VALDOSTA – Everything’s coming up roses for Theatre Guild Valdosta.

The community theatre organization observes its 30th anniversary season with an increased number of shows during the next 12 months.

And Theatre Guild kicks off the season a few weeks earlier by opening Thursday, July 26, with the musical “Gypsy.”

The musical is based on the life story of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee by composer Jule Styne, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright Arthur Laurents.

But “Gypsy” and its story of an overpowering stage mother – the irrepressible Mama Rose – took on a life of its own. 

“Gypsy” has been called “the greatest American musical” by numerous critics.

The musical includes such famed songs as “Everything’s Coming up Roses,” “Together (Wherever We Go),” “Small World,” “You Gotta Get a Gimmick,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “All I Need Is the Girl” and “Rose’s Turn.”

“Gypsy” was the first musical produced by Theatre Guild Valdosta in the downtown Dosta Playhouse back in the early 1990s, said Andrea Thom, the 2018 show director.

And with the ambitious, frustrated, wheedling, bold stage mother Mama Rose, “Gypsy” features one of the strongest female characters in theatre history, with one of the most-famous 11 o’clock numbers of all time – arguably, the mother of all show-stopping 11 o’clock numbers – “Rose’s Turn.”

In the Theatre Guild production, Cari Brown-Hawley plays Mama Rose.  

Brown-Hawley is a newcomer to Theatre Guild, Thom said. A newcomer with a powerful voice, the director added.

She and the rest of the Guild cast and crew have been working diligently to ready the show for opening night, Thom said. With the 2017-18 season closing in early June and the new 2018-19 season kicking off in late July, “Gypsy” has only had about six weeks of rehearsals to get the show on the road.

But Thom said, it’s ready to go.

THE CAST: Kevin Newsome, Kameron Wooten, Amelia Covington, Brawdy Gupton, Meagan Ritter, Mia-Rae Barajas, Cari Brown-Hawley, Ben Hawley, Brock Gilliard, Carter McGhin, Alijah Patterson, Masin Cribbs, Josh Robertson, Campbell Mutert, Amanda Talor, David Bass, Isaiah Alexander, Reatha Pavey, Allie Smotherman, Cynthia Tolle, Jaclyn Taylor, Jonathan Headen, Lesley Plugge, Patti C. Robertson, Tasha Conrad, Tank Jordan.

SHOWTIME

Theatre Guild Valdosta presents the musical “Gypsy.”

When: 7: 30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, July 26, 27; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28; 7:30 p.m., Aug. 2-4.

Where: The Dosta Playhouse, 122 N. Ashley St.

More information: Visit theatreguildvaldosta.com; or call (229) 24-STAGE.