|
Storyline: As vaudeville dies under
the twin onslaughts of talking pictures and radio, the mother of two little
girls she wants to be stars pushes, manipulates, schemes and fights to build
a career on the circuit, but the girls are growing up and don’t necessarily
want for their lives what she wants. One elopes. The other takes control of
her own life and career, becoming the queen of burlesque, Gypsy Rose Lee.
The
announcement that Peters would tackle the part of Rose was greeted in many
quarters with skepticism and some surprise. It seemed to “go against type.”
But Peters turns out to be a fine Rose, just different from the legendary
performers who went before her. Her take on the part finds Rose more
flirtatious when it suits her, more sexy and even a bit more subtle but no
less manipulative and no less stubborn, just as blind to the real world
around her and, ultimately, just as vulnerable as the part demands. Forget
who played it before, the test is how well her performance meets the demands
of the script and the score, and she passes this test with flying colors.
The
script by Arthur Laurents is a rock solid a piece of theatrical storytelling
and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim marry marvelously with one of Jule
Styne’s greatest scores. This company delivers each and every element of the
package with clear, clean efficiency and frequent, but not consistent
dramatic impact. Anthony Ward’s set design is serviceable although it
carries a bit too much of the back-stage world when it adds flirtations
between a stage hand and a chorus girl on the stage left bridge high above
the action. Still, the image of Peters’ Rose standing off-stage mouthing the
words of the songs her kids are performing is a fine addition to the whole.
Ward also designed the costumes, the most notable of which are the outfits
for the three strippers who deliver the hilarious “You Gotta Get a
Gimmick.”
The
evening begins with one of Broadway’s greatest overtures and it sounds just
right, with an electric charge coming mostly from the trumpet work of Chris
Jaudes. (When was the last time you noticed the lead trumpet getting
separate billing from the other trumpets in a musical’s orchestra? When Dick
Perry blasted these notes in the original back in 1959 everyone wanted to
know who the lead trumpet was so it figures that Jaudes, who is fantastic
throughout the evening, would get some attention as well.) The other twenty
two musicians down in that pit are doing awfully good work as well,
including the same Cubby O’Brien who anchored the orchestra in Peter’s
revival of Annie Get Your Gun and who first demonstrated his talents
on drums as a very young member of the Mickey Mouse Club at the same time
this score was first heard on Broadway.
Book by Arthur Laurents.
Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Sam Mendes.
Choreography by Jerome Robbins. Additional choreography by Jerry Mitchell.
Dance arrangements by John Kander. Orchestrations by Sid Ramin and Robert
Ginzler. Music supervision by Patrick Vaccariello. Music direction by Marvin
Laird. Design: Anthony Ward (set and costumes) Acme Sound Partners (sound).
Cast: Bernadette Peters, Tammy Blanchard, John Dossett, Brooks Ashmanskas,
Matt Bauer, Graham Bowen, Kate Buddeke, David Burtka, Benjamin Brooks Cohen,
Macintyre Dixon, Joey Dudding, Wally Dunn, Brandon Espinoza, Tim Federle,
Eamon Foley, Jenna Gavigan, Julie Halston, Sarah Jayne Jensen, Molly Grant
Kallins, Dontee Kiehn, Ginifer King, Gina Lamparella, Heather Lee, Julie
Martell, Michael McCormick, Maureen Moore, William Parry, Kate Reinders,
Pamela Remler, Stephen Scott Scarpulla, Chandra Lee Schwartz, Alexandra
Stevens, Heather Tepe, Addison Timlin, Cathy Trien, Jordan Viscomi.
|
