GYPSY To Close August 17, 2025- Page 4

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 12:35pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "I really liked Audra in this but didn't love the whole show. Not surprising though with how grosses have been, even when Audra is not on vacation.

As mentioned in another thread, this is the third straight Gypsy revival that hasn't recouped (or won the Best Revival Tony). And yet, we'll probably see a Sutton Gypsy in 15-20 years."

Sutton would be perfect. Too perfect. Boring as we can already see it in our mind's eye...

If we do it again in 15 years it will be another outside-the-box Rose.  Someone seemingly surprising and seemingly unsuitable  (as a white woman Rose that is).  Chenowith? 

[binau]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 12:51pm

God, I never thought about it but now I can see it and I agree. Imagine a truly crazy production where Audra did Rose’s Turn with insane lighting, smoke and a tight black dress or something with those vocals resonating throughout the theatre. It would have been an entirely different show. I want to see that Gypsy!!! I’m sure M Elliot or J Lloyd might also have been able to do something special with Louise’s strip. Still, George C Wolfe on paper was the right choice so I get it. But feels like a wasted opportunity. 

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 1:22pm

a part of the problem is also theater goers who are just bored with the show. I was struck watching the last couple episodes of the gilded age and seeing Carrie coon ruthlessly and unrelentingly and shamelessly shoving her daughter on the stage so to speak and doing everything she could to get her to marry the duke.  NOTHING will stop her. It was thrilling. I thought to myself, this is what it must have felt for audiences watching the original production of Gypsy taking everything in for the first time.  Shocked probably.  As I watched Audra gypsy, there were a number of moments where I was in my head saying the lines that were coming up. Furthermore, they got criticism from people like Michael Feinstein for the smallest of rhythm changes. He said Jule Styne would have burned the theater down. A lot of naysayers who are so protective over the musical, they don’t want anything about it to change. So Gypsy was clearly not on the same playing field as Sunset Boulevard. 

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 01:22 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 3:18pm

I also have to say: I found the Tony campaign for Audra to be the most obnoxious I've ever seen. I know that this is the show's job to hustle for Tony's, but all those articles that pretty much were advertisements for her turned me off. I don't blame Audra for any of this. The show's producers decide these things. But it was obnoxious, especially as the Tony campaign in May was when her attendance started flagging the most. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 3:26pm

Blow Gabriel said: "George c Wolfe screwed the pooch. Even though the show wasn’t technically set in Louisiana, he kinda directed it like it was Caroline or Change. That being said, Audra is extraordinary in it and deservedthe Tony, which had it not been for Jasmine Amy Rogers taking votes away from her, she would have. And this production would have run a lot longer. They need to move to a rank choice voting system so we don’t end up with winners and their stupid pluralities. Dreadful Nicole and her $hit performance."

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but you are most definitely in the minority with that sentiment. 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 3:38pm

MezzoDiva47 said: "Blow Gabriel said: “That being said, Audra is extraordinary in it and deserved the Tony, which had it not been for Jasmine Amy Rogers taking votes away from her, she would have. And this production would have run a lot longer. They need to move to a rank choice voting system so we don’t end up with winners and their stupid pluralities. Dreadful Nicole and her $hit performance."



so jasmine should have withdrawn from her nomination in order to help out audra because she automatically deservedto win the tony

u dont know anything

the only tony award which potentially extends the life of a musicals run is best musical

patti lupone gypsy won 3 of the 4 best acting awards and it didnt help extend their run in any significant way

did u even see nicole in the show or just watch some youtube bootlegs

nicole was extraordinary and earned the tony, period

ppl like u who act as though its audras turn to play the role and its her turn to win the tony are part of the entitled mindset plaguing society

gypsy needs a good long rest from broadway

this revival was premature

regarding sound design sunset blvd blew audra gypsy out of the water



MezzoDiva47 has spoken

bow down accordingly



I love u MezzoDiva47, marry me!!!c

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 4:10pm

I have to admit — despite having lukewarm feelings about the show when I saw it in June — that my opinion of this production has gone down and down.  (Sort of like when you convince yourself you liked a show when deep down you knew you really didn’t…you just needed time for your opinions to solidify).

