#1
Posted: 3/25/08 at 10:55am
The first show of my trip on Friday was GYPSY, starring Broadway legend Patti LuPone "in the role she was born to play" (as it so modestly says on the signage outside The St. James Theater.)
The show was, in a word, solid. The cast is excellent all around, with Benanti being the sole reason the transfer is justified (minus LuPone's incredible "Rose's Turn.")
Leading the company is LuPone, who makes for a compelling, endearing, heartbreaking, funny, sexy, and overall thrilling Rose.
That being said, her true Rose does not emerge until the end of act one. Through early numbers like "Some People," the fierce and ferocious woman that should be present is all but non-existent. It is not until "Everything's Coming Up Roses" that the wheels are set in motion that should have been present since the onset of the show.
But it is when she tears into "Rose's Turn," the legendary eleven o'clock number of spurred attention and unrealized dreams, that LuPone cements her status as a theatrical legend and earns the Tony buzz she has accumulated throughout previews. Never before have I seen any performer inject such a wide range of emotions so powerfully into one number (not to mention sing the crap out of said song in the process,) and the audience coudln't get enough of it-- the song was instantly greeted with a solid two minute standing ovation.
While LuPone is astonishing, though, this production truly belongs to Laura Benanti, who plays Louise with subtled nuance and stunning intricacy.
Benanti's evolution throughout the show was remarkable, and her gorgeous voice and winning stage presence make her the definitive Louise if ever there was one. During the infamous dressing room scene in Act Two that preceeds Rose's Turn, where Louise finally confronts her mother on the years of depravity and invisibility that have plagued her life, the production hits the highs it seems to be lacking elsewhere.
Also turning in notable performances are Boyd Gaines, heartwrenching as Herbie, the subdued candy seller-turned-manager of the girls act who tries unsuccessfully to create a loving family for Rose and Louise, and Leigh Ann Larkin, who reinvents June (Rose's perpetually adolescent "star" daughter) with sardonic wit and scene-stealing comedic awareness.
Bottom line: for Benanti, run and see this production. When LuPone comes alive, she nails it, but be prepared to wait until late into the show to see this occur.
Reviews to come of Cry-Baby, August: Osage County, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, Sunday in the Park With George, South Pacific, and In The Heights.
The show was, in a word, solid. The cast is excellent all around, with Benanti being the sole reason the transfer is justified (minus LuPone's incredible "Rose's Turn.")
Leading the company is LuPone, who makes for a compelling, endearing, heartbreaking, funny, sexy, and overall thrilling Rose.
That being said, her true Rose does not emerge until the end of act one. Through early numbers like "Some People," the fierce and ferocious woman that should be present is all but non-existent. It is not until "Everything's Coming Up Roses" that the wheels are set in motion that should have been present since the onset of the show.
But it is when she tears into "Rose's Turn," the legendary eleven o'clock number of spurred attention and unrealized dreams, that LuPone cements her status as a theatrical legend and earns the Tony buzz she has accumulated throughout previews. Never before have I seen any performer inject such a wide range of emotions so powerfully into one number (not to mention sing the crap out of said song in the process,) and the audience coudln't get enough of it-- the song was instantly greeted with a solid two minute standing ovation.
While LuPone is astonishing, though, this production truly belongs to Laura Benanti, who plays Louise with subtled nuance and stunning intricacy.
Benanti's evolution throughout the show was remarkable, and her gorgeous voice and winning stage presence make her the definitive Louise if ever there was one. During the infamous dressing room scene in Act Two that preceeds Rose's Turn, where Louise finally confronts her mother on the years of depravity and invisibility that have plagued her life, the production hits the highs it seems to be lacking elsewhere.
Also turning in notable performances are Boyd Gaines, heartwrenching as Herbie, the subdued candy seller-turned-manager of the girls act who tries unsuccessfully to create a loving family for Rose and Louise, and Leigh Ann Larkin, who reinvents June (Rose's perpetually adolescent "star" daughter) with sardonic wit and scene-stealing comedic awareness.
Bottom line: for Benanti, run and see this production. When LuPone comes alive, she nails it, but be prepared to wait until late into the show to see this occur.
Reviews to come of Cry-Baby, August: Osage County, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, Sunday in the Park With George, South Pacific, and In The Heights.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 3/28/08 at 10:55 AM
