Yes, This Is For Real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I Am Not So Sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                          Oh, I have no doubts about the show.  "Gypsy" is a remarkable show, with a score that pulls the audience in as soon the first notes of the Overture are heard.  But what follows depends on the whirling dervish that is cast as Mama Rose, and I am not sure Audra McDonald, talented though she be, is up to it.

                           Face it, darlings.  To play Rose, one has to be a belter.  I mean, remember Patti?  Who could forget?  As far as I am concerned, she made "Gypsy" the one for our generation.  Just like Ethel Merman did for hers.  How the hell does one top that?

                            Now, I love Audra, darlings, but face it, she is NOT a belter.  And this was proven by Bernadette Peters playing the role in 2003. As the score went on, I kept wondering if she would lose her voice; if not at my performance, but in doing the show eight times a week.  It was sad, because she was surrounded by a very talented cast.  But the eye of this theatrical hurricane has to be Rose, and except in the softer number, "Small World," Peters was not up to it.

                                I fear the same for Audra.  But there is one saving grace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         I want to play Dainty June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        First of all, I have been doing the 'Caroline' number, plus "If Mama Was Married" all my life, or since age 12, when I first heard the Original Broadway Cast Album.  There is no question that I am a belter.  One ENT specialist I saw told me I had the strongest set of vocal cords she had ever seen!  How about that, darlings?????????  And I would love working with Caroline!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                          There is one challenge, though.  That entrance, and that split.  I am doing leg stretches and yoga these days to build up my strength.  But that split.  What about my testicles?  This is something a woman does not have to worry about, but men?  I have seen men do splits; my first one was Ben Vereen in the original production of "Pippin."  And that testicular thought went through my mind, back then.  I guess I will have to wear something to protect me under my costume.  Something stronger than an athletic supporter.

                            Leaving that aside, I think Audra's "Gypsy" should be multi racial casting.  Which would make me perfect for the role of Dainty June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            "My name is June," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!  "What's yours?????????????????"