Gypsy

In the most memorable number from “Gypsy,” three veteran strippers mentoring our innocent heroine impart some critical advice: “You’ve Got to Have a Gimmick.”

It’s happily ironic since the Camelot Theatre Company’s production is particularly impressive because it is free of gimmicks or artifice. In fact, director and choreographer Rebecca K. Campbell strips this classic Broadway musical down to its bare essentials. She invites her actors to splash their bold emotional colors on the relatively blank canvas of a spare and simply constructed set. Less here is surely more, as evidenced too by the big and satisfying sounds of the fine five-piece off-stage orchestra.)

The story, set during the Depression, is based on the formative years of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee who transformed the crude performance art of the day by emphasizing the tease in the strip-tease. (It’s noted in the program how she could maintain an audience’s rapt attention for as long as fifteen minutes with clever humorous patter while shedding no more than a glove.)

Less here is surely more

Of course, by sharing that history, I’m giving away the end of a story that is mostly about her mother Rose, a stage mama monster played with charming conviction by Camelot’s artistic director Livia Genise. The spotlight had passed Rose by long ago. But she’ll be damned if she’ll let that happen to her daughters.

As the play opens, Rose is managing a vaudeville act in kiddie shows to showcase her cute tow-headed tap-dancing younger daughter, Baby June, for whom she is intent on stardom. Louise (destined for stripper stardom), the older and less naturally-gifted sister, is relegated to supporting roles and sewing costumes.

The thrice-married Rose, desperate to achieve success vicariously, conveniently picks Herbie (Don Matthews), an agent for vaudeville acts, to be her paramour partner. The affection between them is convincing and necessary to soften the edges of Genise’s character, who, otherwise, could have been written off as merely controlling and even abusive. Thanks in part to Matthews’ sincerity, coupled with Genise’s refined acting skills—Rose, at times, engenders understanding and even a modicum of compassion.

What has sustained “Gypsy” as a classic in the genre is the maintenance of the delicate balance between the poignancy of the protagonists and the playfulness of the performers. From the opening song-and-dance numbers featuring Baby June, Young Louise and the other children, there is fun to be had. Aubrey James Campbell, as June, is button cute and radiates unmistakable star quality for a performer of any age.

While the young children perform ably, the older versions of June (Caitlin Rae Campbell) and Louise (Hannah Gassaway) are superb. The number featuring a tap-dancing, goo-goo-eyed cow is charming. As a family, with Herbie as the surrogate Dad, there’s a sense of intimacy and caring.

Even before June deserted the troupe and Louise was shuttled into her mother’s stardom-slot, where she fell upon stripping to keep the family fed, Gassaway’s stage presence was obvious. When she was drafted to take Baby June’s place and failed to complete the expected scene-ending splits, on stage, Gassaway’s subdued response was spot-on. The audience laughed, no doubt, while sensing her embarrassment.

Later, taking the stage for the first time as a stripper, her deer-in-the-headlights look was, well, endearing. And when, finally, she recycles the “Let Me Entertain You” song of childhood into a suggestive ballad, she is consummately convincing as the sophisticated, sensuous stripper with a sharp sense of humor.

The show-stopping scene in this play doesn’t feature the stars, but rather a trio of strippers who reveal their bump-and-grind gimmicks for the edification and education of Louise. Kelly Jean Hammond as Mezeppa, Kate Elias as Tessie, and Christina Dewar as Electra light up the stage with their silly-sexy strutting. Mezeppa, whose gimmick is a trumpet, bends over and toots out a tune between her legs. “If you want to bump it,” she instructs, “bump it with a trumpet.” Electra’s parts light up at the right time and Tessie insinuates suggestive bumps to ballet moves.

This worthy production of “Gypsy” plays at the Camelot Theatre in Talent through April 22. For tickets, call 541-535-5250.