Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
#1Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 3:23am
Original post:
I hope so.
Is it rude to ask her after a concert if she is interested in playing the role :P? (Someone ask.)
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Update #1 (28th October, 2009): Bernadette Peters is explicitly asked if she is interested in playing Mrs Lovett in Broadway.com's ask a star:
http://www.broadway.com/videos/all/ask-a-star-answers-bernadette-peters/
She says she is, and has learnt one song from the show.
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Update #2 (7th November, 2009): A UK Sweeney Todd revival is semi-announced with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton in the lead roles. Launching 'Spring 2011' then a west end transfer. Sounds like an appropriate vehicle for Bernadette Peters if the production transfers to Broadway in 2012-2013 (Aged 65 if she is able to pull it off it will be her last chance).
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Update #3 (3rd March, 2012): Well it's been a long time and the fanboyish pipe-dream continues but since the last update, Bernadette Peters has returned to Broadway twice in two leading Sondheim roles (in NIGHT MUSIC and FOLLIES) so it seems clear she still enjoys working. The Chicester Sweeney Todd has opened and closed and is about to open in the West End, and has just been recorded in the studio.
Apparently there is going to be a "Special Guest Star" in the summer. Perhaps Bernadette could make a temporary replacement for Staunton :P.
Michael Ball has expressed desire to come to Broadway with the production, although I assume Staunton who is praised in the role will come with him. This will be the last chance for Bernadette to ever play the role in London or New York if it transfers though.
Doesn't mean that Bernadette can't sing the role in a concert when she is 70 or play it somewhere regionally (although playing the role regionally seems beneath her). But this will be the last chance for her to play the role in London or in Broadway.
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Update #4 (5th November, 2012). So, according to rumours on the West End board - the Sweeney Todd production with Ball and Imelda is not going to Broadway anymore because of the high upfront costs. So that avenue seems exhausted.
Bernadette said she'd return to Broadway in a recent interview she suggested it's a lot of work, but that she "loves it" and she'd return if the project was "irresistible".
http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/170837-DIVA-TALK-Tony-Winner-Bernadette-Peters-Chats-About-NJ-Concerts-Smash-Coming-Up-Roses/pg3
The plight continues..
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Update #5 (7th November, 2012). Well, it seems BWW just asked Bernadette whether MRS LOVETT is the next role she'd like to take on, and she replied:
BP: Well, you see, it wasn’t done that long ago, you know?
PC: Of course - with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris.
BP: Right. So, I haven’t really thought about it. But, you’re right - it is a really wonderful role. It really is.
In fact, they then went onto ask her if she would play Lovett against Michael Ball's Sweeney if the London production transferred:
PC: Sondheim recently spoke so favorably to me of that new West End Jonathan Kent production set in the 1930s. Perhaps you could team with Michael Ball if it comes over?
BP: Oh, I know! I’ve heard it’s just fabulous, but I didn't get over there to see it. I’d love to have seen Imelda Staunton in it.
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Update #6 (9th November, 2012). Because Bernadette is promoting her new movie COMING UP ROSES there are a lot of interviews popping up, so here is yet another that discusses MRS LOVETT on broadway.com. This makes it clear that the song she learned a few years ago was WORST PIES IN LONDON (see update #1). Assuming it isn't misleading, it also suggests that Bernadette explicitly brought up the role in the interview, saying she still has it left to play.
"Peters notes that Sweeney Todd’s Mrs. Lovett is still left to conquer, “but they did that [on Broadway] not long ago. I once learned 'The Worst Pies in London,' and the details in that song are incredible.”
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/165342/bernadette-peters-on-losing-her-mind-in-the-new-movie-coming-up-roses-and-her-thank-you-note-to-sondheim/
In another interview over at theatremania she said ""I don't think I'll be doing anything in the next year, but it [sic] you never know. I have a part in mind"
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/11-2012/bernadette-peters-is-busy-coming-up-roses-and-revi_63698.html?cid=homepage_news
Is Bernadette looking for a vehicle to play Mrs Lovett?
Update #7 (7th July, 2013) The NY Phil has announced a Sweeney concert for 2014. This is the perfect opportunity for Bernadette to play Mrs Lovett.
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Update #8 (10th October, 2013) The NY Phil has announced Emma Thompson will play Mrs Lovett in the 2014 concerts. A bit of a dead end.
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Update #9 (23rd August, 2016) An Off-Broadway revival has been announced for 2017 NYC. Bernadette, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!!
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 8/22/16 at 03:23 AM
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#2re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 6:48am
I would think:
1. That while not RUDE, it seems inappropriate.
2. That she would be amazing in the role.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#3re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 8:17am
Peters was asked if she was interested in playing Mrs. Lovett during her American Theater Wing Downstage Center interview (which you can download online.)
She said that SWEENEY TODD is a show that she's always wanted to do, casually moving on to say something about the merits of Sondheim material.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#4re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 8:36amI have no desire to see her in that role, and I don't think a revival is needed so soon after the Lupone/Cerveris production and the movie. She took a big risk taking on Gypsy, and I don't think it's in her best interest to take on another role where she'll be subject to another diva comparison.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#5re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:23amShe doesn't necessarily have to play it on Broadway. Thanks somethingwicked I'm going to check that out now.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#6re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 11:21amShe doesn't have the tenacity to do the role. She'll have to be carried out on a stretcher at the end of Act 1.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#7re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 11:23amI really don't need to experience this show again for at least another 10 years. Maybe 20.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#8re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:19pm
She'll have to be carried out on a stretcher at the end of Act 1.
