Reviewed by Lynne Rominger / Sacramento Stage & Theatre

    As a child, my grandmother bought me the music to Gypsy and used to sit attentively as I took on all roles in the musical, belting out “Everything’s Coming up Roses,” as well as an eight-year-old can imitate Ethel Merman. Certainly, I received tremendous applause from my Broadway-loving grandmother, and  in my mind’s eye, my “production” was magnificent, right down to my childish interpretation of a Burlesque stripper’s costume (Hey, these were the days before video games!).
    Thirty years later, I feasted on a real and truly magnificent production of the play that chronicles the ultimate stage mother and her effect on her talented daughters, dragging them from one Vaudevillian stage to the next, always with her eye on the Orpheum circuit.
I can’t say anything derogatory about Music Circus’s second show of the season—at all.
   Everything from the acting to the vocals, the stage direction to the lighting, and the costumes to the conductor were pitch perfect opening night!
    Let’s begin with the conductor.  Part of the joy of watching Gypsy revolved around askance glances to the pit, where Musical Director Michael Rice clearly immersed himself in the mood and music.  His almost over-the-top gesticulations make for a show in itself.  More importantly, he leads the orchestra well, each note right on target. 
    Next stop on this Vaudeville tour? Vocals.  Who knew that Vicki Lewis, best known to audiences as Beth on NBC’s Newsradio for six seasons, had such incredible pipes! The woman can belt out a tune on par with the best of them.  In fact, I preferred her rendition of Rose over any—including Merman’s—portrayal.  She brought both humor and pathos to her role. Though she’d give any pageant mother a run for her hairspray and make-up these days, the audience cannot condemn her.
    Lewis elicits compassion for Rose and her desire for something bigger and better for her children. And again, Lewis’s vocals will send chills through you. Indeed, she earned a standing ovation for her performance at the conclusion of the musical with “Rose’s Turn.”
    Along with Lewis, the Burlesque strippers, especially the Roman trumpeter, Mazeppa (Pia C. Glenn) steal the show.  She brings a bawdy vitality to her role.  Electra (Mia Price) is priceless as the “illuminating” stripper, with lights flashing in all the right places to play perfectly on the comedic appeal of this play.  No where are the costumes more “intriguing” than with the Burlesque strippers, but that isn’t to say that the costumes over all aren’t amazing.  They are.  From the cow costume that Louise must don when her mother takes the show to a country level to the period clothes worn by Rose, the details are amazing and often add to the sense of fun.  See this play strictly for the patriotic costumes that the children wear.  You’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry, especially with June (Kelly D. Felthous).Clad in child-like attire coupled with an incredibly high-pitched falsetto to fake her age for “Momma,” Felthous brings down the house.  She not only portrays the cartoonish freakishness that her mother insists upon, even as she ages, but also “kills” with each number.
    Perhaps one of the best moments of the musical occurs when June and Louise (Alexis Carra) perform “If Momma Was Married.”  Felthous and Carra’s voices mesh perfectly.  The tone and pitch melding in intense melody and vibration.  One cannot walk away from this production without discussing the use of props and lighting.  Ingenious is the word that comes to mind.  When Rose, for example, is stealing silverware from a Chinese restaurant, the bag which carries the goods clangs and makes the audience cringe and then laugh.  Hands on hats also work beautifully.  Nothing on stage is purposeless, the actors involving their performance with each item, especially cool on the limited and small Music Circus stage.
    Beyond the props, Lighting Designer Kyle Lemoi needs a mention.  His MFA in lighting design from the University of Washington shows brilliantly—especially in the clever and creative way in which he used lighting to transition the cast from children to adults.  No spoiler here.  You must go see it!  Take some advice from Rose.  At one point she says, “Anyone that stays home is dead.”  Don’t stay home.  Go see this production of Gypsy and feel alive!
    Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m.  Tickets for all Music Circus shows are $53 for Friday and Saturday evenings, $50 for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings and Saturday matinees, and $41 for Thursday matinees.
    Gypsy is recommended for theatre-goers 14 and over (mostly due to the sexual innuendo inherent in the strip world).  Tickets are currently on sale at the Wells Fargo Pavilion at 1419 H Street, Sacramento, (916) 557-1999.  Tickets are also available online at www.SacramentoMusicCircus.com or by calling (800) 225-2277.  For groups of 12 or more call (916) 557-1198.

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