Hammer Entertainment will light up the stage at the Citadel Theatre this weekend with their production of the musical, Gypsy. This musical is a special one of its kind in the way that it examines the complexities of the ever-evolving theatre world.
A musical highly praised for its zest and gusto, Gypsy takes Vaudeville and cranks it up a notch. Unlike the quite commonly accepted notion that musicals are cheesy, this musical goes a little deeper than that.
“Gypsy kind of has a bit of everything that I really love about theatre, it has big flashy show-stopping numbers, but it also has the drama and subtleties that I like about plays, so it’s a good combination of both,” said the director, Lauren Repei.
The story orbits around Rose, played by Shari Vandermolen. Rose sets out to make her daughter June famous with her Vaudeville performances while her other daughter Louise has more of a backstage life. Unfortunately for Rose, Vaudeville had reached the peak of its popularity some time before, and had since been replaced with burlesque.
“Rose is the star, but her daughter Louise is the heroine,” said Repei.
Louise finds herself intrigued by burlesque and eventually finds the courage to pull away from her mother and make a career for herself. Although the play is heavily centred on burlesque culture, Hammer Entertainment’s production of the musical will remain family friendly.
“I’d say it’s like a PG. I saw it when I was about seven,” said Repei.
A musical about being in theatre, the context of this show allows for the over-the-top performances countless musicals provide. The human angle of the show offers a very much more sentimental aspect to some of the songs.
“There are two sets of songs in the musical. There are very character-driven songs that show you more about each individual character and advance the plot. And then there are show-stopping numbers that are part of the act that the characters have created,” said producer Ryan Miller, who also plays the part of Yonkers.
Both Repei and Miller are excited about the great choreography of the show (Alyssa Nedich), noting how much work and dedication it takes for a cast of 25 people, including children, to get on the same page and get everything running smoothly.
“The actual performance is always the most fun you can have doing a musical. But as a producer it’s really nice to see the progression of things from starting with nothing, essentially, and working towards something that looks really interesting and it’s visually really exciting,” said Miller.
“The whole show builds to the final burlesque strip scene and then the final song that Rose does, and Shari did it once and killed it. I’m hoping that there will be goose bumps,” said Repei.
Tickets are on sale now for Gypsy, you can purchase them by calling 905-379-6520 or online at www.hammerentertainment.ca, where you can pick your seats and print your tickets online.
Showtimes:
January 30th – 8:00pm
January 31st – 2:00pm, 8:00 pm
February 1st – 2:00pm
February 5th – 8:00pm
February 6th – 8:00pm
February 7th – 2:00pm, 8:00pm
