If Momma Was Married, We Could See GYPSY!

Mona Swain as Gypsy Rose Lee (center) and company in Gypsy: A Musical Fable at Skylight Music Theatre. Photo credit: Mark Frohna.

A review of Gypsy: A Musical Fable

by Benjamin Earnest, age 14

All that work and what did it get her? A wonderful musical that you should see at the Skylight Music Theatre. Gypsy: A Musical Fable follows Mama Rose and her girls, June and Louise, as they try to find theaters at which to perform their vaudeville act. In these shows, June is always the main character, while Louise is assisting her spotlight. Rose is the type of mother that will do anything to make her kids successful; even when June and Louise are young adults, she tries to make them look like 9-year-olds to persuade theater companies to invest in her productions. Eventually, Rose runs into Herbie, who later becomes her agent, but you’ll have to see the show to find out what happens after that. Some highlights of Skylight’s production are the show’s excellent casting choices, choreography, well-written score, and technical departments. 

First of all, I’d like to address the spot-on casting of stars like Baby June, June, and more! Selene Taylor, who played Baby June, did an excellent job capturing the character’s overexaggerated facial expressions, nasally voice, and challenging dancing, especially in "Let Me Entertain You." Sophie Kaegi as the older version of June had similar aspects as her younger self, with a nice singing voice that fit neatly for the character. I’d also like to mention Louise (played by Mona Swain), whose voice was just beautiful and really stood out to me in "Little Lamb," when she is singing to the lamb she got for her birthday. Switching gears to the male protagonist, Andrew Varela, who performed as Herbie, had a great voice that blended with other characters like Rose and Louise in songs like "You’ll Never Get Away from Me" and "Together, Wherever We Go." Last, but absolutely not least, we have Janet Metz, who portrayed Rose. Now, the character of Rose has been played by many Broadway legends, including Ethel Merman, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, and others, so I’m sure that must have been pretty stressful to carry this legacy. There was no need to worry, though, because she was incredible! From being the most annoying helicopter mom to nailing Gypsy's iconic "Rose’s Turn," Metz crushed it with her stage presence and singing.

The choreography in this musical, created by Betty Weinberger, was vastly impressive with both the adults and kids in the show. The dancer that most stood out was Alex Kennedy as Tulsa. The song "All I Need is the Girl" is Tulsa’s big dance breakout number where he does countless perfect spins and shows Louise what he’s been working on secretly. Some other numbers I’ll point out are "Baby June and Her Newsboys" and "Farm Sequence" which both have small ensembles doing exhausting and jaw-dropping dances. 

Now let’s bring to our attention the amazing score that was written for Gypsy by Jule Styne, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. I mainly loved the score because it brought a lot more instrumental interest to the show than you would see in your average musical, featuring fun woodwind and brass instruments, like the trumpets in the overture and clarinet solos later in the music. This must have been a fun but difficult challenge for Skylight’s orchestra and actors to face, especially because Sondheim was involved.

Finally, I’d like to give some shout-outs to the technical aspects of Gypsy. The lighting (designed by Smooch Medina) definitely gave off the Broadway-esque vibe, with light bulbs all around the proscenium arch and name marquee highlighting the flashy colors on the cast’s costumes. Speaking of costumes, the wardrobe of the musical (designed by Michelle Grimm) was very well done because it expressed the type of style that vaudevillian and burlesque performers would wear at their shows. Some characters’ costumes that were especially eye-catching were all of the ensemble costumes and the later costumes of Louise. Lastly, the set (designed by Jonathan Berg-Einhorn) was very unique because of the urban vibe it gave off. In addition to that, it also reflected the smaller amount of money Rose had because of having a job in theatre. 

All in all, this was a perfect choice of a musical to open Skylight’s 67th season, and I highly recommend watching it. I would suggest it for audiences 13+ due to its more mature content. So go see Gypsy: A Musical Fable through October 18th at Skylight Music Theatre!