“Smile, baby!”
Long before Toddlers and Tiaras or Dance Moms graced our television screens, there was Mama Rose, the infamous “stage mom” depicted in the 1959 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Gypsy. Based on a true story, Gypsy follows the story of Rose and her quest to push her two growing daughters into stardom, despite the children’s best interests or the casualties along the way.
Containing some of the most well-known songs in the musical theatre canon, Gypsy comes to Hilton Head Island as the closing production of the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute’s 17th season.
Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute (SSTI) was founded by Hilton Head’s Ben Wolfe, and has become a Lowcountry staple, and as synonymous with summer as the tunes of Gregg Russell or Saturday traffic on the bridge. For local audiences, the productions offer the opportunity to see the next generation of Broadway talent taking their first steps into the professional realm.
Based on a true story, Gypsy follows the story of Rose and her quest to push her two growing daughters into stardom, despite the children’s best interests or the casualties along the way.
SSTI is to Broadway as minor league baseball is to the Yankees. Wolfe’s annual endeavor brings in nearly 150 artists to the Lowcountry – and not just performers, but carpenters, designers, electricians, and even a full orchestra direct from New York City.
SSTI is an endeavor that takes a full year to execute, and one that is uniquely offered to the residents of the Lowcountry.
“I often get asked at talkbacks ‘Where are you going next?’ I think that people don’t often initially understand that this endeavor is uniquely built for the Lowcountry,” Wolfe said. “We’re able to do what we do only because of the many relationships we’ve formed through our years here on Hilton Head. This is a special place, and the community rallies behind us by continuing to support our productions and bringing new friends into the SSTI family each summer.”
This year, the season launched with a production of the Bob Fosse classic Sweet Charity. The production team was led, for the first time, by a Tony Award-nominated director, Jane Lanier. As a member of Bob Fosse’s ensemble in the 1986 production on Broadway, Lanier brought a unique and storied perspective to the piece – and audiences raved.
Longtime SSTI director and Broadway veteran Jacob Brent will return for this production, fresh off last season’s hit production of A Chorus Line.
For Gypsy, a team of New York designers has been hard at work developing a gigantic production, complete with a scenic design that features a theatre-within-a-theatre turntable that rotates to allow audiences to witness seamless transitions from the onstage world of Gypsy Rose Lee to the backstage antics of her mother, Rose.
Longtime SSTI director and Broadway veteran Jacob Brent will return for this production, fresh off last season’s hit production of A Chorus Line. For Brent, SSTI provides an opportunity to annually reunite with favorite collaborators and nurture the next wave of talent.
“SSTI’s motto is ‘Feels Like Home,’ and it really does,” Brent said. “Every year, though the staff varies from season to season, the dedication to not only quality work, but the commitment to quality people in a supportive community keeps me coming back. I can’t imagine a summer without SSTI and Hilton Head Island.”
Audiences seeking to experience SSTI and Gypsy can make their way to the Seahawk Cultural Center on the campus of Hilton Head Island High School. Performances are July 26, 27 and August 2, 3 at 7:30 p.m. and July 28 and August 4 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at HHISummerMusicals.com.
