Captivating, hilarious and raunchy would be three words to best describe Paul Kerryson's absolutely magnificent revival of one of Broadway’s most celebrated yet underrated musicals, Gypsy.
The Broadway classic follows the story of a pushy mother Rose (Affectionately named Momma Rose) living on the breadline travelling from city to city across 1930's America with her two daughters Louise and June desperately searching for fame and fortune on the vaudeville theatre circuit with the hope that her daughters act can bring the kind of fortune Rose so desperately craved for herself as a child.
Following a whole host of unsuccessful, lacklustre bookings in theatres across the states the star of Momma Rose's act, Louise and the adopted sons of the family decide after so many years of failure they must cut all ties to find fame and fortune as it does not lie in the hands of overambitious loud mouthed Momma Rose.
Distraught with what seems to be the end of her dream and the loss of her daughter Rose decides to turn to the ugly duckling of the family, Louise who in the past has showed little promise. Following a mix up in bookings Momma Rose and Louise find themselves booked in a Burlesque house where Rose finds herself pushing her daughter Louise into the industry beginning the career of Gypsy Rose Lee.
Renowned actress Caroline O'Connor (Playing Momma Rose) was undoubtedly the star of the show despite not being the audiences main focus throughout the production, it is my genuine opinion that I have not heard such a powerful vocal performance on stage before I saw Caroline O'Connor sing the closing song of the show 'Rose's turn' it was no surprise to me when the audience were off their feet in standing ovation for the first time of the production following a musical number.
Credit of course must go to Victoria Hamilton-Barrit playing the role of Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee as she did a wonderful job of portraying the transformation from the clumsy child constantly in the shadows of her sister to absolutely stunning burlesque dancer.
It really is difficult not go through each cast member individually and give them the credit they deserve for a wholly excellent performance throughout. The show offers a little bit of everything for anyone who views it, excellent comedic segments, excellent musical numbers and impressive dancing. Gypsy well and truly deserves to be taken to the West End sooner rather than later.
Great review, thank you! Can't wait to see this show...I am posting this blog on my Victoria Hamilton-Barritt Fan FB page because of the lovely things you said about her...
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment! I appreciate it massively! i'm glad you enjoyed my review and thank you for linking my blog on your fan page!
DeleteVery in depth review.
ReplyDeleteWhat other sorts of theatre do you enjoy?
Really good review. I adore theatre and it's great to find an in-depth review by someone outside of the community. I disagreed when you said that Gypsy was underrated (it's applauded, loved, and mimicked by almost everyone within the theatre community, with many of it's songs transferring to standards) but I loved the review in it's entirety. I definitely agreed with you by the end - it does deserve to transfer to the West End stage.
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