McGinley Stars as 'Gypsy Rose Lee' in GYPSY at Towne Centre Theatre, 6/11-7/3

 

Franklin-born and -raised Hannah McGinley, now a senior at New York University pursuing a degree in musical theatre, is spending the summer at home, portraying "Louise," the young woman who would become Gypsy Rose Lee in the Towne Centre Theatre production of Gypsy.

Karen Himelrick directs Gypsy, the beloved musical by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, as it dances its way onto the Towne Centre stage for a July 10-July 3 run at the Brentwood theatre.

McGinley attended Franklin High School, where she honed the skills learned at an early age with various local theatre companies. Fifteen years ago, she walked into Star Bright Players, where veteran actors and directors Holly Shepherd Urbanowicz and Dietz Osborne cast her as a mouse that turns into a horse in Cinderella. That small role gave McGinley the love of performing that's led her to NYU.

McGinley credits many local artists as her inspiration and for the training she received growing up. These include Janet Ivey, Kim Corwin, Celia Whitler, Lori Casteel, Ron Shuff and Ian Macpherson. She continued working with Starbright Players until she was over the maximum age to be involved, moving on to perform with Pull-Tight Players in Franklin while playing significant roles in Franklin High School productions.

McGinley played Kim in Bye Bye Birdie, Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie while at FHS. Since leaving Franklin to accept a scholarship to NYU to study musical theatre, McGinley has returned each summer to perform locally in community theatre productions around Nashville, but Hannah chose Towne Centre Theatre's Gypsy as her last hurrah.

She will be graduating from NYU this fall with honors, and plans to pursue a career on Broadway. What started as a transformation from a mouse to a horse has culminated into a transformation from a shy six-year-old into a legitimate Broadway talent.

The Tony Award-winning musical is based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, who became famous in burlesque as a striptease artist. With her sister, June (motion-picture and stage star June Havoc), she had had a rich career in the theatre, always driven on to ever-greater successes by an over-ambitious and overbearing mother.  

Gypsy runs June 11- July 3, Thursday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees (June 13 and June 20) at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and $16 for students. There is a special Thursday price for the purchase of four tickets online only.

For more information, visit www.townecentretheatre.com  or call (615) 221-1174. The theatre is located 136 Frierson Street in Brentwood.

 Hannah McGinley, photo by Mary Evelyn Henderson