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Streisand as... Momma Rose?

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#1

Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 11:26am

In 1974, when the revival for GYPSY that ultimately starred Angela Lansbury was in the preparation stages, Director Arthur Laurents was campaigning VERY hard to give the role of Rose to. . . Barbra Streisand.

Streisand did not want to return to Broadway for a long run, so she declined, but what do you think?

How well would she have handled the part?
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#2

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 11:55am

With Artie Laurents to beat her over the head, she may have done very well.

Remember he directed her in Wholesale and wrote The Way We Were which had just been released the year before. She trusted him as much as she was going to trust anyone.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher
#3

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 11:58am

...but wasn't she a bit on the young side at the time?
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!" Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
#4

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:05pm

GOOD Question, Redhot!

According to Laurents, Streisand was about the same age as the real Rose Hovick was when she launched her kids into show business.

I don't know--they might have added some aging makeup or something to her towards the end of Act II.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#5

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:14pm

I don't know... she had MATURED as an Actress quite a bit since HELLO, DOLLY(1969) [she was nominated for the Oscar for the aforementioned THE WAY WE WERE], and might have been VERY POWERFUL in the role--BOTH as an Actress and Vocalist.

Can you begin to imagine her singing "Small World," or "Everything's Coming Up Roses"?

And her "Rose's Turn" might have been DYNAMITE!
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#6

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:22pm

I think she would have been a credible Rose. She certainly is capable of portraying a pushy broad and her voice goes without saying. It's hard now to look back, though, and try to visualize what whe would have done with the role after we've identified with Angela Lansbury... One of the reasons that I'm not nuts about her Dolly is that I so identify with Carol Channing...and Barbra didn't do it that way!
#7

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:28pm

Streisand claims that the inspiration for HER interpretation of Dolly Levi was Mae West.

You can see it sometimes in the "purring" manner in which she approaches the dialogue... especially in her scenes opposite Walter Matthau.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#9

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:44pm

NICELY Put, DG!

Streisand and Matthau spent so much time arguing on the set of HELLO, DOLLY! that someone once commented if they had sold tickets to those highly entertaining "discussions," the film might have actually turned a profit! :)
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#10

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:48pm

"I'm number 10 at the box office. Right under Barbra Streisand. Can you imagine being under Barbra Streisand? Get me a bag. I may throw up."
-- Walter Matthau

#11

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:50pm

LOL!!! That's AWESOME!!!
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
#12

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 12:53pm

DG, I LOVE IT!

Do you know where that quote comes from, by any chance?
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#13

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:01pm

"I have more talent in my smallest fart than you have in your entire body. (Walter Matthau to Barbra Steisand on the set of Hello Dolly)

The previous quote was in some interview he did at the time.
#14

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:06pm

Its not too late---she still might be able to play Mama Rose at some point in the future. I would like to see her portrayal of the character.

Having seen so many different people do, and hearing so many things makes me quite curious.
#15

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:20pm

I had read that Streisand was/is a very difficult woman to work with, and very demanding. Didn't Authur Larents also object to her as being Mama Rose? He doesn't want Patti LaPone to play the role either. He seems very bitter about these things.

I'm not much of a Streisand fan, but you have to give her credit for that voice...unbelievable.
#16

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:57pm

Arthur Laurents has "special" feelings regarding the role of Rose and thinks it takes a unique talent to pull it off.

For example, regarding the 1990s TV version that starred Bette Middler--Laurents thought she was all wrong for role but was cast because Stephen Sondheim liked her auditions and thought she'd be dynamite in the part.

LF raises a VERY good point--from Ethel Merman to Bernadette Peters, we've seen many performers tackle the role.

My choice for the best performance would be Tyne Daly's--I thought she was Rose Inside and Out--the determination she had at the train station when she announced to Louise she was the REAL star of the Family; the maniacal gleam in her eye during Rose's turn.

Surprisingly, she handled the vocals quite well also.


Who's your favorite Momma Rose?
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#17

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 1:58pm

Beav - Mr. Laurents has always appeared to have, shall we say, strong opinions about things.
#18

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:02pm

Recording wise, I like Bernadette's.

I would really have liked to see Merman's.
#19

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:07pm

I KNOW what you mean, DG, Merman must have been really SOMETHING.

Do you know that she LOST the Tony Award that year (1959) to Mary Martin (THE SOUND OF MUSIC)?


Merman's response: "How can you compete with a Nun?" :)
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#20

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:08pm

I loved Bernadette's version as well. Merman yells/screams too much. Midler is bearable. Tyne Daly is too fast. But I just saw Bernadette Peters only.
#21

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:10pm

M_E - a friend of mine who saw EVERYTHING from that time period said that the wedding scene from Music was the most magical moment on stage he had ever witnessed.

Hope - I understand you REALLY had to see Merman LIVE to truly 'get it'.
#22

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:13pm

Too bad they don't issue these things on DVD. I would have loved to see it.
#23

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:18pm

Believe it or not, our good friend Mr. Sondheim has said in an interview he had a soft spot for Bette Middler as Rose.

He felt she could belt like Merman; acted as well as Lansbury, and captured some of the "earthier" tones of the character that thus far had not been explored.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#24

re: Streisand as... Momma Rose?

Posted: 11/10/04 at 2:24pm

M_E - that may all be true, but she never became 'real' to me - and I LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE Bette.

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