Gypsy’s a smash at Westchester Broadway Theatre
By Gary Chattman

“You Gotta Have a Gimmick” is a song in the show Gypsy, currently at the Westchester Broadway Theatre, sung by Mazeppa, Electra and Tessie Tura, and this production definitely has a gimmick: Her name is Karen Mason, a 2002 Drama Desk winner, for Mamma Mia. This actress is a dynamo!

Whenever the actress is on stage, it is truly a show-stopper! You get so caught up in the plot of this exceptional musical and forget you are watching a play, because of this performance. Mason plays the part of stage-mother Mama Rose, insistently driving her young daughters through the fading vaudeville circuit of the 1920’s. Her favorite, Baby June runs away and elopes, and she then turns her attention to the “ugly” one—Louise. With the help of her agent/boyfriend Herbie (Rick Hilsabeck), she tries to turn “untalented” Louise into a star, and eventually Louise becomes the world-famous stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee.

This show, with book by Arthur Laurents, boasts one of the best Broadway scores. Every song by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim is a familiar one, from “Some People” to “Little Lamb” to “Let Me Entertain You”, and finally to the show-stopping “Rose’s Turn” which electrifies the audience because Mason electrifies the audience.

The quality of the shows performed in Elmsford by the Westchester Broadway Theatre is often superior to the Broadway product of 2007, but this performance even exceeds the recent Bernadette Peter Mama Rose incarnation. There’s also a fine supporting cast. Rick Hilsabeck as Herbie plays Rose’s foil to perfection; Kelli Barrett, as Louise, blossoms from second fiddle to star because of her empathetic acting and singing ability; Sarah Peak, as June; Jordan Nichols as Tulsa (who runs away with Baby June) are terrific dancers, actors and singers. I could go on to mention the other show-stopping moment, when Mazeppa (Inga Ballard), Electra (Kathryn Kendall) and Tessie Tura(Ann Ngaire Martin) teach Louise that in order to be a good stripper, “You Gotta Have a Gimmick”. I could also mention the superlative direction and choreography by Richard Stafford; the lighting (as usual) by Andrew Gmoser; the costumes by Gail Baldoni, and the great set design by George Puello and Steven Loftus. I could tell you to run, not walk, to get tickets to see this show and I’ll do just that. Click here for more information.