Theater News

David Burtka and Julie Halston Join Cast of the Sam Mendes-Bernadette Peters Gypsy

David Burtka
David Burtka

David Burtka and Julie Halston have just been announced as additions to the cast of hot-shot director Sam Mendes’s upcoming Broadway production of the Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents musical Gypsy.

Burtka will play Tulsa, the hoofer who is showcased in the famous song and dance number “All I Need Is the Girl.” The young actor’s most high-profile role thus far was that of Boy in Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby, in which he appeared last season with Marian Seldes, Brian Murray, and Kathleen Early. Burtka’s other credits include the New York productions of Bad Boy Johnny and Beautiful Thing, the national tour of Beauty and the Beast, and the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Children of Eden.

Halston, who most recently garnered praise for her role in The Butter and Egg Man Off-Broadway, will appear as Miss Cratchitt (secretary to vaudeville impresario T.T. Grantziger) in Act I of Gypsy and as Electra, one of the three strippers who perform “You Gotta Have a

Julie Halston
Julie Halston

Gimmick,” in Act II. Aside from work in cabaret and comedy clubs, Halston is known for her roles in the Roundabout Theatre Company productions of The Women and The Man Who Came to Dinner. She has also been seen in Saved or Destroyed and The Most Fabulous Ever Told Off-Broadway and was a founding member of Charles Busch’s legendary Theater-in-Limbo.

Halston was full of excitement about Gypsy when reached by TheaterMania for comment. “Sam Mendes is a genius and this is one of the great masterpieces of musical theater,” she said. “To do ‘Gotta Have a Gimmick’ is going to be so exciting. I can’t wait to light up.” Starring Bernadette Peters as Mama Rose and featuring John Dossett as Herbie, the show is scheduled to begin previews at the Shubert Theatre on March 31 and to open officially on May 1.