Critics are not officially invited to attend the Gypsy of the Year competition, which follows the traditional 6 weeks of fundraising for BC/EFA in the mid-fall. However, many journalists who ask to see it are typically allowed. And I won't lie - there is often more stunning work being done in the Gypsy of the Year or Easter Bonnet skits than you will find in many a Broadway season. That is not to say that all the skits are good - some are bores, like most of the dance stuff, or shamelessly self-promotional, as in the one done by PHANTOM OPERA this year, but some are damn brilliant.
Posted at the bottom of this entry is the video clip of AVENUE JEW, a skit four years ago combining the talents of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and AVENUE Q.
Furthermore, there is an unexpurgated quality of honesty from Broadway's actors about their shows and the business at large in these skits. Take the skit from the recently closed Off-Broadway musical FRANKENSTEIN, where the whole cast, including Hunter Foster, basically confessed that their show was crap. And to think, just two months ago, I did a phone interview with Hunter where he attempted in vain to promote the show and that it wouldn't be crap. Gypsy of the Year must be many a theater publicist's total nightmare...
But the big political point to hit on this was, of course, the strike. A Family Feud sketch pitted Broadway's producers (actors portraying Jeffrey Seller, Oprah, Daryl Roth, Fran Weissler) against a handful of stagehands.
In another sketch, Charlotte Martin was portrayed, and the entire strike was condemned as a waste. But in a scary moment, it was suggested that the fight is not over - and to just wait till the actors' contracts expire this summer. As Jolson would say, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN YET FOLKS.
But it wasn't all internal industry politics. The show opened with a massive tribute to WEST SIDE STORY, now celebrating its 50th anniversary. In a program note, Arthur Laurents confirmed that he will direct a Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY this fall, and also that his GYPSY revival will open at the St. James in March.
The WSS montage began with the dancers recreating the Jets movements in the very start. But once Bernardo was to appear, the original actor who portrayed the role appeared, of course gathering huge applause. The original Riff then entered for "Jet's Song," followed by other original cast member Jets. This sequence was repeated in "America." And Carol Lawrence and Chita Rivera eventually sang "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" together.
And in the end, the young cast and old cast were pitted side by side. It was WEST SIDE STORY meets FOLLIES! A truly special moment for musical theater history. And a sign that we need WSS back on Broadway badly. Hopefully Laurents' revival, which he promises will be conceptually new and contemporary without changing a single line, will not suck.