Recently, I attended Theatre Coppell’s GYPSY musical, based off the memoirs written by Gypsy Rose Lee. As a middle-school theatre student for 2 years, a consistant attendee to live shows, and someone who loves music and dance, this production fit all my requirements of the perfect musical.
The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee
Rose Louise Hovick, born in 1911 and better known as Gypsy Rose Lee, was an American burlesque (a type of theatrical entertainment developed during the 19th-20th century, focusing on parody, exaggeration, and striptease. These were limited to adults.) entertainer, actress, author, and playwright. Ironically, as a young girl, she was never the star of the show. Her widowed mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, dreamt of becoming an actress as a child, but was too poor to. She decided to make her daughters actresses in place of her.
June Hovick, her first daughter and Louise’s sister, was the first to begin her journey to stardom. June began her acting career in vaudeville, which is the term for family-friendly productions . She also played roles in Hollywood films. In 1920, Rose began her own act for June; Dainty June and her Newsboys. While June was away acting with their mother, Louise was neglected for many years and overshadowed by her sister. Little did she know, Louise’s life was about to change from being a poor, neglected child to her mother’s life support and renowned star.
June left Rose and Louise, getting eloped to Bobby Reed in 1928 and pursuing her own career, out of her mother’s hold and finally beginning her own life. After this series of events, this meant that Louise would become the center of Rose’s dream of having a successful actress daughter. They tried to continue the Dainty June and her Newsboys act, but it simply couldn’t work. The newsboys left the act after June left. Even if they could get new boys to act, Louise didn’t have the physical agility, short, baby-like appearance, and high-energy dancing skills.
In the late 1920s, Rose created a new act: Madame Rose’s Dancing Daughters, later The Hollywood Blondes. It featured young girls dancing in the background while Louise sang in the front. But this act was generic and lacked the originality and excitement of June’s act, which featured astonishingly complex dances and toe-dancing.
Apart from the stun-lacking idea of Rose’s, vaudeville was declining. At this time, sound in film was introduced. Theaters realized that it was cheaper to play a 5-star Broadway show on repeat on movie screens, rather than pay actors and dancers for every show. Second, the Great Depression in 1929 caused most American families to not be able to afford theater tickets, so everyone switched to cinemas, which were significantly cheaper. You’d probably think that vaudeville could just become a cinema show or something like that; and they did try that for a while. Vaudeville acts were put at the openings of cinema shows. But after a while, the acts had to be cut down shorter and shorter until they were no longer a thing.
After the fall of vaudeville, Rose and Louise were running out of time to make money. They accepted a booking at a sketchy theater, which turned out to be a burlesque theater. Obviously, the young girls couldn’t perform there! But Louise wasn’t ready to give up; this was her last chance to make money. So, Louise performed an improvised burlesque act. The crowd loved her.
It worked. Even though Rose wasn’t happy, Louise found a way to make money. She took on the stage name of Gypsy Rose Lee, and after 1932, became one of the most famous burlesque performers of the time.
In the end, despite Rose spending years trying to make Louise her dream daughter, Louise was only able to succeed after finding her own path; which required listening to herself. By embracing her own stage presence, she was able to create a future for herself that neither her nor her mother expected. Her story proves the importance of resilience and confidence no matter the situation.
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Character Development
This production was a mix of entertaining, glamor, vintage, and thought-provoking. All the actors were exeptional, and the singing and music was out of this world. I’ll begin by writing about the character development. For June, she was very excited to be an actress as a young girl. I find it interesting that even though she knew that the acts were often watered-down and repetitive, she continued to do them for her mother. She always cared for and loved Louise, but I was disappointed with her abrupt exit from her life. But, she did need to begin her own career. I find June a character who isn’t afraid of struggle, and who is there for her family when needed.
Moving on to Louise, she was very neglected as a child. She clearly wanted to be an actress like June; but deep inside, she knew that her sister couldn’t be replaced. Also, Louise never saw herself as anything; not talented, not pretty. This seems to be the doing of her mother; not putting enough effort into Louise and instilling the belief to believe in herself as well as her sister. After Louise got the opportunity to be like her sister, she made sure not to waste it. Like her sister, she worked hard to make their mother’s dream possible. From the beginning to the end, she upheld the transition from shy and yearing, to determined and emotionally strong.
Rose was honestly the most controversal character. Of course, every mother wants their child to suceed, and she wanted her daughters to be rich and have what she didn’t have growing up. It didn’t seem like she had any bad intentions, but she never understood how her risky decisions were effecting her daughter’s lives. Neglecting your daughter, overworking and not paying your staff, and being controlling definitely crossed a line, but at that time period, where film was evolving and the Great Depression was creeping closer, I’d her measures were somewhat reasonable.
Something that I wish was featured more in the musical would be Rose’s childhood. I think that an understanding of her intentions for her daughters would help me understand the story more. Maybe a little prologue about her unfullfilled dreams, and then a transition to the present. I’d also love to see a reunition of the girls and Rose; I wonder if Rose would’ve reflected on what she did as a mother. I’d especially love to know more about June’s career after abruptly leaving; I suppose I will read more about that soon.
I definitely recommend watching Gypsy. The historical background, non-modern perspective, beautiful singing, and the simply absolutely shocking plot make this a must-see. This was the first production I’ve watched in Theatre Coppell, and I’ll surely come back for more. I now realize that it is truely important to be an active member of your community. It offers so much talent, variety, and people that are worth seeing.