My Thoughts on GYPSY

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 8:13pm

I'm sure you've all been waiting for this. And I must say....I may be excommunicated for this.

Patti LuPone doing playing Momma Rose. The role she was born to play. So what more can one say? (Sorry, I saw a production of Seussical last night.) I've never been a diehard fan of LuPone's. I've never been a diehard fan of Laura Benanti. In fact, going in, the only person who I'm actually a huge fan of is Boyd Gaines. But pfft, who cares about him. The audience went ape-sh*t for Patti before she even set foot in the auditorium.

Abrasive, brash, terrifying, fu*king nuts...LuPone's Rose is someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. And, as expected and usual, she is giving one helluva performance (I think she has a huge career ahead of her doing this Broadway thing.) Yet, as good as she is, she's still somewhat disappointing. Glowing reviews all around on message boards, being told by people that her performance was the Second Coming...Yeah, she was good, but Patti is Patti. When is she ever NOT excellent? Her 'Rose's Turn' impressed me, her 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' was wonderful, but everything else was, well, same ole Patti. When I could understand what she was saying, I thought she was great.

Definitely worthwhile to see the show for her, but also very worth while to see

Laura Benanti, who, in my opinion, is not only giving the best performance of everyone, but is also giving the performance of her career to date. I've found her to be tremendously overrated through the years (having seen her -not the standby- in Into the Woods, Nine, and Wedding Singer), but this afternoon, she's earned a fan for life. Words cannot describe how terrific she is, so I'll just leave it there.

Boyd Gaines, as usual, is also giving a wonderful performance. A tremendously underrated actor is he.

As for the supporting players, Leigh Ann Larken is a great Dainty June (with a huskier voice than I'm used to) who really let the anger show. Tony Yazbek is a superb dancer (and wins the award for the only Tulsa in the history of Gypsy who's convincingly straight). Allison Fraser, Nancy Opel, and Marilyn Crackser steal the show as the strippers. Brought the house down.

Oh, and must give credit to the girl who played Baby June...she did the entire damn thing on pointe.

So wonderful to hear the score played with a full, tight orchestra. With the excellent acoustics, the score has never sounded better. The physical production is great, as expected. Arthur Laurents' direction still hasn't gotten stale after being reproduced a million times over the years.

My particularly favorite moment? Sitting in the front gallery (which was empty, by the way) and hearing the tremendous echoes of Herbie and Louise's fights with Rose in Act 2. Haunting.

Walked by the stage door following the show. A madhouse, as expected. Overheard a few cast members talking to their families that not only does Patti not "stage door" following the matinees, but she doesn't sign autographs entirely. She uses a different door (I assume on 55th) that the cast is not allowed to divulge the location of (confidentiality agreements, I assume).

Overall, a tremendously worthwhile afternoon of theater.
Updated On: 7/14/07 at 08:13 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 8:27pm

And another comment on Patti's Rose's Turn:

That last "For Me".....just plain weird. Sounded like a demon.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 8:39pm

Attempts at fashionable cynicism at too young an age crease the face.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 8:41pm

You got me! I just wanted to buck the trend, what can I say? Updated On: 7/14/07 at 08:41 PM

[D2]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 10:01pm

Leigh Ann Larkin's take on Dainty June fascinated me, and the husky voice? Well, have you ever heard the real June Havoc? Dead on accurate vocal impersonation.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 10:10pm

Not in a while have I heard the real June. I'm very used to the perky, cheery sopranos of all the past June portrayers.

I have to say, the whole cast fascinated me. They all seemed to be directed to do their own thing and not worry that they were in a show with other people (especially Patti, who didn't strike me as a very giving performer after seeing it this afternoon). Updated On: 7/14/07 at 10:10 PM

[D2]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 10:24pm

She's always had a deeper voice than the way she's been portrayed. She is also older than her published age. In the script, when Cratchitt says "9 what" - that is an indication of how old the real June would have been at the time, so the decision to play her as a husky voiced late-teenager is a fairly accurate one, for a change. It's another reason I think Benanti works in the role as well - she also looks older than the average actress cast in the role, and it works to her and the show's advantage. And I agree about LB: I went into the performance thinking she may have been miscast, I came out a fan.

Updated On: 7/14/07 at 10:24 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 10:29pm

I still find the unwritten "what happened to..." more interesting than the show itself.

