The musical Gypsy is a revered classic. Regarded by many as one of the greatest musicals ever written, it features the iconic role of Rose, the indomitable, domineering stage mother who attempts to live out her own dreams through her daughters June and Louise.

With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (written when he was still in his 20s) and book by Arthur Laurents, Gypsy was loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. The original Broadway production opened in 1959 with Ethel Merman as Rose. Since then performers such as Angela Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Imelda Staunton, and Australians Gloria Dawn, Toni Lamond, Judi Connelli and Caroline O’Connor have stepped into Rose’s shoes.

Blazey Best, Gypsy, The Hayes TheatreBlazey Best in Gypsy

Now it’s Blazey Best’s turn in a new production co-produced by Luckiest Productions and One Eyed Man Productions at the Hayes Theatre Co, directed by Richard Carroll. “It’s probably my favourite musical and I’m certainly not alone in that,” says Carroll, whose gloriously inventive, fourth-wall-storming production of Calamity Jane is now touring, having won rave reviews at...