Andrea Mcardle In GYPSY as ROSE.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 4:19am

I don't know if anyone saw this production (in Texas I beleive) with Andrea as Rose, but from the little clip I saw on "that site" she seemed miscast (even for a community theatre production) and the staging was odd.

Type in the tags: gypsy andrea mcardle annie rose's turn houston rose musical

She sings "Rose's Turn" in the clip...eh.

[PersonofInterest]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 4:33am

Oh boy.
This is not pretty.
Look, I love Andrea. I think she's an exceptional talent and when cast correctly she is really powerful. She's also a super sweet woman.
But, boy oh boy is this a train wreck. What theater is this at? Who is the looney tune who conceived this absurd staging? And why in the world did Andrea think that playing Mama Rose was a good idea?
I mean, I'd like to play Rose too, but that's not even gonna happen in Houston!!!
If i were Andrea I'd kindly request that this video be removed.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 4:49am

Damn, was this for her high school reunion? That was pretty bad, looks like they gave the part to a 10th grader.

[Producer2]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 7:04am

The end of Rose's turn completely fell apart- she forgot words, made them up and was several verses behind the band.

[dchesnutny]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 7:18am

this is genius. so bad it's actually entertaining.
she should stick to 'hard knock life' or maybe cosette in 'les miz'....

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:09am

The staging was pretty bad and she still sounds like she's ten.

[glimpseofstocking]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:03am

I came across this on that site about a month ago.
I think Andrea McArdle is very talented, and has a gorgeous voice....but she is just not a Rose.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:23am

Andrea was only 40! How on EARTH did they think she could pull-off the older Rose?



PLAYBILL Article - April 12, 2004 Updated On: 3/17/07 at 11:23 AM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:24am

Let's just let her off with a caution, shall we?

I still remember Annie.

That's the memory I want in my file.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:26am

Andrea was only 40! How on EARTH did they think she could pull-off the older Rose?

- Well they do want Catherine Zeta-Jones who is still in her 30's to play the role in a movie. It's like saying how the hell could Merman, Russell, and Lansbury pull off the younger Rose?

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:39am

40 seems like a good age for Rose. How old should she be at the end of the show??? Her daughter is in her very early 20s at most. Rose would have given birth to her in her early 20s.

The math adds up, give or take a year.

BUT... maturity and age aren't the same thing. Andrea has a youthful quality that makes her not an ideal candidate for the role. I thought she did pretty well (not great), based on what I saw... but that junior high school staging was too much. "Let's bring out the whole cast while she melts down on stage."

The point of that number is that she's ALONE now... dealing with herself... trying to make sense of it all and come to grips. My jaw dropped when I saw the tuxedoed "boys" come out to join her, and it just got worse from there.

But this has nothing to do with Andrea as Rose. I also think she was moving around (crossing back and forth) on the stage too much. I little deliberate movement is fine... but she should hold her ground and let it all out here. It's not a physical marathon of a number... it's an EMOTIONAL one.

The director totally missed the boat here. I consider Andrea's performance mostly a casualty of the bad direction.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:51am

Wow, I just watched it for myself. And it's very odd. I don't get the boys, and I don't get the whole cast coming out to watch her breakdown. Honestly, it just seems like a High School production to me. Andrea doesn't sound like anymore than a senior girl in HS singing the role.

BUT I still stand by my opinion that a woman her late 30's/early 40's can play Rose and nail it, if she's the right fit, and of the right maturity like Best said.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:56am

Good catch -- Andrea at 40 is technically the right age for Rose, especially since women back then (turn of the century) had children quite early in life, so Gypsy being in her early 20's at the end of the show is more than realistic with an early 40's Mama Rose.

[OOTI2004]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:11pm

I just watched it. Although I think the tuxedo boys was a horrible idea, I did like having the cast come out. I mean they were only out there for a short time and I loved the way they exited one by one until when she was saying mama's all alone, she really was left alone. I found it interesting, like she was remembering everyone in her life.

