AUDRA.
Photograph: Monica Schipper/FilmMagic
And now for a totally inevitable but overwhelmingly interesting announcement: Audra McDonald (the most Tony-winning performer of all time) is actively playing Mama Rose in Gypsy (tied for being the most Tony-successful position of all time). It will be the initial time a Black actress has played the part on Broadway. In 2022, McDonald referred to Mama Rose as the “King Lear of roles for gals in musical theater” and, yeah, we’re gonna need to see McDonald play that. Even the poster for the future revival just reads “AUDRA GYPSY,” as if it is one particular phrase. Would seem correct. George C. Wolfe (Angels in The usa, Caroline, or Adjust) is directing the generation — his first musical given that 2016’s Shuffle Alongside (which also starred McDonald). The revival will start off previews on November 21 in advance of opening December 19, and it will re-open the Majestic Theater next its existing renovations. There’s no formal phrase on co-stars in the production, but we’re currently imagining what it would be like for McDonald to star alongside her Gilded Age daughter, Denée Benton.
