Thea Assignment 1 Literature & Language Essay Paper

Gypsy: Movie Review
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Gypsy Musical
Considered to be one of the greatest American musicals of all time, Gypsy is a story of a woman whose dreams and efforts are spent to get her two daughters into show business. This musical is based on the memoir entitled Gypsy: Memoirs of America’s Most Celebrated Stripper by Arthur Laurents which tells the story of the famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. The musical show also featured Jule Styne’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics (Frankel, 2011).
Characters brought the story to life. The lead characters include Rose and Louise Hovick who are portrayed by Imelda Staunton and Lara Pulver, respectively. Supporting characters include June Hovick and Herbie Sommers who are played by Gemma Sutton and Peter Davison, respectively. The musical focuses on the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee named Rose who is considered as the ultimate “Stage Mother”. Mama Rose’s character is portrayed by Imelda Staunton who depicts an aggressive and domineering mother who always pushed her daughters into performance. The eldest daughter of Rose, Louise, is a shy but loyal girl. At the age of 17, she became the famous stripper at Mom’s prodding who goes by the name Gypsy Rose Lee. Imelda Staunton gave life to Mama Rose as she put every effort in portraying the character, giving one of the greatest performances one can ever see in a musical theatre. Her character at first portrays the typically determined showbiz mother who can be kind of pushy. As the story progresses, she depicts several shades of emotions to her character, showing softness as she caresses her faithful beau, Herbie, and an iron fist as she seizes her daughter by the neck to take a bow. Staunton showed a superb piece of acting. Another character that stood out was Lara Pulver. She portrayed Louise in another great performance wherein she portrayed effectively the growt...