Ms. Simon — who worked for most of her career under the name Merle Louise — began her run in Sondheim shows with “Gypsy,” in 1959, and continued with “Company” (1970), “Sweeney Todd ...

Merle Louise, whose Broadway debut in the original cast of Gypsy launched a decades-long association with Stephen Sondheim that would include notable appearances in Company, Sweeney Todd and Into ...

As the two stroll offstage, arm in arm, audience members in the know leave with the knowledge that Louise (and Gypsy's) star continued to rise long after the events of the play, as she forged a ...

She was 90. Advertisement Louise, born Merle Louise Letowt, originated the role of Thelma in Sondheim's musical Gypsy, which opened on Broadway in 1959. She played the lead role of Dainty June in ...

Arturo Holmes//Getty Images Joy Woods on stage at the opening night of Gypsy, which is directed by George C. Wolfe. Woods considers Louise, “a very repressed extrovert who just needed the ...

Unfortunately, the production makes a rare misstep in its final 15 minutes, rushing through Louise’s transformation from awkward wallflower to cocksure, celebrity burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee.

Merle Louise, whose Broadway debut in the original cast of Gypsy launched a decades-long association with Stephen Sondheim that would include notable appearances in Company, Sweeney Todd and Into ...

While still using Merle Letowt as her stage name, Louise landed the ensemble role of Thelma in the original 1959 Broadway production of Gypsy. She soon took on the featured role of Dainty June in ...