Photo courtesy of Kristi Tingle Higgenbotham.
Kristi Tingle Higgenbotham, right, in the role of Gypsy Rose Lee 24 years ago. In an upcoming production of the musical, she will take on the role of Mama Rose.
Twenty-four years ago, Kristi Tingle Higgenbotham played the indomitable Gypsy Rose Lee in the Town and Gown Theatre’s production of “Gypsy.” Now, after two-and-a-half decades of other performances, she’s come back to the “Gypsy” stage at the Virginia Samford Theatre in an entirely different role: Mama Rose.
The 1959 musical focuses on the life of Rose Thompson Hovick and her daughters, June and Louise, establishing Rose as the archetypal domineering “stage mother.” Higgenbotham, now a mother herself, calls her casting an ironic coincidence. Her son graduated from Mountain Brook High School this May and, just like Mama Rose, she has to learn to let go.
“Mama Rose just can’t let go of her girls,” Higginbotham said. “She babies them. That’s part of the theme of it. One of the iconic lyrics in my 10 o’clock number at the end of Act II is ‘Mama’s got to let go.’ So I’ve gotta let go. This is that time.”
Higginbotham said Rose’s strength is her favorite part of the character.
“I like that she’s a strong woman, especially back then. This is the’20s and ’30s,” Higginbotham said. “I like playing strong women.”
Rose stands up for her daughters and for herself throughout the play, not letting men treat her as something less, Higginbotham said. As Higginbotham puts it, Rose has the “chutzpah” required to get her girls where they need to be in life.
Of her time as Gypsy Rose Lee, Higgenbotham said she remembers her thrill of playing a real person, especially one as interesting as Gypsy. The show, Higginbotham said, is one she would encourage others to see.
“The script is so good, and you’ve got Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics for the music, and it sort of has all the right ingredients when it comes together. It’s one of the most perfect musicals,” she said.
Gypsy runs from June 29–July 16, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., at the Virginia Samford Theatre. Tickets are $35 center, $30 left and right, and $15 for students. To purchase tickets, visit virginiasamfordtheatre.org orcall 251-1206.
