Dallas Morning News, September 2011

To make Gypsy work, you have to have a great Mama Rose. Mathys creates a fascinating, offbeat Rose, far more attractive than the usual interpretation. You find it natural that those around her keep forgiving this sexy and charming creature for doing the most horrifying things. As Mathys’ performance in the final monologue, “Rose’s Turn” demonstrates, and as other characters say of her, this Rose can talk herself into believing her fantasies. Literally and figuratively, she’s a dreamer, if a destructive one […] Mathys sings the role with much care for phrasing and unprecedented tonal variety. Some Roses sound like trumpets, others saxophones. Mathys can sound like any instrument in the orchestra. 

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Criticalrant.com, September 2011

Mathys’ powerful voice, warm and silky when needed to charm or wheedle and bursting with iron-willed girt when life lets Mama Rose down, drives the show with gut-wrenching desperation. Defiantly couragious even facing abandonmet, Mama Rose fillls spacious Carpenter Hall’s bare stage with her dynamic persona and superlative instrument, displaying every iota of the vocal talent and star quality that has earned her the highest of accolades, and standing ovations, on both sides of the Atlantic.

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D Magazine, September 2011

Mathys is a force, bulldozing her way through Rose’ iconic songs and relentlessly pushing her scenes with a focused, almost maniac, determination. Her single-mindedness regarding her daughter’s careers (and her own livelihood) is scary in its intensity yet admirable for its consistency. She makes the mothers on “Toddlers & Tiaras” look like wimps. 

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TheaterJones.com, September 2011

Mathys’ earnestness and tenacity as Rose lend a depth to the role that can easily be lost. It would be easy to play Rose as a monster, a one-dimensional megalomaniac. But, Mathys imbues her with a latent vulnerability, an unquestionable love for her children, and a healthy dose of delusion. The end result is an incredibly complex character who is actually able to retain some semblance of audience sympathy […] Lyric Stage’s production gives you an opportunity to see this show like almost no one has ever seen it. The novelty combined with the high production value and powerful performances make Gypsy a must-see.

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Fort Worth Star Telegram, September 2011

Mathys proves herself a force, with a multilayered voice and fierce determination. In the final number, Rose’s Turn, which is like the “To be or not to be” soliloquy of musical theatre, she captures all the internal anger and emotion that the musical has led up to. […] Her Mama Rose is driven to the core, both frightening and magnetic.

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The Daily Campus, September 2011

Mathys’ voice is stunning throughout, but it really takes off when Rose emerges. Mathys’ performance brings the entire theater to a standstill as you see Rose’s heartbreak race across her face. Mathys earns her standing ovation with the simplest of turns just before the final curtain, begging one last glimmer of the spotlight with a split second look to the audience.

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The Examiner, September 2011

Sue Mathys, as Rose, is a powerhouse tucked into a small package. You can feel her bringing more bravado to each song until her formidable finish, when she shakes the rafters and makes your hair stand on end. Mathys makes the entire role her own, standing in no one’s shadow, and it's exhilarating. 

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South Coast Today, July 2010

Of course, the driving bullheaded energy of Gypsy is Mama Rose, the ultimate nightmare of stage mothers. The dynamic Sue Mathys subtly weaves Rose’s Tyranny with warmth, without ever betraying her goals to make her daughters theatrical stars. The entire production captures the desperation of the 1930’s Depression in its sets, costumes and choreography, but Mathys gently imbues it, and her role, with a genuine humanity essential to making Rose appealing and understandable, even while being monstrously driven and annoying. Vocally, Mathys clearly loves performing the classic songs of Gypsy and does so with impish charm and great flair. Her Garland-like gesturing puntcuates her lyrics with spontaneity and emotional expression appropriate for the role, and her penultimate release  in “Rose’s Turn” is a shattering cry to the world and her fate. Two choices the actress makes, unique to this critics viewing experience, are her sobbing breakdown (brief and apt), and the look of longing she tosses back at her final exit. Excellent choices by both the director and performer.