It's Official: 'Gypsy' Opens March 27 with LuPone, Gaines & Benanti

Gypsy, the great American musical, will return to Broadway starring Patti LuPone, the leading lady of the American musical theatre.  Gypsy will reunite LuPone with co-stars Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti.

Directed by multiple Tony Award winner and author of the musical Arthur Laurents, Gypsy is scheduled to begin performances on March 3, 2008 and open on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at Broadway's St. James Theatre.  Further casting will be announced shortly.

The new production will be based on the critically acclaimed New York City Center Encores! production which enjoyed a triumphant three week run in July of this year.  LuPone will lead the cast in the role of "Rose," the quintessential stage mother, joined by Gaines as "Herbie" and Benanti as "Louise," the daughter who transforms into the title character of "Gypsy" in this musical fable suggested by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee. 

Gypsy is written by three legendary theatrical giants.  The book is by two-time Tony Award winning legend Arthur Laurents, with music by two-time Tony Award winner Jule Styne and lyrics by multiple Tony Award winner Stephen Sondheim. The 1959 blockbuster, originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins,   boasts a legendary score with such classic songs as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Rose's Turn" and "Some People."

Gypsy will feature scenic designs by James Youmans, costumes by Tony Award winner Martin Pakledinaz (Grease, Thoroughly Modern Millie), lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (Xanadu, Jersey Boys), hair by Tony Award winner Paul Huntley (Young Frankenstein, Grease) and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier (A Catered Affair, 110 in the Shade).

Patti LuPone's (Rose) most recent NY stage appearances include John Doyle's hit revival of Sweeney Todd, Passion for Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series, the NY Philharmonic's productions of Candide and Sweeney Todd, the Broadway productions of Noises Off, The Old Neighhorbood and Master Class, her own concerts "Matters of the Heart" and "Patti LuPone on Broadway," the City Center Encores! productions of Can Can and Pal Joey and three sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall.  Outside of New York, she made her debut with the LA Opera in a new production of Mahagonny and appeared in Jake Heggie's new opera To Hell and Back last season and previously starred in the title role of Marc Blitzstein's Regina at the Kennedy Center.

Boyd Gaines (Herbie) most recently appeared Roundabout's Pygmalion and in the Tony-winning production of Journey's End (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards; Tony Nomination).  Other Broadway credits include: Twelve Angry Men, The Heidi Chronicles (Tony Award), She Loves Me (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), The Show Off, Cabaret, Company, Contact (Tony, Lucille Lortel Awards).  Off-Broadway: Bach at Lepzig, Major Barbara, The Shawl, Comedy of Errors, The Extra Man, The Maderati, Winter's Tale, Barbarians, A Month in the Country (Theatre World Award).
 
Laura Benanti (Louise).  Broadway credits include The Wedding Singer, Nine (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), Into the Woods (Tony Award Nomination, Drama Desk Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), Swing (Tony Award nomination), Maria in The Sound of Music. Off-Broadway credits include MTC's Time and Again, Wonderful Town for City Center's Encores!, A Little Night Music directed by Scott Ellis and the Williamstown Theatre Festival's production of The Winter's Tale.
 
Arthur Laurents (Book, Director) is the prize-winning author of musical plays such as West Side Story, Gypsy, Anyone Can Whistle, Do I Hear a Waltz?; Hallelujah Baby! and Nick & Nora; and screenplays such as The Snake Pit, Rope, Caught, Anastasia, Bonjour Tristesse, The Way We Were and The Turning Point.  His plays include Home of the Brave, The Time of the Cuckoo, A Clearing in the Woods, Invitation to a March, The Enclave, Big Potato, Two Lives, The Radical Mystique, My Good Name, Claudia Lazlo, Attacks on the
Heart and Jolson Sings Again.  He has directed plays and musicals for the theater, among them I Can Get it For You Wholesale, Invitation to a March, Anyone Can Whistle, The Enclave, The Madwoman of Central Park West, Birds of Paradise, two revivals of Gypsy (one with Angela Lansbury and one with Tyne Daly) and La Cage aux Folles.  He is the author of a memoir, "Original Story By."

Photos of Patti LuPone (2007) by Joan Marcus