The success of any production of Gypsy begins and ends with the casting of its central character.  You can have a first class ensemble, but if it’s the wrong Mamma Rose nothing can help it.  Ask film director Mervyn LeRoy. He ignored the original Rose, Ethel Merman, and instead cast Rosalind Russell, a decision that is said to have sent Merman into an apoplectic fit.  The film was a disaster, despite a good supporting cast.

This new production of Gypsy at the Phoenix Theatre has no such problem.  Kathy Fitzgerald, direct from Broadway’s Wicked where she played Madame Morrible, gives a power-house performance as the entertainment mother from hell who never quits, and while you occasionally hear echoes of Merman in some of the songs – they were written around Merman’s style – Fitzgerald is accomplished enough to make the role her own.  She has taken the challenge of one of the great roles of Broadway, grabbed it with both hands, and molded it into something quite unique.  But what’s really interesting about this performance is the effect it has had on the ensemble.

Whether anyone involved realized it or not, this is a cast that has forced itself to rise to the level of Fitzgerald’s accomplished performance, perhaps out of concern for not wanting to be left behind.  Everyone around Kathy Fitzgerald’s star turning presentation has upped the ante.  The end result is an outstanding production of one of Broadway’s truly great musicals, and one that may end up being considered the jewel in this year’s crowning season of shows at the Phoenix. 

Gypsy boasts a great score.  Jule Styne’s music is an outstanding array of memorable melodies – in Broadway terms almost every song is a hit - while Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics are truly a joy to the ear.  In Some People, Sondheim writes: Some people can thrive and bloom/Living life in a living room/That’s perfect for some people/Of one hundred and five.  And what makes the songs so great is the subtle sense of underlining drama behind the lyrics. 

For instance, the big number that closes the first half is a song written around Ethel Merman’s show-stopping style, guaranteed to bring the house down every night, Everything’s Coming Up Roses.  Mamma Rose has just received the devastating news that her daughter, the one she’s been grooming all this time, has married and eloped, while the rest of the showbiz act has resigned and left.  All that is left is a distraught Rose, her business manager, Herb and the untalented daughter, Louise, who should really be at school.  Any normal person would consider this the end of the line, but not Mamma Rose.  With unstoppable confidence, she announces she’ll start all over again, only this time she’ll make Louise the star, then bursts into Roses, while behind her, Louise and Herb look on, horrified.  All they can do is console each other with hugs, knowing they’ll have to face a future that neither of them wants, while Mamma continues to declare that Everything’s coming up roses and daffodils/Everything’s coming up sunshine and Santa Claus.  It was always powerful theatre, and at the Phoenix, under Michael Barnard’s direction and Kathy Fitzgerald’s perfect delivery, the scene remains just as powerful, and as horrifyingly effective as ever. 

The theme that parents will eventually need to be taken care of by the children - which is what happens when Louise unexpectedly hits the big time - and tables will be reversed may not have the same musical appeal as The Sound of Music or a My Fair Lady, especially when its central character can be such an obnoxious force of nature living in her own delusional bubble, but Gypsy remains among the best of what Broadway can offer, and this Phoenix Theatre production does it justice.  The show opened over a week ago.  Get your tickets now before it’s too late.