Audra McDonald is going to star in a new production of Gypsy opening just before Christmas this year. That oughta fill the Majestic Theater every night…but then again, if they just had her singing songs on that stage every night, there wouldn't be any empty seats either. I hope some of you watched the Audra concert I linked to yesterday here. She's really an extraordinary performer.
Not that it matters one bit but I dunno how I feel about another revival of Gypsy. Tickets will probably cost an arm, a leg and several other body parts. I get the feeling Broadway has adopted the new basic marketing principle of Las Vegas: "No matter how much we charge, someone will pay it!" One of these days, they'll mount a show starring Audra and Hugh Jackman and it won't matter what it is or how good it is, the ticket price will be a reverse mortgage on your home.
Gypsy is a show I admire from afar. Love the score. Love the book. Loved some off-off-off-off-Broadway productions I've seen of it. Didn't like the movie. Didn't like the one revival of it I've seen on the N.Y. stage, which was the one with Patti LuPone. The production had a cheap feel to me and though we had great seats, Carolyn kept whispering to me to ask what Ms. LuPone had just said.
The best version I've been able to see of the show was the video of the West End production starring Imelda Staunton. There was talk of her doing it in New York but that never happened. Here's a little taste of it. Imagine what Audra will do with this number…