Patti LuPone will play Gypsy on Broadway musical to open in Mar 2008

A casting call confirms an earlier report in The New York Post that the City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of Gypsy, starring Patti LuPone, will open on Broadway in 2008, at a theatre still to be confirmed (possibly St James Theatre)

The Encores! Summer Stars production of Gypsy, opened at the City Center on 14 Jul 2007, following previews from 9 July and ran through to 29 Jul 2007.

Directed by Arthur Laurents, the production also featured Boyd Gaines as Herbie and Laura Benanti as Louise.

The casting call states that all members of the original Encore production cast have been asked to repeat their roles on Broadway, but only Patti LuPone as so far accepted.

The production will once again be helmed by Arthur Laurents, will also feature chorepgraphy Bonnie Walker (reproducing Jerome Robbins' original choreography).

Gypsy, score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents, tells the story of Mama Rose, an overbearing stage mother who is determined to break into the big time by pushing the vaudeville career of her younger daughter June. However, unwilling to tolerate her mother's manipulations, June elopes with a dancer.

Rose then turns all of her attention on her older and less talented daughter Louise. Eventually Rose's dreams come to fruition when she successfully transforms Louise into a famous burlesque stripper known as Gypsy Rose Lee, but her daughter's success does not bring Mama Rose the happiness see seeks.

Patti LuPone last appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in the 2005 revival of 'Sweeney Todd' for which she was nominated for a 2006 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. LuPone won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Eva Peron in 'Evita' (1979). In 1985 she won Olivier Awards for 'Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actress in a Musical' for her wok in the London productions of 'The Cradle Will Rock' and 'Les Miserables' in which she originated the role of Fantine.