Gypsy is the Broadway mothership, a role originated by Ethel Merman in 1959 and subsequently played by Angela Lansbury (1975), Tyne Daly (1989), Bernadette Peters (2003), and Patti LuPone (2008).
But this Gypsy has the imprint of renowned director George C. Wolfe (Rustin starring Colman Domingo, the original Broadway production of Angels in America).
His reimagining casts a racial shadow on the vaudeville circuit in which Rose desperately tries to break into with her two kids and a chorus of hopefuls in tow.
The elephant in the room isn’t McDonald’s acting chops — she’s got a Julliard degree and a shelf full of statuettes if anyone had doubts (but who would?).