Urbanity - Summer 2008 - (Page 20)

Eye of the Beholder 20 A fifth incarnation of a fifties Broadway musical is yes—back on Broadway. Patti LuPone plays rose; musical theatre’s favorite stage mother. It’s a strategy not to read reviews prior to seeing a show. No one is so autonomous that they can’t be influenced by critics, so an honest assessment must be spontaneous and rigidly objective. When we saw Gypsy it had been running for three weeks, long enough to work out the kinks, but early enough for the cast to stop…trying too hard, and embrace the essence of their characters. Has ‘Gypsy’ been done to death? No matter how much we love to hear ‘That’s entertainment’ belted out in a fabulous contra alto—is it still entertainment? Well, you might want to hold off on the obit for this one. Patti LuPone delivers show stoppers like ‘every Things Coming up roses’ and ‘rose’s Turn’ with the perfect measure of excitement and frenetic tragedy. Don’t expect subtlety from this diva. rose nudges, often pushes her two daughters into show business. Louise, the shadow daughter played by Laura Benanti, eventually takes the stage as a stripper then quickly owns it. While rose orchestrates everything with brutal narcissism, it’s tinted with a nearly indiscernible underlay of anguish as Louise’s growing success stirs in rose an awareness of her own failures; the pathos sublimely and wholly expressed as she collapses sobbing into Louise’s arms. There are visceral moments when we wince at rose’s unrelenting ambition, and weep as Louise reluctantly embraces her role. Herbie and rose do a sidestepping little dance through most of the production that culminates in a rare glimpse of the essential rose when the manipulating tyrant yields to the elemental woman. urbanity Summer 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Urbanity - Summer 2008

Urbanity - Summer 2008 Contents Editorial Destinations / Travel Zany Mad Wacky Nuts The Palate Eye of the Beholder Plaza Sweet Where’d You Get That? Hale Fellows Well Met Ah The Good Old Days Ruminating On Architecture The Wearing Care & Feeding of the Body Beautiful

Urbanity - Summer 2008

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