While it hasn’t had the longevity of Broadway’s longest-running musicals, like The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago (1996), and The Lion King, Gypsy is widely regarded as one of the best musicals of all-time. Created by Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, and Arthur Laurents, the frequently-revived musical is based on the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee, a mid-20th century burlesque performer. It primarily focuses on her mother, Momma Rose. Considered one of the last of the golden age of musicals, it was first shown at the Broadway Theatre in 1959 and has been revived five times.
The most recent revival, directed and choreographed by Tony winners George C. Wolfe and Camille A. Brown, opened December 19, 2024, at the Majestic Theatre. Audra McDonald, a six-time Tony winner, is the latest Broadway legend to play the iconic role of Momma Rose, often referred to as the King Lear of musical theater. Here’s a closer look at her career achievements, as well as the other five women to star in the acclaimed musical.
Audra McDonald
McDonald was the perfect fit to play one of Broadway’s most iconic roles. She is Broadway’s most decorated performer of all time with six Tony Awards for performances in Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), A Raisin in the Sun (2004), Porgy and Bess (2012), and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (2014). She was also nominated for four other Tony Awards and won two Grammy Awards and an Emmy. Moreover, McDonald is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame and, in 2015, received a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama.
“Audra McDonald is not stunt casting. It is placing the literal top of the musical theatre acting game in arguably the top musical theatre role,” wrote Logan Culwell-Block for Playbill. “Sure, you’ve probably seen ‘Rose’s Turn’ before. But McDonald is not a performer who turns in just another ‘Rose’s Turn.’ We always knew McDonald would put her indelible stamp on the role, and she has, which makes [Gypsy] a must-see.”
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman originated the role of Momma Rose in the 1959 production of Gypsy at the Broadway Theatre. Jerome Robbins directed and choreographed the musical, which ran for more than 700 performances and received eight Tony nominations. Merman was nominated for the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, but the award went to Mary Martin for her performance as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
Merman was already an accomplished performer by the time she was cast as Momma Rose. She had won a Tony for Call Me Madam (1951) and was nominated for Happy Hunting (1957). Following Gypsy, she starred as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun and was a replacement as Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! She received a Special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 1972.
Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury starred as Momma Rose in the 1973 West End production of Gypsy and reprised the role in its Broadway revival the following year. The show ran for 120 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre. Lansbury was the first of three performers who played Momma Rose to win the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. The 1973 revival received two other Tony nominations.
Lansbury, who died in 2022, is also among Broadway’s most celebrated actresses. She was named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 in recognition of her decades-long theater career, during which time she also won Tony awards for Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Sweeney Todd (1979), and Blithe Spirit (2009). She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly was the next performer to portray Momma Rose in the 1989 Broadway revival, which opened at the St. James Theatre and ran for 476 performances. It also had more than 100 performances in a return engagement at the Marquis Theatre. Daly made her Broadway debut in the short-lived That Summer – That Fall at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1967 and subsequently became a prominent film and TV star before being cast in Gypsy.