- LMAO.
#9re: Bernadette Peters as Lovett - Will it EVER Happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:22pm
I would happily experience a new production of SWEENEY every year. (In fact, it seems I am as the recent film has inspired a number of local groups to tackle teh show.)
What values do people think Peters would bring to the role? I could see her as the Beggar Woman, but not Lovett.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#10bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 12:31pmdoubt it.
r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#11bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 5:26pm
"What values do people think Peters would bring to the role? I could see her as the Beggar Woman, but not Lovett. "
Honestly, I just want to hear her sing the score. I know it's a bad reason but whatev. (Added update: I think BP would bring new life to some of the songs like "WAIT" that are previously just a bore. I'd like to see her classic vulnerability brought to the role plus her humour etc.).
I suppose I could also see her as the Beggar Woman but that part is beneath her at the moment in her career.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 3/2/12 at 05:26 PM
#12bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 5:29pmI can't see her as Lovett, but then I didn't expect Patti LuPone could re-invent the character as well as she did, so maybe she could surprise.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#13bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 7:16pm
Honestly, I just want to hear her sing the score. I know it's a bad reason but whatev.
No, no! it's GOOD reason LOL. SHe'd finally beable to show off her lower notes.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#14bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 8:44pm
...I don't think a revival is needed so soon after the Lupone/Cerveris production and the movie.
Well, Gypsy only waited 5 years, so Sweeny was in, what, 2005? So, I guess give it another year.
She doesn't necessarily have to play it on Broadway
I don't see her doing it at many regional theatres. Hollywood Bowl, perhaps.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#15bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 8:51pmI'd love to see her play the part, maybe at the Encores! Summer Stars series, at the Hollywood Bowl, or even if they did a concert version at Carnegie Hall. Doesn't matter where, I think she'd make a fabulous Mrs.Lovett. I think she'd be sexy, a hoot, and bring an interesting mix of her musical theater chops and combine it with the darker aspects of her personality (seen in roles like the Witch or her rendition of "Hello Little Girl." I really would love to see her.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#16bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:26pmGood god I hope not...she would be a hot mess.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#17bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/24/09 at 9:33pmI'm sure that if she has a desire to play the role, it will happen. But she's got plenty of time to wait on the perfect production for her.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
#18bernadette peters lesbian bondage scene - will it ever happen?
Posted: 4/25/09 at 1:11am
Jesus, what is with this hate on Bernadette!?
I think she could perform the role quite well, she's a phenominal actor and singer.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
#19Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 7:51am
I found this article:
http://www.edgesanfrancisco.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=music&sc2=features&sc3=&id=89110
EDGE: Have you thought of playing Mrs. Lovett?
Bernadette Peters Yes. I started looking at that role. You know what role I would love to play is Sally in ?Follies.? That?s the one. The music, the role, everything about it.
---
Unfortunately "I started" kind of implies it is halted (what does "looking at the role" mean anyway? for the movie?), but omgg. Interesting about Folles though, of course biasly I love Bernadette in everything, but I'm not dying for her to play Sally :P.
--
I know no one cares and this post is pointless, but still.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 7/6/09 at 07:51 AM
#20Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 9:07am
QUOTE: "She'll have to be carried out on a stretcher at the end of Act 1. "
Most likely *I* would have to be carried out on a stretcher .... she should only be allowed to mangle one major role per decade.
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#21Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 9:18am
"But she's got plenty of time to wait on the perfect production for her."
I disagree. At 61, she's a the very high end of the age range for Lovett. She's already too old for Sally in Follies. Sally should be around 50 or so. She could do wonderful takes on the songs of either character in concert or on CD, but I have no desire to see her play either role.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
sparrman
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/07
#22Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 9:35amTo say Bernadette is too old to play Sally in Follies because she's 61...I mean, come on! She looks 41, tops. Who cares how old she actually is!
#23Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 9:44am
"She looks 41, tops."
Only through the rose-colored glasses of a fan. She looks her age. Nothing wrong with that. Not to say it won't happen. Hell, she was cast in Annir Get Your Gun when she was far too old for the role.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#24Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 10:05am
I'd much rather see her in something we haven't seen for a long time on Broadway: Hello Dolly, Mame, Dear World or Anyone Can Whistle (as Cora Hoover Hooper).
Hell, she was cast in Annir Get Your Gun when she was far too old for the role.
Ethel was 43 and 63 when she played Annie on Broadway and in the Lincoln Center revival (respectively), and Ethel never looked younger than her age on stage.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#25Bernadette Peters Agenda
Posted: 7/6/09 at 10:08am
"I'd much rather see her in something we haven't seen for a long time on Broadway"
I completely agree. Or, heaven forbid, something original.
"Ethel was 43 and 63 when she played Annie on Broadway and in the Lincoln Center revival"
And the latter was nicknamed 'Granny Get Your Gun'.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
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