The surrogate Moms to Bobby in Company are well-intentioned but maddening. Stritch’s Joanne frees him from whatever child-yoke he’s in by challenging him woman to man, not mother to son. In Gypsy, Gypsy finally stands up to her mom. As in most tales, the child must find and follow its own destiny. I don’t find the same kind of struggle with a parent in Hammerstein’s works. Maria’s Mother Superior, for example, is empowering, not dominating. And Emil and Billy, if he could, are determined to take care of their offspring.
The surrogate Moms to Bobby in Company are well-intentioned but maddening. Stritch’s Joanne frees him from whatever child-yoke he’s in by challenging him woman to man, not mother to son. In Gypsy, Gypsy finally stands up to her mom. As in most tales, the child must find and follow its own destiny. I don’t find the same kind of struggle with a parent in Hammerstein’s works. Maria’s Mother Superior, for example, is empowering, not dominating. And Emil and Billy, if he could, are determined to take care of their offspring.