Shaw Festival 2023/ Gypsy, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Jay Turvey, Festival Theatre, May 10 to Oct. 7. Tickets here.
Gypsy is the big ticket musical at the Shaw Festival this year, but it is, alas, a tad disappointing.
On paper, the production sounds glorious, particularly with Kate Hennig as Mamma Rose and Paul Sportelli as music director. While Sportelli comes up trumps with the score, Hennig’s voice is simply not up to the task.
Gypsy was written in 1959 for the specific talents of the legendary singer Ethel Merman, whose loud, bright, brittle sound could metaphorically shatter glass. Thereafter, every woman taking on the role of Momma Rose has felt that blasting out the top notes is a must. Sadly, Hennig’s top notes are ragged and strained, and uncomfortable to listen to.
Even her interpretation of Mamma Rose is on the limp side. Her uber-stage mother is all on one note — a steamroller that will not be stopped — and while that is a perfectly valid character driver, there has to be some change ups. Hennig plays Rose as a constant.
Hennig is by nature a superb actor, director and playwright, but this production does not do this revered artist any favours.
In fact, the whole production feels like paint by numbers, almost flat in delivery. Director Jay Turvey has also taken a very conventional approach to the script with nothing new or innovative, ditto choreographer Genny Sermonia.
The cast as a whole seems to need a jolt of adrenaline, particularly Julie Lumsden who performs Louise. Her break-out transformation at the end just isn’t strong enough, Jason Cadieux (Herbie), Madelyn Kriese (June) and Tulsa (Drew Plummer) could all use a bit of a kick.
Designer Cory Sincennes has crafted a dark wood backdrop that is fitting for rundown theatres and fleabag apartments. His period costumes are terrific.
All these years later, when one takes a good hard look at Gypsy, there are problems, specifically, too much Rose and not enough Louise. There is a real weakness in the book.
Nonetheless, almost every song in Gypsy became a classic, gilded by Jule Styne’s catchy melodies, and Stephen Sondheim’s clever lyrics, and one can always enjoy the score which is the liveliest part of the show.
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