Gypsy Understudies

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 2:17pm

Has anyone seen Jessica Rush as Louise yet? She's on until Sunday.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 2:28pm

I saw her in April when I took my mom, and I thought she was pretty good.

[Barnaby151]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 2:48pm

I saw her in August, she was very good. Her voice was amazing and she was a great actress.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 3:22pm

Saw her last night. She plays it like Cynthia Gibb did in the made for tv movie. Her second act was good, but she lacked the nuance of Laura's performance. She tried to have comic moments, but they fell flat. Nice voice though.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 4:20pm

I think Jessica is amazing. An amazing voice and some really nice, nuanced acting. A little shaky during the more confident stripper parts, but as wallflower Louise she broke my heart. She is a great understudy though-no disappointments here.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 9/28/08 at 5:36pm

So did anyone see the show in these last couple of days? I'm curious in hearing more reviews on Jessica Rush.
How's her chemistry with Patti and Boyd?

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 12:26am

I saw her in August and thought that she had a great voice, but didn't particularly enjoy her performance...

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 12:51pm

Has Linda Balgord had a chance to play Rose since she took over as understudy?

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 12:55pm

Nope.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 2:28pm

I thought Lenora Nemetz was understudy for Rose?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 2:45pm

she was originally, but now Linda Balgord is the standby for Rose.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 2:57pm

I saw Jessica on Saturday and thought she was great. I don't have anything to compare her to, but I think she held her own on that stage.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 2:46am

Just a reminder - Laura will be on vacation this week (Oct. 14th-18th, she will be back on the 19th in time for the Sunday matinee). So for those of you who don't want to miss Laura or who want to catch Jessica Rush in the role of Louise, there ya go.

Also, Laura's website is updated with a nice little note from herself (www.laurabenanti.com). Gotta love that girl.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 2:44pm

Laura is always out...

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 3:43pm

I will be at that sunday matinee.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 3:57pm

Actually, Laura's attendance has been very good for Gypsy.

[jennyish]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 4:38pm

Especially considering she had walking pneumonia. This vacation, which she'll spend filming Eli Stone, was announced months ago.

[NGD2225]

Posted: 10/14/08 at 4:46pm

I love this line in Laura's note.

" Don't worry, I am not going to go so far as to tell you who to vote for. But I am not above begging you NOT to vote for McCain and Palin... oops... I typed my outside voice again."

[dburns08]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 12:34pm

I loved Laura. But I also must commend Jessica Rush on a job done incredibly well (I saw her on Saturday afternoon). Her scenes with Patti were wonderfully emotional. Although her transition from "Little Lamb" into "The Strip" was more obvious and literal than Laura's (whose performance is seamless in terms of the transition), her voice is beyond beautiful.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 1:49pm

one thing that amused me about Jessica Rush as Louise was how much she looked like Katie Micha, who plays Baby Louise.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 5:09pm

I caught a matinee on Saturday and thought Jessica Rush did a good job. Having previously seen Laura Benanti in the role, I felt like the sophistication was missing from the character once she transitioned to a star.

I agree with the above poster that said that Ms. Benanti's performance was seamless.

[Parks]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:33pm

I saw her on Saturday evening--and thought her acting in Act 1 was pretty horrid. You can only keep a blank face for so long...

Act 2 was MUCH better--and by The Strip, she was great. I definitely missed Laura, but her understudy did a decent job. She has huge shoes to fill.

I heard Patti has been out once. Does Patti not have any vacations planned? Crazy! All I could think about during the show was how much stamina it must take to do the show every night--and TWICE a day (when I saw it on Saturday). Patti is amazing.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 10:13pm

Katie Mischa is baby Louise? What happened to Emma Rowley? Is she still in the show?

[CarolynaGirl]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 10:56pm

Yes, Patti has only missed one show and it was that steadfast commitment which caused her to put a hault on the Ask Patti section of her website out of sheer exhaustion.


Emma Rowley left August 31st. When I saw her at the stage door, she said she was just "going back to Virginia for now." Katie Micha, the original balloon girl, is now Baby Louise.
Updated On: 10/20/08 at 10:56 PM

[Erin1980]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 11:27pm

Jessica Rush is going to one to watch. Mark my words.