Imelda Staunton: I’m thrilled to bring Gypsy to West End ... but I’ll have no life

Actress Imelda Staunton admitted she will have “no life” while preparing for and starring in the great Broadway musical Gypsy
Encore: Imelda Staunton as Momma Rose in Gypsy this year, a role she will reprise in London (Picture: Johan Persson)
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A delighted Imelda Staunton today confirmed she will bring her acclaimed performance in the great Broadway musical Gypsy to the West End — its first London run for more than 40 years.

But the Bafta and Olivier award-winning actress admitted she will have “no life” while preparing for and starring in the show, which will begin at the Savoy Theatre next spring.

The five-star production was hailed as “a total triumph” at Chichester Festival Theatre this autumn.

Staunton, 58, said she was thrilled if “daunted” at getting another chance to play Momma Rose. But it means she will start a rigorous regime, including singing lessons and daily exercise, as soon as Christmas is over: “I don’t have a life when I’m doing it.”

The actress is married to Downton Abbey star Jim Carter, with whom she has a daughter, Bessie, 21.

Family business: Imelda Staunton with husband Jim Carter and their daughter Bessie (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/Rex)

The show, regarded by many as the greatest of Broadway musicals, was first and last seen in London with Angela Lansbury in 1973. It has music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Loosely based on the memoirs of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, it tells the story of Momma Rose, who treks across America with her daughters seeking success with a vaudeville act.

It is Staunton’s third hit show with director Jonathan Kent, after the drama Good People and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. She said there was a lot more riding on her in Gypsy than in the “speaking/singing” role of Sweeney’s Mrs Lovett.

“There are notes I have to hit in this one,” said Staunton. “Good People, too, was very demanding on the voice but it is up another 200 notches in Gypsy. I just want to make sure that it meets expectations, mainly my own, because I’m my own worst critic.

“It’s a true story and a complex story about mums, daughters, showbusiness and the emptiness of showbusiness and the aspiration of a mother to fulfil her dreams and her daughters’ dreams.”

She broke the news to Sondheim: “His enthusiasm and support is so mindboggling. He got so excited.”

Kent said: “She has an extraordinary voice that I think is anatomically impossible from that small frame. This is as great a performance in a leading role in a musical as I’ve ever seen.”

Previews from March 30. Tickets on sale today, gypsythemusical.uk

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