Seeing Stars

As expected Gypsy was amazing! I took my boyfriend on a date to the show, and for someone who is not generally a Broadway Theater-goer, he really enjoyed the show and was quite pleased that I chose him to be my date.

What can I say? Patti Lupone is an unrivaled star of Broadway. Even from our less expensive seats in the nosebleed section, she still managed to reach us with every big note and subtle nuance of her performance. She's an effing powerhouse. 'Nuff said.

This revival reminded me of just how much I love this show. I know just about every lyric to every tune. I was originally introduced to the musical in '93 with the televised version of Gypsy which starred Bette Midler. She too could sing the shinola out of the assortment of show stoppers laced throughout. My dad even picked up a cast recording of the made for TV movie - and I played it on my stereo just about every other day before going to bed. aahhh...Those were good times.

Watching the show, I couldn't ignore how much some of the themes of the show especially resonate for me today. All of that "yearning to be a star" and "trying to keep the dream alive" stuff really hit me hard. I came very close to crying a couple of times - to be honest.

I don't know, the whole show just made me think about my life when things were simpler and a bit more hopeful. I would sing along to my "Gypsy" CD alone in my room, pretending that I was a star and hoping and believing that one day, I really would be one.

After the show, I returned home to practice a piece of music that I'm going to bring into my voice lesson tomorrow. The song is from the musical [title of show] and it's called "A Way Back to Then." Once again, art imitates life. Argh! I can't seem to escape these recurring themes!

Watch the video below to see what I mean...