Gypsy Review

Congratulations to the cast of Gypsy, what a surprising performance. I found out about this show from a work colleague who is one of the directors. I was sceptical that a community theater could pay Gypsy justice as this is a difficult and large scale production, but I was happily impressed. Being from the U.S I am used to witnessing bakers, drug store clerks, secretaries and other town folk coming together to put on a community show. What lacked in style certainly made up for in humor and enthusiasm. Which is why I was unsure as to what to expect from this show, but Australians seem to take a different approach to community theater which is much closer to a professional show. Is this the case in all community theater here? I have grown up with this show and have seen 3 different versions of it (Including the Broadway revival performance by Patti Lupone) and it was great to see that the cast were able to capture the spirit of the show and even provide some very different interpretations. A lot of the humor of this show was lost, however there were moments of emotion that were captured that I have never seen before in Gypsy so it was quite refreshing to see a different take on it. Without going into too much detail with each scene there were some special moments and in general there was a real connection between the characters. Accents weren’t great at times, but I’m going to be to be a nitpick about these aren’t I. The characters were well cast with notable performances given by Rose and Louise. The children were enthusiastic and were even out selling programmes before the performance. I hope they were paid equity. The costumes were vibrant and suitably theatrical. A great job with the chorus girls, Louise, Mazeppa, Tessie Tura and Electra. (who as in every production of Gypsy always get boisterous applause for their Gimmick number, and its not hard to see why. Well done). The sets were imaginative and well painted and the animals on stage were the icing on the cake for me, a risky choice but it paid off. My only real criticism of the show was the volume of noise you could hear backstage during the performance and the Orchestra sounded a bit off in a few songs, But all in all, this was a very enjoyable afternoon of theater. Thank you Gypsy for a fun performance and for giving me faith in community theater. You have converted me to see more community shows in Perth. Regards Sue:)