2006 Best theater, in this case,

December 31, 2006.By Dominic P. Papatola, Pioneer Press.

4. “Gypsy,” produced by Theatre Latte Da Borrowing technique from British director John Doyle, who has been experimenting with pared-down and re-imagined stagings of such musicals as “Sweeny Todd” and “Company” on Broadway, Peter Rothstein gave local audiences a gritty, effective “Gypsy” in which the actors doubled as musicians.

My favorite moment was – and remains – the scene in which a parade of characters from the life of ultimate stage mother Mama Rose filed past in a gauzy parade near the end of the end of the show.

They quietly assemble into a rag-tag orchestra and accompanied Jody Briskey as she bulled her way through a nervous breakdown of a song called “Rose’s Turn.”

Museum treatments of beloved old musicals have a musty air about them, but Rothstein’s fresh vision took the best of the old show, canted it and then re-presented it to audiences in a way that felt both familiar and new.