Ask newer fans what the greatest musical of all time is and recency bias probably means the answer will be something like Rent or Les Misérables or Hamilton. Ask seasoned theater folk with wider frames of reference and Gypsy will usually land in the top three. For good reason. The 1959 warhorse is perhaps the ultimate tragicomic depiction of showbiz struggle, which makes it a strong contender for the ultimate Broadway musical.

It’s a cliché to call Rose, the archetypal pushy stage mother at the show’s center, the King Lear of musical theater. But that’s hard to dispute when you watch a consummate performer like Audra McDonald pour her heart and soul and every ounce of her gumption, her supple vocals and finely nuanced acting skills into the titanic role.

The six-time Tony winner humanizes this driven, achingly unfulfilled woman without ever softening her abrasive edges, her relentlessly self-serving determination,...