By Hannah Curran, Editor
TRUSSVILLE — It’s been said more than once that Gypsy – A Musical Fable is the mother of all musicals. Still, the talent that presented itself on the stage last night was undeniably impressive.
This show is lengthy, but the story told makes every minute worth it, and to say this cast was incredible would be an understatement.
Gypsy is the ultimate tale of an ambitious stage mother fighting for her daughters’ success – while secretly yearning for her own. Set all across America in the 1920s and 30s, when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born, Arthur Laurents’ landmark show explores the world of two-bit show business with brass, humor, heart, and sophistication.
The audience witnessed the characters age before their very eyes as the innocent bright-eyed young cast transforms into the young adults performing the same old, outdated number in hopes of making it in vaudeville.
Michael Bridges, director of Gypsy – A Musical Fable, knew what he was doing when casting the show, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. Each performance was immersive, diving the audience into the early 1920s and 30s as if you were watching Baby June and the Newsboys on vaudeville in real-time.
Lauren Culotta, who starred as Mama Rose, took the audience on a journey as she pushed and shoved her daughters to be stars, but with every choice, she made “for her daughters,” consequences would follow. There were times when the audience would love Mama Rose and others when they wanted to shove her off the stage, and Culotta embodied Mama Rose in every way. The audience could sense her overbearing stage mother presence was suffocating Baby June/Dainty June, but for Mama Rose, the only thing that mattered was stardom.
Related Story: ACTA Theatre presents Gypsy – A Musical Fable
Herbie, played by Zachary Skaggs, becomes Mama Rose’s love interest, but she only strings him on enough to keep him around, saying, “When the girls are stars, I’ll marry you.” The toll it took on their “relationship” would eventually be its downfall.
When the show begins, you meet Baby June, played by Ella Mae Reynolds, and Baby Louise, played by Emersyn Gallant, and even at a young age, that took their performance to the next level. Bridges knew what he was doing when he cast Reynolds and Gallant, and as the years went by and you see Dainty June, played by Sawyer Luke, and Louise, played by Allie Picou, it truly felt like these were the same people, only older.
However, Mama Rose only saw her children as babies, which is evident in the fact that none of the children knew how old they were past the age of 10. For example, Dainty June was asked how old she was, and her response was “9 going on 10.”
The outdated number was failing, and when Dainty June runs off with a boy, and the rest of the Newsboys leave, all that’s left is Louise. Now finding herself at the center of her mother’s attention, there was nothing to do except do what Mama said.
Herbie tries valiantly to sell “Madame Rose’s Toreadorables” to a fading vaudeville industry. However, with no vaudeville venues left, Louise and her second-rate act wind up accidentally booked at a burlesque house in Wichita, Kansas.
In a final attempt to push her shy daughter into the spotlight, Mama Rose volunteers Louise to do the Burlesque performance as a last-minute replacement, and thus Gypsy Rose Lee was born. Finally, however, Herbie had enough, and he, too, left Mama Rose as Dainty June did. Mama Rose refuses to focus on another person in her life leaving, instead pushing Louise in hopes of becoming a star.
Picou’s performance during Act II was showstopping; you watch the unsure, shy little girl grow into a lady on the stage. Taking her sister’s old “Let Me Entertain You” number and giving it a new sense of “wow,” would skyrocket Louise into the spotlight and fame. Picou wowed the audience with how she embodied Gypsy Rose Lee and showcased how she found her gimmick in the Burlesque world.
Louise is no longer a shy little girl, but Mama Rose refuses to accept it, trying desperately to pull her daughter back down the path she thinks is right. Finally, Louise has had enough, telling her mom that she is Gypsy Rose Lee and she is happy, but Mama Rose doesn’t want to let go, fighting with her daughter. When Mama Rose asked Lousie why she thought she pushed her to be a star. Gypsy Rose Lee’s response was sad and powerful, “I thought you did it for me, mama.”
The audience finally hears Mama Rose say, “I was born too early, and I realized it too late; I could have been a star,” and it was at that moment that all the pieces fall in place. What was just under the surface was now right in the audience’s face.
In the final scene, Gypsy Rose Lee comes to her mother, saying you would have been wonderful on stage; it’s this validation that mother and daughter reconcile, and they step into the future hand-in-hand.
This show, at its roots, is about the relationships between a mother and a daughter, and the magnificent story told makes the audience feel every emotion of the cast.
Tickets are going fast, and you don’t want to miss out on watching this talented group of individuals pour their heart and soul into this show.
Performance dates are July 14 – 16, July 21 – 23 at 7 p.m., and July 17 and 24, 2022, at 2:30 p.m; tickets may be obtained by going to www.actabooktix.com or calling (205) 655-3902. The ACTA Theatre is located at 225 Parkway Drive in Trussville.
- Dainty June performing “Dainty June and her Farmboys.”(Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Gypsy Rose Lee posing for the cover of Vogue. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Mama Rose and Louise arguing over whether burlesque is where Louise should be. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Louise and Dainty June (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Baby June performing “Let me Entertain You”(Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Gypsy Rose Lee’s first performance in Burlesque. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Louise trying to find her gimmick with the help of Mazeppa, Electra, and Tessie Tura. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Mama Rose and Herbie. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Baby June and the Newsboys. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Backstage of Mr. Grantziger’s Office. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Dainty June and her cow. (Photo by Hannah Curran)
- Baby Louise and Baby June in the opening scene of Gypsy. (Photo by Hannah Curran)