Curtain Up! Light The Lights!
Curtain Up! Light The Lights!Beginning tonight, Gypsy's officially back on Broadway, baby!
And SOB's officially deputized "special corres-pondent" Sarah B. from Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertain-ment will be there this evening for the first preview at the St. James Theatre.
I trust she'll provide a perfect report tomorrow that is sure to make me completely jealous as I've made no secret that this show ranks as one of my two all-time favorite musicals.
Gypsy features a brilliant score by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, along with one of the best musical books ever by Arthur Laurents, who at the spry young age of 90 is helming this fourth Great White Way revival. Patti LuPone, of course, headlines as Rose, while Laura Benanti stars in the title role alongside the ubiquitous Broadway baby Boyd Gaines as Herbie.
Opening night is slated for March 27, and I'll be in the audience just days later.
Having seen LuPone's first-ever turn as Mama Rose during the acclaimed and extremely limited "concert" run at Chicagoland's Ravinia two summers ago, you can bet I'm champing at the bit to see what magic Arthur Laurents has conjured up for the Rialto run that many said would never happen. This is the kind of live theatre I live for. I can't wait!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Load-In's Turn (February 24, 2008)
Tag, I'm It! (February 4, 2008)
Laurents' Turn: First Gypsy, Then West Side Story (December 18, 2008)
LuPone's Mama Rose, Part 3? (October 3, 2007)
At 90, Laurents Has Still "Got It" (July 27, 2007)
Everything's Coming Up Patti! (July 9, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: LuPone's Triumph Earns Encores! (March 19, 2007)
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy? (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Gypsy (The SOB Review) (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Arthur Laurents, Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Gypsy, Jule Styne, Laura Benanti, Load-In, Musical, Patti LuPone, Revival, Stephen Sondheim
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, March 03, 2008
11 Comments:
What is your other favorite musical, Steve? I venture to guess "Guys and Dolls"?
My favorite musicals are Follies and Dreamgirls, although I definitely would put both Guys and Dolls and Gypsy in my top 10.
Now that Patti is playing Rose in Gypsy, I can only hope that my other big dream will be fulfilled- to see Cheno play the role of Lili Garland in On the 20th Cenutry! I don't know why Cheno was not called upon to do the Actors' Fund Concert (Marin Mazzie did a very nice job from what I hear) but I cannot think of a more perfect match of a performer to a role. Unfortunately for today's economics, the show requires a big cast and a challenging re-orchestration (the big string-heavy orchestra of the original would be too expensive).
BB, You guessed correctly. Guys And Dolls is a close second. But I just love Dreamgirls and would definitely place that within my top five, alongside Cabaret and Chicago.
Assassins, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, My Fair Lady, The Last Five Years and South Pacific would round out my personal top ten list, although not necessarily in that order.
I've never seen On The 20th Century. Is that heresy?
I'm equal to the task. Stay tuned!
(And I was there at Ravinia too - all nights. We were probably sitting next to each other.)
Enjoy, Sarah!
I'll bet you had far better seats at Ravinia than me. I was row Q on the right hand side for the Saturday evening performance.
What, "Wicked" doesn't make your top 10?! ;-)
I'm so glad you told me I absolutely had to see "Gypsy" last summer. It was wonderful. And I don't think I've ever been in an audience that was so psyched, so brimming with anticipation. It was just a thrilling experience. I'm really excited about seeing "Gypsy" again. As great as Patti was, I also want to give shoutouts to the excellent supporting cast, especially Laura Benanti, who totally wowed me!
C'mon Esther. You should know by now that Wicked is in a completely different league for me!! Plus, I might incur the wrath of Sarah if I proactively put it on my list! ;-)
To answer your question, Steve, not seeing "On the 20th Century" would not be a heresy....:-)
It has never been revived on Broadway although the play on which the play is based on has been revived (most recently with Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche if I remember correctly).
There have been two major productions in recent memory- one with Marin Mazzie for the Actors Fund concert in NY and another one in LA a few years ago starring Carole Carmello and Bob Gunton. This is a show that really needs to be appreciated with the full original orchestrations- they are very much in a light operatic vein ("Rossini on the Rails") although you definitely don't need to appreciate opera to enjoy the show.
You really need two major stars to make the show work...as it is a bit old-fashioned by today's standards.
BB, You're correct about the two leads in the relatively recent Broadway revival of the play. I think Heche even managed fairly decent reviews. Appreciate your reassurance. I would hate to appear to be more of a luddite than I already am!
That's right, SOB, you know what's good for you. Wicked. Oy.
Oh my. First preview of Gypsy. Oh my. All kinds of drama, onstage and off.
Thanks Sarah, Can't wait to hear (or shall I say read) all about it.
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