Is It Swell? Is It Great? Audra McDonald Takes Over Gypsy

Is there a show with more friction between the title and the huge name in lights on top of it than Gypsy? There’s a kind of double cosmic irony to the 1959 musical, with its super-singable score by Jule Styne, its zingy lyrics by a young Stephen Sondheim, and its book by Arthur Laurents, still considered one of the very best of its form by people who’ve put in the hours. Ostensibly, Gypsy tells the story — with plenty of theatrical liberties — of its mid-century celebrity namesake...