Dueling Gypsies: Pamela Myers vs. Betty Buckley- Page 2

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:39pm

Yeah, but what happened to the POLE?

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:41pm

Best acted "Rose" ever...

(okay, not the best singing, but I'll take her acting over a better voice any day)

By the way, this doesn't remotely do the performance justice, compared to what I saw in the theatre.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pJM6nNMXJlc&mode=related&search=

This is better for how she really sounded...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r1zeN3HuAgY&mode=related&search=

EDIT: The best part of her Rose's Turn was watching her react to the theatre and the audience in front of her at that moment, as if we were all existing inside her mind. When she sings "Curtain up!" watch how she discovers the curtain hanging above her in the actual theatre. This "Rose" knows she's on a stage, and knows she's playing to an audience right then. You only get to see a glimpse of what she did at the very end, but it was chilling. She starts to bow to "us" (the audience in her mind), and as the applause builds, her bows get more grandiose and theatrical. And sad. This is the explosion of attention and recognition she's been craving all along. Her whole life. It doubled, even tripled, the response the night I saw it. Truly a jaw-dropping performance.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 01:41 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:55pm

Speaking of Gypsy, check out the "Original Mazeppa" thread on the main board.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 2:01pm

Thanks, PJ!

This one's for you.

What might have been... if she'd played the part back then. "There wouldn't have been signs big enough. There wouldn't have been lights bright enough!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w9_8Av7OCVw&mode=related&search=

(she's "headless" for the first part, but then she jumps down!)

All I can say is WOW. Acting AND singing in top form.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 3:10pm

I love Liza's Rose's Turn. It's fantastic.

And I love her Some People as well, but for completely different reasons...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZmgYQr5uals

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 4:40pm

I actually don't like her "Some People" outside of a concert setting. She's too busy lounging it up, tapping her foot, etc. It's fine in the context of a concert... but not for playing the part.

That's why I was surprised at her Rose's Turn. It wasn't a manic "act." It would have worked extremely well in the context of the show. I believe she could have done the part very well. Before (based solely on various recordings of Some People) I had my doubts.

EDIT: ahmelie---I think that's probably what you meant by "loving it for completely different reasons."

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 04:40 PM

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 5:02pm

My ultimate Rose is Tyne Daly. Hands Down.

There are two schools of thought on about Rose's talent. She is either VERY talented and frustrated that she is not acknowledged as a performer... or she is has limited talent and but mammoth drive that she transfers to making a career for her children.

I think the later is the more interesting choice. Daly's vocal limitations at odds with her fierce determination was just the right combination to say something about the character's over-reaching tendencies.

Bette Midler didn't work for me as Rose on TV. When I saw her perform Rose's Turn in concert she was this sonic boom of talent the wiped out the audience.

Go Figure.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 05:02 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 5:55pm

There's only one thing wrong with Liza's Some People: Too. Much. Cocaine.

The Rose's Turn, oddly enough, is almost as much about what Judy might have done with the role as it is what Liza would have done with it. Liza was almost channeling Judy in that Rose's Turn.

The sad thing about that family is that we'll never see either Judy or Liza of them play Rose--Judy was too "unreliable" to be allowed to play the part and Liza was too coked-up. Now Liza is too gone to handle it dramatically and musically.

And the only people who saw Lorna play it were the ones who went to see her at a university in Virginia.

And that, in a nutshell, is the story of the Garland family.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 7:45pm

I'm really not a fan of the idea of Liza as Rose. I think she would have been the ultimate Louise back in the days (miles better than Natalie Wood, Laura Benanti, or Christa Moore) but I very much agree with Arthur Laurents when he says that Liza would make a terrible Rose because Liza begs to be loved and Rose doesn't give a sh*t. I do love Liza's interpretation of the songs in a concert setting but I for one think she's far the ideal Rose that most people make her out to be.
However, the idea of Judy as Rose opposite Liza as Louise is just well...orgasmic to say the least.
If a film were to be made, I'd love to see Meryl's interpretation, I think she'd be one of the most unstoppable, somewhat evil, yet exquisite Rose.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:00pm

"Yeah, but what happened to the POLE? "

She now works at TV Guide.