I now have very few positive memories, especially compared to other productions I have seen.  When I think about this, the only improvement over other productions was the rethought All I Need is the Girl, the first time I have ever enjoyed the number.  I liked plenty of other numbers on their own, but no more than other versions.  I thought this was far and away the worst Let Me Entertain You, which I blame on George C Wolfe and not Joy Woods, who I thought was a lot better in the role (particularly as the young Louise) than many others on this board.

i was amazed by the ferocity of Roses’ Turn, but as time has transpired, I keep on asking myself whether Audra actually overacted that number.  I also do believe that she emphasized Rose’s blackness too much, raising credibility issues.  A color-blind Gypsy would have been the way to go IMO.

I am not disappointed that this is closing.  On the one hand, I acknowledge that people will be out of work earlier than they expected; on the other hand, a lot of people will save money and time by not buying tickets and spending associated time and money associated with attending the show.  

I do think that there should not be another revival of Gypsy for a long time, but I thought this one was too soon, yet I purchased tickets (although heavily discounted).  I agree emphatically with the posters who suggested that a baseline rethink is needed…the show has just gotten stale and, hard to believe, given the score, unexciting.

Re Audra, two things:

1.  I hope she has not ruined her voice, especially in service of such a weak production.

2.  I hope someone will write a (good) new musical for Audra.  

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:01pm

Audra’s vision was a Gypsy with a revamped book set in Louisiana. She definitely wanted to make more of a statement on race.  Which is maybe where some of the grotesqueness came from.  George C Wolfe just wanted to do the show as written.  This is why we ended up with a confused production.  I think it would have been better if she got a director who shared in her vision, which frankly, was probably more shrewd than Wolfe.  She clearly wanted a more modern production a la Company, Oklahoma, Porgy and Bess, Pippin.  Some of the directors they were talking to fell thru

[Dolly80]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:02pm

The entire production was a dud. From the lack of respect for the Overture by leaving house lights on, to the ugly cheap set, to Audra attempting to sing the score, to the bungled staging of the strip at the end. 
I’m sorry that people are going to be out of work, but this production has no place on broadway. 

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:30pm

binau said: "Sutton Foster is 50 years oldand her voice already shows some signs of decline. There is absolutely 0 chance she will ever play Rose on Broadway. In 10-15 years when another revival happens she will be aged out. Even now, Audra she ain't."

Wrong.  Sutton can easily get Roundabout to do Gypsy in a few years with a choice of great directors.  It’s not if, it’s when. But my dream is that when &Juliet closes, Roundabout will remount that amazing production of Anything Goes with Sutton just like they did with Cabaret. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:47pm

No more GYPSY.  In fact, no more Sondheim on Broadway for at least 12 years, unless it's PACIFIC OVERTURES or HERE WE ARE.  Audiences are getting bored with them and, clearly, so are directors.  

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:48pm

Welp, BroadwayFlash is back, and even brought back the New Orleans flavor. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 5:59pm

verywellthensigh said: "No more GYPSY. In fact, no more Sondheim on Broadway for at least 12years, unless it's PACIFIC OVERTURES or HERE WE ARE. Audiences are getting bored with them and, clearly, so are directors."

Merrily I thought was very successful.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 6:39pm

There are only a few people I'd REALLY like to see as Rose on the Broadway stage. Cynthia Erivo, Nicole Scherzinger, Lady Gaga...that might be it. At least 10 years from now. (I doubt Gaga would ever commit to 7x a week for a sustained period of time, though.)

There are others I'd like to see in Gypsy, but let them do it regionally or in concert. Donna Murphy, Bonnie Milligan, Lindsay Mendez, SJB, Carmen Cusack, Da'vine Joy Randolph, Laurie Metcalf in a benefit reading where she just speaks the lyrics, etc.

Plenty of other roles for Sutton Foster to play that she's better suited for.

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 06:39 PM

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 6:45pm

Older people just view Sutton foster as the musical comedy queen.  She is a great dramatic actress as well. My first time seeing her live, I was blown away by her in Violet.  Her voice is also much better suited for the Ethel Merman roles, more so than Patti.  And she has real life experience with Gypsy as her mother was a stage mom shoving her and Hunter on the stage. Sutton was 17 wearing a showgirls costume in the national tour of Will Rogers Follies.  Rose is the role she was BORN to play.  She will be tremendous in the next annual revival.  Oh I can’t wait.  Lady Gaga and Cynthia and Nicole playing Rose?  Really?  That sounds absolutely horrible to me. 

