Speculated by many (including NY Times critic Ben Brantley) to be the greatest of all American musicals, Gypsy tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoir of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, entitled Gypsy: Memoirs of Americas Most Celebrated Stripper. The memoir and the musical focus on the story of Gypsy Rose Lee's mother, Rose, and earned Rose a place in the theatrical and literary canon as the quintessential, archetypal Stage Mother.
 

The musical features songs that have become standards of the musical theatre canon, including Some People, Let Me Entertain You, Roses Turn, and the show-stopping Everythings Coming Up Roses. Gypsy is famous for helping launch lyricist Stephen Sondheims career, and features a book by Arthur Laurents that is widely considered to be one of the classic examples of a traditional book musical. At the heart of the musical is the gregarious Rose, whose journey made critic Frank Rich call Gypsy, Broadways own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear.