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With the new production of Gypsy now settling into its Broadway run, Audra McDonald visited The View on Thursday to discuss the acclaimed production. McDonald is receiving raves for her performance as Mama Rose, though she admits it wasn’t a role she was initially eager to take on.
“It’s not a desire I actually had,” the Tony-winner said on the daytime appearance. She went on to recall the story of how the late Gavin Creel was the person who inspired her to take on the hefty role years ago at a Thanksgiving gathering. “He said, ‘I want to talk to you about something!’ and he pulled me into the garage was like, ‘You need to play Mama Rose in Gypsy. Why shouldn’t it be a Black woman? You should really do it!”
After the seed of the idea was planted in her head, she had conversations with producers, eventually landing the role in the current production. “Gavin died the first day of rehearsal, but I feel that he is with us,” shared McDonald.
For the first time in the show’s history, the revival features Black performers in all three of the main roles, though McDonald points out that they “haven’t changed a single line [or] note. The story is the same… Rose is a single woman with two children in the 1920s with not many opportunities…You put that through the lens of a Black woman and it just hits differently.”
The performer also talked about what it was like having former Vice President Kamala Harris attend a performance in January of this year: “I don’t like knowing who’s in the audience because I don’t want to think about what they’re thinking about… so I didn’t know [she was there],” she explained. However, she learned of her visit during the intermission, which changed the way she performed Rose’s Turn during Act 2 of the performance. “I felt like the earth opened up from beneath my feet all the way to the top of my head. I don’t think I’ve ever sung the song as loudly as I did or have it come from such an emotional place.” Watch the full interview with the acclaimed performer here.
Audra McDonald is currently starring in Gypsy on Broadway alongside Tony Award Winner Danny Burstein, Joy Woods, Jordan Tyson, Kevin Csolak, Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita, Lili Thomas, Mylinda Hull, Jacob Ming-Trent, Kyleigh Vickers, Marley Lianne Gomes & Jade Smith, Natalie Wachen and Tryphena Wade.
Gypsy, suggested by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, is Broadway’s ultimate tale of mothers and daughters, ambition and fame, and the lengths we’ll go in pursuit of the American dream.
First premiering on Broadway in 1959, Gypsy features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was an instant classic, earning critical acclaim and establishing Mama Rose as one of the most coveted roles in musical theater.
George C. Wolfe’s new production of the classic musical features a book by Tony Award Winner Arthur Laurents, music by Tony and Academy Award Winner Jule Styne, and lyrics by Tony, Grammy, Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize Winner Stephen Sondheim, choreography by four-time Tony Award nominated Camille A. Brown, music direction, music supervision, and additional arrangements by Andy Einhorn, and additional orchestrations and arrangements by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters.
