Olivier Award Winner Imelda Staunton to Star in U.K. Revival of Gypsy

Two-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton will star as stage mother Rose in a 2013 British revival of Gypsy, according to The New York Times. Staunton is currently playing Mrs. Lovett in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which is running at the Adelphi Theatre. No exact timeline, creative team or further casting has been announced for the Gypsy revival at this time.

Staunton is best known for her film and TV work including Up the Garden Path, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and her Oscar-nominated turn in Vera Drake. She received Olivier Awards for The Corn is Green and Into the Woods. Her other stage credits include Guys and Dolls, Mack & Mabel, Elektra and A Man for All Seasons. Staunton co-hosted the 2011 and 2012 Olivier Award ceremony with Sweeney Todd co-star Michael Ball.

Gypsy features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Sondheim. The musical is based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee and tells the story of how Rose Hovick (or Mama Rose, as she is best known) helps to turn her daughter, Louise Hovick, into the burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee.