Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.

Mama Rose lives to see her daughter June succeed on Broadway by way of vaudeville. When June marries and leaves, Rose turns her hope and attention to her elder, less obviously talented, daughter Louise. However, having her headlining as a stripper at Minsky's Burlesque is not what she initially has in mind.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

This is the story of how a no-talented Louise Hovick rises from behind her little sister's shadow, Dainty June and vaudeville to become the 1930's burlesque queen, Gypsy Rose Lee.—Kelly

While the title suggest that this musical is about the famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, it is really about her hard-driven, determined stage mother, Mama Rose. In the beginning, Rose concentrates on her talented younger daughter, June, leaving older, less talented Louise in the cold. When June tires of being cute and runs away, Rose turns to Louise instead. Louise eventually does become "Gypsy", and Rose is left by herself, her aspirations for her kids realized, but her own show-business aspirations still unrealized.—Tommy Peter