Rehearsing for GYPSY page 3

And does Gibson have a favorite song from the show? "Little Lamb," she answered, "because it's like the only real quiet moment in the show." When asked the same question, Buckley related that the song she most admires is "Rose's Turn," her climactic, roof-raising number at the end of the show. "I think it's one of the musical theatre's greatest songs," she explained. "The psychological structure of it is so magnificent; it's perfectly crafted. I can't believe Stephen Sondheim was so young when he wrote [the lyric]. 'Rose's Turn' just blows me away in terms of its journey. It's such an incredible piece of writing, a great character song." "Rose's Turn" is a song that, in the hands of the right actress, like Buckley, can stop the show.

In fact, Buckley has a knack for stopping shows, whether it's "Memory" in Cats or "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye" in Sunset Boulevard. The singing actress also tends to portray characters that are psychologically complex and admitted, "There aren't many parts in musical theatre [like that], and the only other one I can think of is Norma Desmond, who is as rich a character. When I was a kid," Buckley continued, "I wanted to be an actress of the ilk of a Geraldine Page or Kim Stanley. I studied to become one of those ladies who could paint complicated and interesting psychological portraits. And, yet, my expertise -- because of my singing -- is the musical theatre, so when you get a chance to bring all your studies together, and a role demands all that you've learned and more, it's very exciting."

The Tony winner also notices a few parallels between two of her favorite musical theatre roles, Mama Rose and Norma Desmond. "They're both really obsessed women," Buckley conceded, "who have a one-pointed notion of themselves and how things need to be. And they're both wounded beings - they're both also very big ladies." Does she see any similarities between herself and Mama Rose, one of the press asked? "Well, just my obsessive love of musical theatre," she said with a laugh. "That could be interpreted as a similarity."

Although Gypsy's run at the Paper Mill is limited, Buckley hopes there will be a long life for this production of the show. "I'm very hopeful some producer will take us to London. It hasn't been done there since Angela Lansbury's revival, so I'd love to do that and then do a first-class city tour. Then, enough time will have gone by and we could come into New York. That would be my dream come true." Hey, Mr. Producer, are you listening?

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