Gypsy. Book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne,lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The Mill at Sonning Eye near Reading until 15 July 2023. 4****. William Russell
Rebecca Thornhill gives a five star performance as Mama Rose in this lavishly staged revival directed by Joseph Pitcher. She gets good support from a hard working cast. Daniel Crowder as Herbie, the salesman who becomes the manager of the troupe of children Rose runs on the vaudeville circuit starring her daughter June manages to create something sympathetic out of a part which often gets overwhelmed by the diva playing Mama and Thornhill gives her all to the part. Her two daughters are in the troupe. Baby June is the star and after she escaped - quite simply she grew up -ended up a minor Hollywood film star as June Hovak. Her sister Louise, left behind, and showing no sign of any talent whatsoever other than being rather good at sewing and playing part of a cow, which featured in the ghastly act Mama ran, turns out, however, to be her mother's daughter. In this version of their lives the troupe ended up playing a burlesque theatre, someone had to stand in for a missing stripper, and Gypsy Rose Lee was born.
The show is notable not just for its score but also for having a well constructed book and is arguably the best musical Stephen Sondheim had anything to do with - he wrote the lyrics. The Mill seems to have spared no expense, set designer Jason Denvir has completely transformed the stage area so that Thornhill gets lots of space to dominate, and there is a very good band under Francis Goodhand doing full justice to the score. Evelyn Hoskins makes a sweetly oppressed ugly duckling as Louise but when she is transformed into quite a different bird at the end dress designer Natalie Titchner has come up with two dresses that are spectacularly ugly and several that are just plain ugly. This is odd because everyone else gets very well dressed - including Mama. As revivals go this is a very good one indeed, worth the trek to Sonning which is a dinner theatre establishment with 4**** food.
Daniel Crowder -Herbie; Evelyn Hoskins - Louise; Samuel How - La; Huna McCreery-NJH - Kansas; Seren Sandham-Davies - Agnes; Marina Tavolieri - June; Rebecca Thornhill - Rose; Laura Tyrer - Tessie; Susannah Van Den Berg - Mazeppa; Joseph Vella - Yonkers; Charles Waddell-Tulsa; Natalie Winnsor - Electra; Brendan Cull - Standby. Young June - Mia Burton; Young Louise - Aimee Brain; Young Newsboys - George Clarke, Joshua Howe ; Samuel Logan.
Director - Joseph Pitcher; Associate Choreographers - Alex Christian & Rachel Nolan; Set Designer - Jason Denver; Musical Director - Francis Goodhand; Costume Designer - Natalie Titchener; Sound Designer - Chris Whybrow; Lighting Designer - Nic Farman.
Musicians - Tim Maxwell-Clarke; Callum White; Alexia Barbera Joe Atkin-Reeves.
Production photographs - Andreas Lambis.
