Gypsy – The Mill at Sonning
Gypsy, which premiered in 1959, is loosely based on the 1957 memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee (1911-1970), highly successful American burlesque stripper. It has been revived many times and the story is very familiar – the championing of one child at the expense of the other by the pushiest mother in musical theatre and probably in real life too.
A cast of fourteen, several of whom are actor musos working with the off stage four-piece band led by Francis Good-hand on keys, bring an intimacy to what is effectively a family drama.
Rebecca Thornhill has real star quality as Mama Rose. A vulnerable bundle of insecurities desperate to live out her thwarted dreams through her daughters, she glitters with pentup emotion and packs every note of every number with feeling especially in “Rose’s Turn” which ends the show.
Evelyn Hoskins excels as Louise too – the quiet sister forced unwillingly onto the stage after her sister’s departure. She develops the character from timid terror to confident panache as she morphs into Gypsy Rose
