time? 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 11:11am

joevitus said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I assume that the overture starts when it does with the lights up out of necessity because they don’t want to run into overtime but audiences are conditioned for shows to start late? Night I saw it, the overture began at 8:02 and the curtain call endedabout 10:58.

It’s not a great solution but possibly better than people stumbling around in the dark during the overture."

Do Broadway shows generally start 5-10 min later than the official curtain time?"

I'm honestly shocked if a show starts earlier than 6 minutes after the official time.  With the exception usually being shows that skew closer to that 3 hour mark.

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 11:13am

Broadway shows, by decades (centuries?) of tradition start at the 7 after mark. The exception for this is generally shows that skew closer to 3 hours and have a union deadline.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 11:21am

Every year there are Bway shows that open after the "best of X year" cutoff (which is different for every publication). If it's good enough, it'll be included on the 2025 list.

Does anyone know the press nights for this show? The 18th would be one (but not the 17th because press is not usually invited to the first perf after a day off), perhaps also the weekend before.

Updated On: 12/6/24 at 11:21 AM

[Penna2]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 12:30pm

My first theater experience was when I was in high school in Chicago and kids in the choir were given the opportunity to see shows for free by ushering in the balcony. This was in the 60s. My recollection is that once the overture started, the doors were closed, and no one was allowed in until after the first scene was completed. My memory could be off. It seems that nowadays the people who come on time are at the mercy of late comers. 

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 1:34pm

Strange Lupone said: "Stop it. It hasn’t opened yet. And certainly hasn’t been reviewed. No doubt that’s why it’s not included."

Well aware it hasn't opened yet, but having seen both Gypsy & Sunset 3 times, I wouldn't be surprised which way WSJ is leaning and it's not Gypsy.  Love Audra her work and voice, but when the audience is constantly looking at their watch at 10:40pm, leaving early, and lots of empty seats, it speaks loudly.  

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 1:44pm

"I am well aware that this show could not have been on a year-end list for this year, but its exclusion from this year-end list from this specific publication is evidence that it's already badly received." Okay thanks lol.