Ross Valley Players and the Mountain Play present the timeless music of Jules Styne and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim with Gypsy, A Musical Fable running November 11 to December 18 at the Barn Theater in Ross.
The story is suggested by the memoirs Gypsy Rose Lee, a stage mother who is “always plotting and planning her daughter June’s rise to stardom and desperately reaching to feel the spotlight herself,” according to Director/Choreographer Zoe Swenson-Graham. Mama Rose is “blindly ambitious, closed off, and complex” making the role a challenge for any actor. Dyan McBride rises to the occasion with a fine performance. Her command of the stage is immediate and her acting and singing is enchanting. DC Scarpelli is no less charming in the role of Herbie, a former agent who agrees to become the act’s manager/promoter.
Alexandra Fry is cute and funny as the younger Baby June and Julia Ludwig is equally good as the older “Dainty” June. In Act One Baby June and “Her Newsboys” (the real name of the 1920’s traveling vaudeville act) sing and dance their hearts out with hits like “Let Me Entertain You” and “Small World.” Jill Jacobs gives a standout performance as June’s plain sister Louise in Act One. In Act Two she transforms into the burlesque star, Gypsy Rose Lee.
Kudos to the show’s Music Director Jon Gallo and Adriana Gutierrez for her lovely vintage costume designs. Eileen Grady (Mountain Play Association Executive Director & Artistic Producer) and Steve Price (RVP Executive Producer) deserve applause as well for the time and talent they give to this production.
Coming up next at Ross Valley Players is Ross Alternative Works’ production of Reservations, a new play by Joe Barison, directed by Michael R Cohen January 27-February 12, 2023.
Flora Lynn Isaacson (with Lori Wood)
