Often referred to as the greatest American musical, Colonia High School’s theater department brought to life the hilarious and entertaining play, Gypsy.
Written in 1959, the play Gypsy tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. Winning the Tony Award for Best Revival in 1989 as well as Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival in 2016. It is based on the autobiography, Gypsy: A Memoir, written by Gypsy Rose Lee, a famous striptease artist, and about her uprising to who she is today, published in 1957.
CHS’ theater department blew the audience away with their outstanding cast and crew when bringing to life this whimsical musical. Throughout the entire play, the pit band kept the music lively and never sounded dull, they really set the mood. The band’s energetic and vibrant music had you practically dancing in your seat. Along with that, they also played well with the performers. There have been plays where the singers and the people playing their instruments are not in time together. Often they are overpowering one another as if they are fighting to be louder, yet Gypsy didn’t have that issue. They clicked together harmoniously which was pleasant to the ear.
As for the singers, they sang phenomenally. Two of the main characters, Louise – played by Julia Paradizova – and Rose – played by Lexii Turk- were incredible. And in all honesty, describing them as incredible could even be an understatement. The rest of the cast performed extremely well too and left me stunned by all of their sheer talent. There was only one bad thing I could say about this performance. There were a few times during songs, where the microphone would almost freak out while someone was singing. But the only reason that happened was because that performer would belt out singing or hit a real powerful note. In reality some of those actresses didn’t even need a microphone because their projection without it was amazing.
Acting is obviously a key part in plays. If a performer isn’t convincing, the audience notices. And although there may of have one or two incidences like this, over all, the cast’s acting was superb. Something I noticed throughout the play was that all the performers had great chemistry together.
They really got the audience to get into the play. For example, when Rose and Herbie (played by Turk and Anthony Piccininni) first meet and sing their duet, you believe their connection is real. Towards the end, when Herbie leaves Rose, I was shocked. I don’t know about the rest of the audience, but I didn’t know what to expect from this play, so during this scene, I was a mess. From cow puns to strippers, this hilariously entertaining play Gypsy is definitely going to be remembered for a long time.