Reading that Rose was actually a lesbian who killed her lover after she made a pass at Gypsy, and, on when she was dying, saying something to Gypsy like "whenever something bad happens, that's my present from me to you"? Great stuff.
Updated On: 7/14/07 at 10:29 PM

[Isabella2]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 10:59pm

how would one hear an actual clip of june havoc?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 11:01pm

Rent one of her movies.

[Isabella2]

Posted: 7/14/07 at 11:08pm

are there any clips of her on the internet of when she was a kid? i've look all over but i couldn't find anything.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:11am

Boyd Gaines, as usual, is also giving a wonderful performance. A tremendously underrated actor is he.

He does have three Tony Awards. I wouldn't exactly call that underrated.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:15am

I saw it tonight. I had forgotten how much I loved Gypsy -- especially the score.

Loved the whole cast -- I found it strong all around, which couldn't be said for the Bernadette revival. I thought Patti was DIVINE. That woman is a legend for damned. good. reason. Boyd Gaines was great, and Laura Benanti was surprisingly also wonderful. I finally get why people like her. I hated Tammy Blanchard's take on Louise, but Benanti's fixed every problem I had with it.

This production lives up to every OUNCE of hype. I wish I'd be able to see it again!

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:43am

So Patti left you disappointed because she was giving the same old terrific performance? Weird.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 12:51am

There's no reason to bash someone because they didn't think Patti was as God sent as everyone else did.

[chris d]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:08am

I saw the show tonight and I thought it was sublime entertainment. Everything about it was perfect as far as I'm concerned. I guess it's hard to screw up such a flawless score and book. Laurents, Lupone, Benanti, Gaines, and everyone else put on an unforgettable show. I thought Patti's Rose was potent, comical, and even sensual in parts. Benanti's transformation into Gypsy Rose Lee was truly astonishing. I've never seen Gypsy, nor have I seen Patti live before, but THIS is the reason we all love musical theater isn't it??

[Hiram]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:20am

I was at tonight's performance and I thought it was superb. Arthur Laurents did a masterful directing job. The whole cast was excellent. Boyd Gaines is the best Herbie I've ever seen on stage. Laura Benanti was so wonderful. And as Rose, Ms. Lupone is a powerhouse. Her "Rose's Turn" was chilling and gut wrenching - Brilliant! I want to see it again! Updated On: 7/15/07 at 01:20 AM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:22am

THIS is the reason we all love musical theater isn't it??

I heartily agree.

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:30am

i am overwhelmed by the gorgeousness!!!!!

i wish i could wrap this show in a ribbon & give it to every person in the world.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:31am

I was there also tonight and WOW. The first act left a little to be desired for me. It wasn't the writing, I'm a big GYPSY fan. Just the staging, etc felt a bit slow. But the second act was AMAZING.

I actually commend Larkin as June.. because I feel she truly reinvented the role. Bitchier than ever..at times seemed cruel.
The strippers were fantastic. I don't have names with me right now.. but the Electra reinvented her role as well. What a GREAT Tessie also.

Benanti was simply sensational. Boyd was very powerful in his last scene.

LuPone really blew me away. Her EVERYTHING'S COMING ROSES was an amazing closer to act 1. But her ROSE'S TURN was just unbelievable. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what she did on the last FOR ME. The instant standing ovation after the song was great. I was literally shook up after the show. What an experience.

What a show.
Updated On: 7/15/07 at 01:31 AM

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:42am

There's no reason to bash someone because they didn't think Patti was as God sent as everyone else did.

I could care less if he liked Patti or not. I just think that his reasoning behind why he is disappointed is a bit weird. He said he is disappointed because it is nothing new, it is the same old terrific performance that she always gives. I have never been disappointed by a terrific performance. If a performer is consistently good- it is always good. Why would you be disappointed with a terrific performance?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:42am

Patti didn't come out tonight either. I wonder why she's not stage dooring?

Not a big deal though. I've met her before - and her performance was incredible.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:49am

Was she better than Bernadette Peters??????

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 1:55am

Umm...yeah.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 6:24am

"When I could understand what she was saying, I thought she was great."

Was there any part you could understand, that woman speaks in tongues and not in the bibilcal sense.

And as for being disappointed, i can understand that. Nearly everything i have seen of her, it's all the same, it's just Patti playing Patti!

Listen to Sweeney, Anything Goes, Evita, close your eyes and all it is is Patti being Patti.

Updated On: 7/15/07 at 06:24 AM