So the musical Gypsy is about a stripper. (Gasp!) "It is about," the feminist in me says, "the glorification of a woman's choice to involve herself in a society where women are sex objects." In the words of one theatre person, when her production company was considering the musical, "Can't we do a show where all the female characters aren't whores?"

And then I remember the months that went into picking this specific show. And all the musicals I looked at. And how my heart was set on Gypsy. What kind of horrible person am I?

What is Gypsy really about? That is the question that has been following me around since I stopped thinking about how to do the production and began wondering why. "Because it's a good show," the conservative in me says, "snappy tunes." True, but not enough. Gypsy has been a puzzle for me.

It still is. I knew there was something behind it all when I started looking, but all I could hear for a long time were the blaring trumpets from the strip joint. What is Gypsy about? Eleven months later and I have my answer. Gypsy is about a stripper. But you can't stop there. I challenge you to experience a little of the journey I discovered on the way through what could easily, and I believe rashly, be called a "plot from a feminist nightmare." Step back from our reactionary decade and listen to the subtlety of burlesque. The "subtlety of burlesque"? Like I said, it's been quite a journey. There will always be people who refuse to see past the basic implications of the plot. To them, and to all those stubborn PC advocates out there, I quote the wisdom of Mazeppa, attitude included: "Somethin' wrong with strippin'?"

After her success in burlesque, the real Gypsy Rose Lee moved on to Broadway with the Follies, and then to Hollywood. She had a son, but never married; she never intended to. Eventually, she retired and wrote her memoirs, on which Gypsy is based.

Many thanks to Bonnie Metzgar who suggested this show; Debbie Fowlkes, Bernadette McGay, and Mike Allen for keeping me sane this summer while thinking about it; and Joe Saint for introducing me to all the aforementioned people. This production is dedicated to Jim Hayes, "a sound guy," and the rest of my family, all of whom I wish could have seen it.

Cathy Davies