[marytylermoore]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 7:00pm

Blow Gabriel said: "Older people just view Sutton foster as the musical comedy queen. She is a great dramatic actress as well. My first time seeing her live, I was blown away by her in Violet. Her voice is also much better suited for the Ethel Merman roles, more so than Patti. And she has real life experience with Gypsy as her mother was a stage mom shoving her and Hunter on the stage. Sutton was 17wearing a showgirls costume in the national tour of Will Rogers Follies. Rose is the role she was BORN to play. She will be tremendous in the next annual revival. Oh I can’t wait. Lady Gaga and Cynthia andNicole playing Rose? Really? That sounds absolutely horrible to me."

Not the point of the tread, but didn't Sutton have an uber-religious, agoraphobic, anti-stage mother? I remember Sutton revealing in her memoir that her mother never once saw her perform on Broadway because she was going to gather the courage to leave Georgia and see Sutton in Millie but then 9/11 happened. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 11:19pm

Blow Gabriel said: "binau said: "Sutton Foster is 50 years oldand her voice already shows some signs of decline. There is absolutely 0 chance she will ever play Rose on Broadway. In 10-15 years when another revival happens she will be aged out. Even now, Audra she ain't."

Wrong. Sutton can easily get Roundabout to do Gypsy in a few years with a choice of great directors. It’s not if, it’s when. But my dream is that when &Juliet closes, Roundabout will remount that amazing production of Anything Goes with Sutton just like they did with Cabaret."

Whatever you guys are smoking, I want it!!!

Why are people trying to make Sutton Foster “a thing” as ‘Rose’?!?!?!

IMO she was ill suited for Marian in TMM and she would even be worse as ‘Rose’ in this. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 11:22pm

poisonivy2 said: "I also have to say: I found the Tony campaign for Audra to be the most obnoxious I've ever seen. I know that this is the show's job to hustle for Tony's, but all those articles that pretty much were advertisements for her turned me off. I don't blame Audra for any of this. The show's producers decide these things. But it was obnoxious, especially as the Tony campaign in May was when her attendance started flagging the most."

Yeah, the NYT article with photo close ups of her snot filled face was just too much for me to bear…

Updated On: 7/17/25 at 11:22 PM

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/18/25 at 12:04am

Sutton herself said it’s a dream role. I think there is a lot of interest in seeing her play it. 

[dan94]

Posted: 7/18/25 at 12:27am

This production had its strengths and weaknesses like any other piece of theatre. There are some criticisms lobbied against it though that either cannot be resolved, or are 'damned if you do damned if you don't'.

The lights up/late entrance during overture issue - this was admittedly disappointing. Yet there was no way around it. The show is close to 3 hours in actual timespan. That has been true of every production of Gypsy. They could not go over 3 hours and trip into overtime. It is 2025. It takes longer to physically get inside a Broadway theatre nowadays. No other production of Gypsy has had to run an audience through magnetometers before they could get inside. Add in that people physically take up more space in line than they did 60 years ago, tickets are digital and you inevitably have people who hold up the line to increase their screen brightness when the ticket doesn't scan, people stop in line to take pics of the marquee before heading in. It is 2025 and it takes longer to start a show. They could not afford to start late because of length. This will continue to be a problem for most musicals of this era. I know I was at a performance of Funny Girl with Beanie that cut any bow or exit music because they were dangerously close to that 3 hour mark. It would potentially be worth it to negotiate a grace period with unions in the next round of negotiations, but this is not a problem we could expect this production of Gypsy to fix.

On Audra's absences - yes, she probably should have done only 7 a week. Yet her absences were not because she was ill fit to the role, or could not sustain. The role is beyond a beast, and this role arguably flapped the unflappable Merman. Several months in Merman moved the keys to her songs down a step, a move Sondheim was not too pleased with. Beyond that;
NYT February 21, 1961: Jane Romano went on last night for Ethel Merman, star of "Gypsy". Miss Romano is familiar with the part, having played it seven times previously when Miss Merman was out.

On if Audra has sustained vocal damage - the woman is 55 and it is Gypsy on Broadway. If ever there was a time to sing on some of your capital, now is the time. I personally think she has not hurt herself and will recover fine from this. Had she more clearly reserved herself, people would complain she was phoning it in. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

People will have a bevy of opinions on if the production was too traditional. That is worthy convo. But I can guarantee you had the production been less traditional, the elder pedants would have lost their minds even more than they already did. (You can hold the opprobrium, Michael Feinstein. Merman never performed the final section of triplets in ECUR correctly, and rest assured Jule Styne did not burn the theatre down.) Should we get another revival of Gypsy, it will certainly be more conceptual. It will have to be, the show is too big to be financially successful. They will have to find some way to cut the budget down.