Shawnee on Delaware, PA “Rebel Stages presents its biggest musical yet. Gypsy at the historic and award-winning Shawnee Playhouse. GYPSY runs Friday April 1st and runs through April 3rd
Gypsy is a 1959 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. It is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business mother." It follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise two daughters to perform onstage and casts an affectionate eye on the hardships of show business life. The character of Louise is based on Lee, and the character of June is based on Lees sister, the actress June Havoc.
The musical contains many songs that became popular standards, including "Everythings Coming up Roses", "Together (Wherever We Go)", "Small World", "You Gotta Get a Gimmick", "Let Me Entertain You", "All I Need Is the Girl", and "Roses Turn". It is frequently considered one of the crowning achievements of the mid-20th centurys conventional musical theatre art form, often called the "book musical".
Gypsy has been referred to as the greatest American musical by numerous critics and writers, among them Ben Brantley who wrote "what may be the greatest of all American musicals¦" , Frank Rich, who wrote that "Gypsy is nothing if not Broadways own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear.", and Clive Barnes who wrote that "Gypsy is one of the best of musicals¦" and described the character of Rose as "one of the few truly complex characters in the American musical¦.".
The musical stars Gillian Turner as Rose. It also stars Deanna Badik as Louise, David Arzberger as Herbie, Genesis Harper as Dainty June, Isabelle Hillsky as Baby June, Isabella Long as Young Louise, Marcell Mckenzie as Tulsa, Benjamin Salinas as Mr. Weber/ Electra, Roy Wilbur as Pop/Patsey/Goldstone, Jillian Dente as Agnes/Ensemble, Andi Schubert as LA/Ensemble, Denise Joyner as Cratchitt, William McClosky as Yonkers, Jules Gindraux as Uncle Jocko/Kansas/Cigar, Midge McClosky as Tessie Tura, Elizabeth Mcdonald as Mazeppa, Gabriella Solan as Marjori May, Gray Schatzman as Vladimir and Claire Schubert as Kate the Balloon Girl. The musical is directed and choreographed by Brandon Hanks with stage management by Mary Bolan and music direction by Nancy Broadbent
8pm Apr 1, 2
2pm Apr 2, 3
$22 Admission
For information or to reserve tickets please go to www.theshawneeplayhouse.com or call 570-421-5093. Also follow us on Instagram and/or Facebook.