The new Broadway of “Gypsy” starring Audra McDonald, which is currently in previews at the Majestic Theatre and officially opens next week, continues an ongoing tradition of revisiting and reexamining the 1959 musical about an ambitious stage mother, her neglected daughters and her frustrated longtime boyfriend, which is considered one of the best musicals ever written. In anticipation of the new production, we take a look back at its impressive history.
1959: “Gypsy: A Musical Fable,” a new musical loosely based on the memoirs of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee (who is known as Louise in the musical) starring Ethel Merman as Rose Hovick, opened during one of the most bountiful seasons of Broadway’s golden age, competing against “The Sound of Music,” “Fiorello!” and “Once Upon a Mattress.” It had music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, and direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It marked a career triumph for Merman, one of the biggest Broadway stars of the time. Not fully appreciated at the time for its depth, “Gypsy” lost the Pulitzer Prize for Drama to “Fiorello!” and the Tony Award for Best Musical to, in a rare tie, “Fiorello!” and “The Sound of Music.” The original cast recording is a must-have item.
1962: The first film adaptation of “Gypsy” starred Rosalind Russell (whose singing was partially dubbed) as Rose, Natalie Wood as her daughter Louise, and Karl Malden as her boyfriend Herbie. Musical theater fans generally disdain the adaptation because Merman was not cast as Rose. To this day, I have been unable to bring myself to watch it. According to theater legend, Merman would play the unreleased recordings of Russell attempting to sing the songs at parties when she wanted guests to leave.
1974: Following her smash performance as the title character in “Mame,” Angela Lansbury (who would also appear in the Sondheim musicals “Anyone Can Whistle” and “Sweeney Todd”) played Rose in the musical’s short-lived first Broadway revival at the Winter Garden Theatre, which was directed by Laurents and used Robbins’ original choreography.
1989: Tyne Daly played Rose to acclaim in the musical’s second Broadway revival at the St. James Theatre, again directed by Laurents and using Robbins’ choreography. Jonathan Hadary, who continues to work regularly in New York theater, played Herbie. A success, the production later transferred to the Marquis Theatre and Linda Lavin took over as Rose.
1993: Bette Midler played Rose in a faithful and surprisingly good TV film adaptation, which originally aired on CBS and can be found online today on streaming sites. The film includes cameos by Ed Asner, Christine Ebersole, Michael Jeter, Andrea Martin, Tony Shalhoub, and even a young Elisabeth Moss. Midler won a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
1997: Betty Buckley played Rose in a hit revival at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse alongside Debbie Gibson as Louise. Although many expected that it would transfer to Broadway, Laurents, after attending the production, allegedly told Buckley in her dressing room “it’s not coming to Broadway…Get that out of your head. In fact, it’s not leaving New Jersey.”
2003: Under the belief that it was time to reconceive the musical, its third Broadway revival was directed by Sam Mendes (who tried to bring a darker, psychological edge to the material) and starred Bernadette Peters as a younger, sexier Rose. The overall reaction was mixed and Peters lost the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical to Marissa Jaret Winokur for “Hairspray.” The first time I attended the revival in May 2003, Peters experienced coughing and vocal difficulties. Later that summer, I attended again and Peters, in better health, gave a triumphant performance. Laurents would later slam the production in his 2009 memoir “Mainly On Directing.”
2007: For years, it was an open secret in the theater industry that Laurents held a grudge against Patti LuPone and would not allow her to play Rose. After the two finally made amends, Laurents directed LuPone as Rose in a summertime short engagement at City Center, with Laura Benanti as Louise and Boyd Gaines as Herbie. Despite mixed feedback at City Center, the production transferred to Broadway in 2008, where virtually everyone agreed that LuPone was giving the performance of a lifetime. LuPone, Benanti, and Gaines all won Tony Awards. Nevertheless, the production was overshadowed at the time by Lincoln Center Theater’s acclaimed revival of “South Pacific.”
2013: For years, rumors persisted that Barbra Streisand would play Rose in a new film adaptation. While the film never happened, it inspired “Buyer & Cellar,” a hilarious one-man comedy by Jonathan Tolins which imagines a gay out-of-work actor who is hired to work in Streisand’s basement and then becomes her acting consultant for the film.
2015: English actress Imelda Staunton (“The Crown”) played Rose in a London revival which was filmed for television by the BBC and later broadcast in the U.S. on PBS. Despite speculation, a New York transfer does not occur.
2024: Audra McDonald, another acclaimed Broadway diva long associated with the works of Stephen Sondheim, has now become the first Black actress to play Rose on Broadway. The new production is directed by George C. Wolfe, with new choreography by Camille A. Brown. McDonald is joined by Joy Woods as Louise and Danny Burstein as Herbie.
