"Gypsy"
"Gypsy" takes place in 1939, and is a true story of a young girl named Louise whose over-zealous mother pushes her into burlesque. Louise becomes the famous Gypsy Rose Lee, the only classy stripper who teased but never actually stripped.
I was fortunate enough to play Louise/Gypsy a couple of years ago, under the direction of Eric Bishop. This is probably my favorite and most memorable play. I had grown so close to the cast and crew (many of whom were also my classmates in college) and it was especially dear to me as this was my last year to perform with this cast before I moved to Los Angeles. Since "Gypsy" is a musical, rehearsals were long and included voice and choreography along with scene break-down, which left us physically and mentally exhausted every night...but it was well worth it!
One of my favorite scenes was the strip sequence which occurs close to the finale. I remember the scene consisted of having to change into 5 or 6 different intricately-designed dresses behind a curtain with only two people helping me, and only a couple of seconds to do it while the orchestra vamped. I would then come out and sing a verse, followed by a seductive monologue performed directly to the audience, while doing a choreographed strip with props, fans, gloves and all. It was a great sweaty challenge, but truly the best one by far.
