The last time Mexico City saw Gypsy, was in the 60's starring Marga Lopez (No, No Nanette, Moon Over Buffalo) as Mama Rose. Now Mexican actress/producer Silvia Pinal will take her [Rose's] turn, in a revival of the classic Styne/Sondheim/Robbins/Laurents Broadway musical "fable", Gypsy, starring opposite her real-life daughter pop-star Alejandra Guzman, who will play Gypsy Rose Lee.Exact dates have not yet been confirmed.
Pinal, one of Mexico's leading film, theatre and TV stars, made her debut in musical theatre in the Mexican premiere of Ring, Ring Llama El Amor (Bells are Ringing) in 1958 directed by Luis de Llano Palmer. Then, in 1964 Pinal starred in Irma La Dulce (Irma La Douce) directed by Enrique Rambal. In 1972 she appeared in as the eccentric Auntie Mame in the Mexican premiere of Jerry Herman's Mame, which directed by Jose Luis Ibanez also starred Evangelina Elizondo, Fernando Allende and Virma Gonzalez.
It was in 1976 when Pinal starred in Annie Es Un Tiro (Annie Get Your Gun), directed by Jose Luis Ibanez, who directed Pinal once again in the 1985 revival of Mame, in which Pinal repeated her signature role; this time she was joined by Gustavo Rojo as Beau, Maria Rivas as Vera and Eduardo Palomo as Patrick. In 1989, Pinal's dream of having her own theatre came true with the opening of the Teatro Silvia Pinal, in which she continued with her successful revival of Mame.
In 1991 Pinal inaugurated the second theatre of her property, the Teatro Diego Rivera, named after the legendary Mexican painter. The Diego Rivera opened with the Mexican premiere of Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage, starring Pinal and Maria Teresa Rivas. The 1996 revival of Que Tal, Dolly! (Hello Dolly!) marked Pinal's return to stage as Dolly Levi, opposite Ignacio Lopez Tarso's Horace Vandergelder.
Alejandra Guzman has confirmed that she will stay in the show just for the first 100 performances since her multiple concert engagements do not allow her to stay for longer. The actress who will replace Guzman has not yet been cast. Other leads in this Gypsy revival are singer Stephanie Salas (Pinal's granddaughter) who will play the role of June, and actor Claudio Baez (Una Estrella), who will star as Herbie.
David Anton (Me and My Girl, 42nd Street, Fame), will design the sets for Gypsy. Costume and lighting designers have not been hired yet, but according to Pinal, she is now in the process of hiring them.
Directed by Enrique Reyes and adapted into Spanish by Jose Luis Ibanez, Gypsy is set to open May at the Teatro Silvia Pinal, current home of the revival of Evita, which will probably move to the Teatro Manolo Fabregas.
--By Claudio Carrera
Mexico Correspondent