I agree she doesn't fit the part at all. She was too whiny, and she kept stamping her foot on the ground. I can't belive she's 40 though she sounded like she was in her 20's.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:26pm

umm...what?! The girl can sing but that was just all wrong.

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:35pm

McArdle and Peters have much the same problem. In recent years they always look like kids dressed up in their mother's clothing. They're just two more example of people who shouldn't have plated Mama Rose

[Dover]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:37pm

I feel sorry for the conductor. Badly directed, and probably very under-rehearsed based on how completely lost she gets. I like Andrea, but I could never picture her as Rose. Now I know it wasn't just a hunch. Her voice is great, but she will need to be really old if she ever comes off the right age for the part.

[PersonofInterest]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 3:36pm

b12b- "The director totally missed the boat here. I consider Andrea's performance mostly a casualty of the bad direction."

I agree. I think she was the victim of ill thought out oaycheck job. I'm sure she never thought anyone would see it and she could make a few bucks and play a role she'd never be able to play again.

Good point about the age. 40 would be about right. Anyone know how old the real Rose was? I read the book years ago but don't remember.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 3:44pm

As memory serves, the director had some major issues, and she only got about a week of prep time for it. So this isn't a good representation of what she can do.

She was amazing in "Annie Get Your Gun"

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 1:21am

Anyone else notice how many times she stamped her foot? lol.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 1:36am

Merman had a flop. Astaire had a flop, Alfred Drake had a half-dozen. Now mind you, they were all original material flops, not revivals of someone elses's work.

Perhaps instead of casting shame on the poor woman, perhaps we should be crapping all over a world where a woman with talent like Andrea McCardle (even if it is a narrow but very intense talent) is relegated to doing revivals of some other woman's works.

And if you ARE going to do a show like Gypsy, you have to have an adult in the lead. Merman was an adult; probably was in her 20's; nobody every thought of her as a little girl. But this is a modern problem in all areas of entertainment. In the movies, there is are three four adult male stars, George Clooney, Russel Crowe, Denzel Washington and Liam Neeson, and then all the other "stars" are perpetual teenagers: Matt Damon, Leo deCaprio, Ewan McGreggor, Mel Gibson (a very, very bad little boy) and the list goes on and on. In music, the stars are almost pre-pubescent. Anyone think Avril Lavigne or Beyonce has any gravitas?

You need a woman with a deep, rich voice for this part. Like The Merm, Tyne Daily, Angela Lansbury, maybe Donna Murphy. But kewpie-doll Peters? I nearly gagged when I saw her do the show. And now the girl who played Annie, forgowdssake? What were they smoking that made this show look good?

[friedrichVT]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 3:18am

Hello? Big Pink Elepahnt in the room...She can't act. Her Annie performance was like the rest , robotic,with an AMAZING voice. She either never felt she had to take acting classes because of her early success, or she is not capable of grasping the concept of truth. I've seen her in every Broadway show she's done since, including Sally BOwles in Ogunquit Maine, SHE CAN'T ACT.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 3:55am

I just watched a video. What a mess in the middle.

She has a good voice, but not right for the role.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 9:12am

Her Annie Oakley in Philadelphia was not only sung well, but acted very well also.

The "Roses Turn" was a big mess. Since when did it become an ensemble number?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 9:45am

Wow! Talk about re-inventing "Rose's Turn" completely! First off -- that mess with the 'boys' ala "Roxie" in CHICAGO (she even did a few little Fosse-esque gestures!). I'm sure Andrea cringed when this was first suggested. Also, the cast coming onstage in different guises from the show was simply to imply a surrealistic/dream effect in Rose's mind -- her past haunting her. Nice touch, actually.

Judging by her dialogue scenes, Andrea CAN pull-off a 'youngish' Rose. Her post-"Rose's Turn" scene was quite effective. It was just the staging of the "Rose's Turn" number that faultered -- not her.

Also, that orchestra sounded like a high school band -- what a mess.


Andrea McArdle as Mama Rose in GYPSY (Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre - June 2004):