Don't Be Afraid To Laugh At Gypsy

On my most recent trip to New York City, I was able to take in a performance of Gypsy starring Patty LuPone. The show is a hot ticket and I felt fortunate to get one for half price at TKTS. It's up for seven Tony Awards this year: Revival of a Musical, Musical Leading Actress (Patti LuPone), Musical Featured Actor (Boyd Gaines), Musical Featured Actress (Laura Benanti), Musical Direction, Musical Costume Design, and Musical Sound Design.

I was a bit confused on the cast. When I saw that Boyd Gaines was co-starring, I had him confused with Davis Gaines, who played the phantom in Phantom of the Opera when I saw it at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. When I was reading his credits in the Playbill, I couldn't figure out why Porky's was listed. Then I figured out it was Boyd Gaines, not Davis, and he played the young high school coach in the movie. He's the one who banged Lassie (Kim Cattrall) up in the locker room.

But I digress.

Gypsy is a story based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee. It stars Patti LuPone as Rose, a hard-driving stage mom hell bent on making her daughter June a star. Rose seems to be trying to fulfill a lifelong dream of her own through the lives of her children while making money to feed the family.

Rose puts together a stage show to highlight her oh-so-talented June. Louise, the no-talent daughter, takes a minor role in the show. As it turns out, the only thing worse than the talent exhibited by June and Louise is the show itself.

I knew nothing of the show before I entered the theater other than it is a very popular show that is revived on Broadway every couple of years. I wish I had known it was a comedy...by the time I figured it out, I was at a point that I couldn't contain my laughter and just had to blurt it out.

From the beginning, it was a case of me rooting for the underdog. The poor child actors, performing that awful skit in an awful way, just had my heart aching for them. It was embarrassing, and I just wanted those kids to do so well, yet I wanted to laugh it was just so bad. If I had known it was supposed to be bad and that I wouldn't be hurting their feelings by laughing, I could have busted a gut guilt-free. The children, in their terribleness, were quite wonderful!

Well, the "talented" daughter hits the road and the "untalented" daughter has to take over and become the star. She eventually finds her way in the biz and it is Louise that takes the stage name "Gypsy Rose Lee."

Patti LuPone turns in a great performance and belts out incredible numbers, including "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

I really enjoyed it, highly recommend it, and don't be afraid to laugh!

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The show is playing at the St. James Theater. The place is pretty old-school — medium in size, good sound, and great sight lines.

It was in the St. James that I saw my first show on Broadway. Back in 1980, we took a high school bus trip to see Barnum. As I recall, the show was lackluster, and the thing I remember about the show were these huge elephant legs that "walked" across the stage.