When it came to playing Tulsa in Gypsy, there was no stopping Tony Yazbeck from getting an audition. ahead of its Broadway transfer — Yazbeck was told that he wasn’t what the creative team was looking for. “It was hard for me to get in to be seen for that role originally,” Yazbeck told podcast host Elbi Cespedes. While the cast of Gypsy was rehearsing for the City Center run, Yazbeck was asked to show off Tulsa’s big song-and-dance number for the first time but admitted that he “wasn’t ready to perform it.” After running through it, Laurents simply told Yazbeck, “It’s back.”