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.
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