Audra McDonald is turning in another masterclass performance on the Broadway stage, this time filling the shoes of Gypsy’s iconic stage mom Mama Rose at the Majestic Theatre. In George C. Wolfe’s new revival, Joy Woods and Jordan Tyson play Louise and June, respectively, shining as blindingly brightly as their showbiz characters, alongside Danny Burstein’s charmingly nervous Herbie. From the first blare of the horns in the overture through to Audra’s 11 o’clock delivery of “Rose’s Turn,” the momentum sweeps the audience up and takes them along for the ride.
The costumes by Toni-Leslie James take us convincingly from ragged hand-me-downs to opulent gowns, with a particularly stunning showing for Louise’s strip sequence. While Gypsy has long been a mainstay of musical theatre, Wolfe’s revival finds new layers of intimacy and immediacy with this casting, layering in new elements with a fresh focus on Black performers in the Vaudevillian era. One should not pass up the opportunity to witness Broadway royalty take on this beloved material in a new and exciting way.