Theatre
Gypsy, The Savoy Theatre, London
William Russell
five stars
Jonathan Kent's production of this splendid musical is just about as good as it gets. Gypsy's score by Jule Styne has a series of stunning numbers, the book by Arthur Laurents based loosely on the life of the stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee, is beautifully constructed, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics are witty and brilliant.
But those are givens of any staging. The problem with Gypsy is it demands a diva to play the role of Momma Rose, the stage mother from hell, who dragged her daughters Louise and Baby June round the sticks of Vaudeville in the 1920s. Musical divas are few, but this production has one. Imelda Staunton, who delivers a power house of a performance, has a voice which, albeit helped by a superb sound system, could shake the rafters and she does more than sing superbly. With matchless skill, she creates a flawed, sad and very difficult woman living the life she wants through her hapless children.
Peter Davison as Herbie, the man in her life, and Lara Pulver as the ugly duckling Louise, who was to be transformed into the most successful stripper of her time, provide excellent support in what is not just a one woman show. There are other delights - the three strippers, Electra, Tessie Tura and Mazeppa, the one who does it with a horn, are hilarious; as Tulsa, the boy who helps Baby June run away, Dan Burton dances almost like an Astaire in the All I Need us a Girl number; and the sets by Anthony Ward are a miracle of swift, clever transformations. But that said, the night belongs to Imelda Staunton, a whirlwind of talent and seemingly boundless energy sweeping all before her.
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