I went to see "Gypsy," starring Patti LuPone tonight.
Wow.
As much hype as was surrounding this production, the show tonight absolutely met and surpassed my expectations. LuPone was brilliant (she received an well deserved standing ovation after her "Rose's Turn") as was to be expected. What I didn't expect, was that the supporting cast was amazing as well. Boyd Gaines, especially, was perfection - his Herbie was so nice and sweet, you couldn't help for love him - and then of course when he is crushed and has his explosion at the end, well the audience is crushed as well. The three strippers (Nancy Opel, Alison Fraser, Marilyn Caskey) were a real hoot, and got every possible laugh out of "You Gotta Have A Gimmick" as I think humanly possible. I was especially fond of Electra (Marilyn Caskey)'s spacey performance. Laura Benanti does an excellent job - it's rather shocking to see her so plain in her early Louise scenes, though that of course makes her transformation into Gypsy Rose Lee and her "I'm beautiful" moment all the more thrilling. She even almost makes "Little Lamb" (aka "Baby Louise Had A Farm, E-I-E-I-O) tolerable.
To answer those lingering questions:
-The show has both a set and full costumes. The orchestra is onstage, but is usually hidden by the curtain (except for certain choice moments). The actors don't use scripts at all - though there were a few flubbed lines, which is to be expected at a first preview.
-There are no good seats in the Gallery at City Center. At "Follies" (my first time in the Gallery instead of the dreadful mid or rear-mezz) I was in the first row and had a horizontal bar right across the center of the stage. So this time, I picked the second row. And I still had a horizontal bar right across the center of the stage. Of course, the show was so good, I didn't really mind. I guess the front Gallery is still preferable to the rear mezz (the gallery has a bar in the way, the poorly sloped rear mezz has heads in the way) but I really really really hate City Center.
Nothing much else to say. Arthur Laurents directed the show brilliantly (not that I expected any less, considering he did write the book for it...). One interesting tidbit that I learned (or more likely... knew and had forgotten) - John Kander (yes, THAT John Kander) did the original dance arrangements for "Gypsy."
Anyway, if you don't already have tickets to see this, well what were you waiting for? Go now now now. I already have a tickets to see this again, but I think I may buy a third one just because it's THAT GOOD... or rather THAT GREAT.
I feel like I should write about the other things I've seen over the past week or two, but "Gypsy" was just so good that they seem so paltry. Maybe I'll put them in another entry.
