[blackbird_fly]

So is anybody here planning on seeing it? I'm hoping my parents will take me.

[BroadwayObssessed]

*waits for mat*

[blue wind]

this show was one of my mother's childhood favorites, so i'm pretty sure it won't take much convincing for her to take me.

[pish123c]

[qmechanic]

I'm planning on seeing it in May.

[ErikProuvaire]

I already saw it. When it was still in previews.

[qmechanic]

I just got back from seeing Gypsy on Broadway, fourth row center. (If you're wondering how I got those seats, I bought them months in advance.)

I really came to the musical expecting Patti LuPone to belt her way through, but she really did a great job acting, so much that I noticed her acting just as much as her singing. She was very controlled and focused acting-wise all the way through, only really belting in the Act 2 finale, "Rose's Turn." I felt like LuPone's singing voice was a little off, but it could have been my imagination. I really liked Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti as well. Gaine played Herbie as a really sweet guy who's seduced by Rose. He plays along until he explodes right before Louise becomes a stripper. Benanti does the transition between Louise the eager-to-please girl and Louise the confident stripper very well. I thought the actor who played Tulsa was good, but not outstanding. The orchestra was fantastic, especially the brass, and they had a full 25-member complement. Yay for old-fashioned overtures! Interestingly enough, Arthur Laurents chose to put the orchestra on the stage behind the set. I liked that choice because it made the orchestra part of the story more and the actors were closer to the audience.

Even if you've seen other productions (I watched both movies before attending this show), there are some new, thoughtful touches. During the "You'll Never Get Away from Me" number, Rose starts dancing with Herbie and somehow Rose drags Herbie onto the ground and they end up rolling around on the floor. It was hilarious. In the "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" number, Electra is played as a lethargic woman who wearily turns the switch on her costume. Laurents's direction emphasizes how Rose and Louise's roles are gradually switched over the course of time. Louise becomes more and more confident with each strip and she starts talking down to her mother. Rose breaks down during "Rose's Turn" and in the conversation with Louise aftewards, she starts crying. Pretty shocking. Louise (Benanti is conveniently quite a bit taller than LuPone) comforts her mother like she's a child. Rose regains her composure and tells her dream about having her name in lights -- "Madame Rose and her daughter Gypsy." Louise walks off chuckling, obviously not taking her mother seriously.

Anyways, all the reviews are true. The play is beautifully acted, beautifully sung, and extremely entertaining.

[kozafluitmusique]

I realllly want to...and then stage door it....

one of my friends is seeing it though!

[Salome]

you wont see Patti at a stage door.

[qmechanic]

I got autographs from Boyd Gaines, the actor who played Tulsa, the actress who played Dainty June (she was especially nice and posed for photos since it was her Broadway debut), the actress who played Agnes/Amanda. I actually had a chance to talk to Boyd Gaines. I have a friend who studied musical theater at Syracuse and was in a show with Gaines. I told him that. Gaines said the name sounded familiar and he didn't even have a degree in musical theater.

And <ahem> I got an autograph from Patti LuPone. The guards errected barricades and told us that she would sign for everyone but she would not pose for photos and she would use her own pen (a black Sharpie). That's exactly what she did. She signed my Playbill (it looked like some kind of "P") and after she finished signing for everyone, she got into a huge black SUV.

So you can get an autograph from LuPone, but don't expect her to sign her full name.

[Salome]

WOW surprising...Did you see an evening show perhaps? I saw her 3 times , all matinees. andd she never came out.,

[qmechanic]

[blackbird_fly]