By Frank O’Donnell
“Gypsy,” the musical currently on stage at Ocean State Theatre in Warwick, is loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous ecdysiast of her day.
But more than being a story about a striptease artist, it’s the story of a dominating mother who wants stardom for her daughter. Not both of them, just one will do. And in “Gypsy,” we have the story of the stage mother from hell, driven at all costs – including stealing from her own father – to get what she needs in order for her daughter to succeed.
Rose (Amiee Turner) is not a very nice person. She says she lives for her daughters, but she’s really all about June (played by Victoria Cardi as the annoyingly-cute youngster and Juliette Sallaway as the young adult). All she wants, she says at one point, is to get June’s name up in lights so big “it will last my whole life.”
Meanwhile, Louise (played by Abigail Paige as a youngster, and Kristin Wetherington as a young adult) lives in June’s shadow, working in the musical revues as a clumsy dancer or the front-end of a horse.
When June leaves without warning, Rose is forced to push Louise toward the stardom she’d planned for June. But all roads lead to The Bottom – a burlesque house in Wichita – where a last-moment chance turns Louise into the striptease artist who became the toast of the town wherever she performed.
Russell Garrett’s choreography and direction is tight, moving along at a nice pace. There’s an especially good strobe-aided transition right on stage from the young cast to the adult cast in the middle of a musical number. Given the number of songs in the show that are well-known outside the context of the show, Justin P. Cowan’s musical direction is amazingly faithful. Many of these have become classics, even to those (myself included) who had never seen the show before.
The set and costumes (by Kimberly V. Powers and Brian Horton, respectively) are terrific – you get a real feel for the timeframe, and that helps a lot.
Christopher Swann’s Herbie – Rose’s love interest and the booking agent for Rose’s acts – has a very nice chemistry with Rose, especially in their duet, “You’ll Never Get Away from Me.” He brings a bit of humanity to Rose – something she’s perhaps lost along the way in pursuit of her dream for her girls.
Jennifer Mischley does a very nice job with two very different parts. The first as a very condescending and sarcastic producer’s secretary who refers to Rose as “The Mother.” The second as Electra, one of the strippers Louise meets at The Bottom.
Mischley teams up with two other strippers – Tamra Stephenson as the trumpet-playing Mazeppa and Taryn Mallard-Reid as the tassel-thumping Tessie Tura – for a very funny rendition of “You Gotta Have a Gimmick.”
Wetherington is excellent as Louise/Gypsy, handling the ill-at-ease eternal optimist very well. Her transition to Gypsy is convincingly awkward, and when she develops confidence in herself and her act, she is a tigress. Oddly, she doesn’t get to sing much, but when she does, in “Little Lamb,” she is very good.
The show rides on the shoulders of Turner’s Rose, and she’s up for it. There’s really not a lot to like about this woman who sees and plays every angle. There are some glimpses of humanity when she’s with Herbie, but it’s more about her whirlwind energy, even if it’s not entirely selfless.
Turner is a blur at times – as a driven Rose ought to be – and really gets to shine when she gets to belt, with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” to close the first act, and “Rose’s Turn” to close the show.
If you’ve never seen “Gypsy,” here’s your chance to find out what it’s all about. If you have seen it, you won’t be disappointed with this production.
[Ocean State Theatre Company presents “Gypsy” through August 2 at the theater on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick. For complete details, visit www.oceanstatetheatre.org or call the box office at 401-921-6800.]
