Screening @ Academy, Gypsy

Based on the smash Broadway production, itself inspired by the memoirs of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, this earthy, dazzling musical features Natalie Wood as Louise Hovick, a timid, aspiring actress shoved into the spotlight and transformed into “Gypsy” by her brash stage mother, Rose (Rosalind Russell). Orry-Kelly designed elegant gowns for Wood’s shy character as she enters the world of burlesque under the stage name Gypsy Rose Lee. Long silhouettes and removable accessories emphasize her coy, ladylike presence. Like Lee’s performances in real life, striptease in the film involved relatively modest costumes, capitalizing on the power of suggestion. See one of Orry-Kelly’s creations in Stories of Cinema: Identity before seeing the film on the big screen.