Video: Audra McDonald, George C. Wolfe, & More Talk GYPSY on CBS Sunday Morning

CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca spoke with Audra McDonald and director George C. Wolfe about their production of Gypsy, currently running on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre, and the task of taking on a character like Mama Rose.

McDonald compares it to Mount Everest. "Everest is there for a reason. People want to climb it, right? I mean, it's there because it's majestic and it's incredible, and people are like, 'I want to figure out if I can get up there.' And that's what I'm trying to do."

The six-time Tony Award-winning director at the helm George C. Wolfe explains his perspective on Rose and the show as a whole: "I admire the ferocity. I think it's about not enough, people living with not enough: Not enough money, not enough space, not enough love, not enough approval, not enough success. And it becomes this dynamic of people wanting that thing, desperately wanting that thing that is just beyond their reach."

When asked if she thinks Rose is a monster or a sympathetic character, McDonald states: "I think she is a dedicated mother. I think she is a fiercely protective mother. I think she is a mother who does not realize that the umbilical cord has been cut. I don't see Rose as a monster mother at all."

GYPSY also stars 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.

The ensemble features Shanel Bailey, Jace Bently, Brandon Burks, Hunter Capellán, Tony d’Alelio, Summer Rae Daney, Kellie Jean Hoagland, Sasha Hutchings, Aliah James, Brittney Johnson, Zachary Daniel Jones, Ethan Joseph, Andrew Kober, Krystal Mackie, James McMenamin, Cole Newburg, Joe Osheroff, Majo Rivero, Ken Robinson, Sally Shaw, Thomas Silcott, Brendan Sheehan, Jayden Theophile, Jordan Wynn, and Iain Young.

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.  

The 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. 

GYPSY has scenic design by four-time Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto, costume design by four-time Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by nine-time Tony Award winner Jules Fisher + three-time Tony Award winner Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer, hair and wig design by Academy Award winner Mia Neal, makeup design by Michael Clifton, animals by William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc, dialect & voice coaching by Kate Wilson, casting by Jordan Thaler CSA/Heidi Griffiths CSA, and production stage management by Rick Steiger.