Metro, December 2019
Three stars
There’s a desperately sad moment in Gypsy where Louise (Melissa James), most of her way through her transformation from shy youngster shunning the limelight to the burlesque queen “Gypsy Rose Lee”, has a moment of clarity. Surveying the years on the vaudeville circuit her mother has imposed, she wails: “I thought you did it all for me.”
That Rose has more selfish, manipulative ambitions – and she admits it – is at the dark heart of Sondheim’s Gypsy, set in the dying days of vaudeville. It’s a feature of this production that Ria Jones, if not exactly playing Rose for laughs, is a gentler presence: less manically driven matriarch, more mildly pushy, slightly cheeky mother. After all, this is a woman who effectively encourages her daughter to turn to titillation as a last chance for some kind of showbusiness stardom.
So when Jones finally brings the house down with a brilliant, brassy Rose’s Turn – “Mama’s doing fine… Mama doesn’t care” – it does feel a little like it’s come about three hours too late. Not that there aren’t plenty of high points along the way, not least a beautifully gentle scene between Louise and a soaring, supple Tulsa (Louis Gaunt) which is full of grace and wonder at the magic of theatre.
Gaunt’s captivating performance during All I Need Is The Girl is a reminder, in fact, that musicals are difficult in the round. Director Jo Davie has admitted as much and the solution – a rotating proscenium arch – is a good and vibrant one. And there is plenty to enjoy here. Whether that marries with vulnerable, tough underbelly to the story, though, is the key to whether this Gypsy will last long in the memory.
