A Reflection on Motherhood and Ambition in a Groundbreaking Broadway Revival
Photo Credit: Julieta Cervante
The desire to give your child everything one can, never dies. Especially when those means are beyond what you currently have. Audra McDonald’s Rose in the Broadway revival of “Gypsy” Directed by George C. Wolfe carried a special connection for me, by telling the story of a single mother of two daughters pushing them the way she hadn’t been pushed. By the end of the musical it is clear that Rose lacked the helicopter-stage-mom she became, who sacrificed her own dignity at times, eating dog food, as an example. Rose had the itch – the show business bug, and whether her daughters were naturally inclined or not, she never stopped pushing them. Audra’s brilliance combined with Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics, Jule Styne’s music and Arthur Laurents’ book make this a production one doesn’t want to miss.
This was the first time that a Black family has portrayed the roles of Rose, June Bug and Louise, and for a single Black mom, the production was a haunting reminder of the desperation I sometimes feel over both simple and complex things. I had only seen the Bette Midler version on television, and listened to the Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone revivals. I love Bette Midler and understood the parenting struggle she portrayed, but with Audra, it felt as if she was speaking directly to me. She was telling my story, and with this shift in casting, a new generation and audience can now see themselves in a timeless Broadway tale at the Majestic Theater.
A Black woman moving her daughters and children they’ve picked up along the way from venue to venue does more than reveal the show business bug, but gives us a taste of the challenges Black mothers face, regardless of occupation. There’s not overt mention of racism in Wolfe’s production, however the predominantly white audience was eerily quiet during the troupe’s tribute to Uncle Sam that teetered the line between vaudeville and it’s predecessor, the minstrel show. For a moment, it felt as if we were in a scene from Wolfe’s classic, “The Colored Museum”. We knew what was going on, but none of us enjoyed the overtly patriotic elements until the kids grew older, and even then the applause was sparse. It was a reminder of how polarizing our current climate is, that even within a Broadway show, far removed from the world of our election, applauding anything that uplifts a figure representing our government was far from entertaining. This, coupled with the feeling that this mother had lost a sense of reality around their legitimate daily struggle and her children’s desires was the shock. She pushed as June aged and encouraged the silent audience to applaud amidst her winks and cartwheels, but nothing was funny.
It could have felt tragic for this Black woman to be carting these children around the country alone, until Rose meets Herbie, her longtime fiancé, played by Danny Burstein.
I could not help but understand that desire for a sense of stability and family she sought for her girls. A father to provide – a man that would remain with her, and stand by her side. A support system and someone to challenge her that was not an exhausted pre-teen, teen, or even a young woman. The boundaries and perceived abandonment by the adult June, played by Jordan Tyson, the daughter Rose considered to be “the star”, was ultimately the pivot that caused Rose to see Louise, the daughter she had overlooked that garnered her name up in lights the way she would have wished for herself. Joy Woods’ to Uncle Sam, showing how the children aged. Clumsy and shy, her portrayal of Louise blossomLouise was someone to watch from the moment she timidly appears during the awkwardly silent tribute ed as part of a family, unlike we’d seen with June. She wasn’t afraid to make mistakes, as she’d been making them her entire life, and she wasn’t afraid to stand up to her mother, and tell her what’s what.
This production felt like connecting with people I understand – their struggles and desires felt so close to mine. Audra’s embodiment of Rose’s rage, the way her voice captures the thirst for more for her family was emotional at times. Rose may not have been written as a Black woman, but a Black woman added a complexity to her story that lives in a 1920s world where most Black women couldn’t even vote.
The children danced for their lives, thanks to Camille Brown’s choreography. One can never ignore her take on this Broadway gem. I’ve experienced Brown’s work for a number of years now. From a Masterclass at Harlem Stage with her dance company during the late 2000s to our working together on Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf” in 2019 at The Public Theater, where I was the production’s Line Producer, and had the privilege of writing the program’s dramaturgy note. At first glance, “Gypsy” might appear to be a departure from Brown’s body of work, and yet, I felt the movements, particularly in the group numbers. I saw how hard they were all working, how ambitious these children were on the circuit. In the end, what Rose had that was untapped – what she could have been as a performer, and what she tried to give her children instead,
was portrayed in “Rose’s Turn” at the end of Act II.
When I think Black storytelling through dance for the Broadway stage, Camille Brown has worked to place her name, and the names of her associates like Chloe Davis, “Gypsy’s”Associate Choreographer, at the top. This collective of colleagues, also includes “A Wonderful World’s” Choreographer Rickey Tripp, to “Suffs’ “ Mayte Natalio has a strong bond, and I revel in seeing their continued success.
The Wolfe-Brown duo created memorable performances by character actors, like Jacob Ming-Trent. While Ming-Trent’s signature locs were no longer, in this production, he brought us into the world of the show by boisterously telling us to “SHUT UP”, and for “All Mothers” to get “out”, as our MC, Jocko, of “Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show”. Jacob’s command of the space and the kids told me that the audience was in for a treat with his welcoming chuckle.
Wanting a better life for one’s child lasts from the time they are born until either of you leave the other’s life. Rose did just that. Louise, who ultimately understood her mother’s sacrifices, remarked, after “Rose’s Turn”, “You really would have been something, Mother.”[…] “If you had had someone to push you like I had …” Even in those final moments, Rose’s vulnerability is only allowed to peek through for a moment before she settles into the life she helped create for her daughter. The mark of her hard work and love, settled, even for just a moment.
Keywords: Gypsy, Audra McDonald, Broadway, Motherhood, Camille Brown
#Broadway #GypsyMusical #AudraMcDonald
