Bernadette getting out of contract?- Page 2

[moljul]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:11pm

Since this production of Gypsy began rehearsals it has been reported all over theater chat boards that every actress in a high profile production of Gypsy has had vocal problems due to the demands of the role. Merman burst a blood vessel, Angela had a lot of problems during previews and had to take a few performances off, I'm not sure about Tyne Daly and Betty Buckley had to take several performances off not long after the production opened. Bottom line is that it is an extremely demanding role that the human voice can not do continuously for a long period of time without problems. No matter how great the voice.

As for Bernadette leaving early, I would consider it a rumor until you hear it confirmed by Bernadette, her publicist or a PR representative of the show.

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:12pm

I just spoke with someone who is on the production staff and indeed NO...she is not thinking of getting out of her contract in any way shape or form. The only thing being discussed is her vacation, which she takes in December (as she did with Annie Get Your Gun). End of story.

And, I can't necessarily agree with the supposition that Rose is a monster. She is a woman. Desperate. Selfish. Even hateful. But to say she is a monster (and to play her as such) lets us sit back and watch and say 'I'd never do that to my kids. Ever.' Watching Bernadette Peter's interpretation of the role, I, for the first time, understood that I have the capability of making horrible choices if pushed to it. Believe me, Voiceanth, people all the time do to their children what Rose did to hers. Being out in LA for pilot season made that awful fact astonishingly clear.

You had your experience seeing the show, and I respect that as well as your opinion. But when we start dealing in absolutes about characteristics of certain roles, we get into very dangerous territory. Rose does monstrous things...but certainly does not have to be played as a monster. If she is, I find little reason to sit through the show.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:17pm

Both Lady Macbeth and Medea are women, too. However no one ever argues that they're not monsters!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:18pm

Well said, Robbiej, and welcome back. How was your vacation?

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:22pm

Dollypop,

I would certainly argue come hell or high water that they are not monsters. Cause where's the fun in playing them? And what are we suppose to learn from these shows if we can distance ourselves by saying 'They're monsters. I'm not.' Women push their men to murderous acts out of a hunger for power, even today. Women also kill their children to exact revenge on a husband, even today. There's absolutely no point in going to see these shows if all we get are monsters. Remember, tragedy is meant to inspire fear AND pity. Not just fear.

Suleen,

Thanks doll!!! The East End was fabulous. Had a bit of a sinus infection, but I felt very British, going off to the sea to recover.

[Hello Gorgeous]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:25pm

Christine is right, we don't need another amazing performer to have something terrible happen to her voice. If Bernadette needs to leave the show because it may endanger her voice, then so be it.

I really really really really really hope she doesn't leave though....

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:27pm

...there we go with that word "amazing" again!

[Hello Gorgeous]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:29pm

Well, considering my brain is dead I couldn't think of another word...sorry about that...

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:31pm

I mean she kills the kids that Medea does...ummm..because she's pissed at her boyfriend and his girlfriend ...real nice soul...

Child killer = monster Updated On: 9/2/03 at 04:31 PM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:33pm

Everything is just so black and white to you, isn't it Voiceanth?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:34pm

uh..when it comes to someone killing a child or forcing a young girl into stripperhood...

uh yeah!

Then it is black and white!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:37pm

It has been awhile since I have seen it, but doesn't Rose slaughter the little lamb and use it's blood to make June's cheeks and lips more glamorous? And offer Mr. Goldstone a lamb chop?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:39pm

There are shades of grey in everything, Voiceanth. Everything. ESPECIALLY in "monstrous" roles.

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:40pm

Sure. That's how we make ourselves feel better. By saying child killers are monsters.

Is that really all there is to the story of Medea, Voiceanth? Not to get all Freshman Year Intro to Drama 101, but do you think Euripides wrote MEDEA to show how much of a monster she was? If so, then why did he write the only tragedy I can think of where the heroine passes from misery to happiness instead of the other way around? You don't think there's more to the story than your giving credit?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:56pm

Last time I checked it was essentially about a woman obsessed with her lover who dumped her for a hot new chick...

She helped him with something by betraying people and now he dumped her...

as revenge..she offs the kids...the kids they had together...

Oh, she's a livin' doll!

...ever heard the operatic version by Cherubini...listen to Callas's bootleg version from Dallas 1957 (I think)...

Unreal...she plays it like a mental patient …and never, ever goes for sympathy…she’s unrelenting and loaded with bile…it’s in every note she sings…

....by the time the final notes come around you can't wait for them to kill her...

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:07pm

If you have no sympathy for the characters...Rose and Medea included...then what's the point of seeing the show. Part of what Bernadette did that was so great was made the character more human. I wouldn't say likable, but also not some unstopable warhorse.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:09pm

The kids THEY had together. The kids she loved. Do you really think it was that easy for her as she was just a monster? She is driven mad with grief that her husband left her and comes up with a revenge so appalling it can't be comprehended and it's one that destroys her as much as it does him. If you really honestly just boil it down to "she kills her kids and that makes her a monster" then you missed the point and quoting opera won't help you.

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:14pm

Wow, how you love to twist my words around. Never once said she was a 'living doll' or a 'good soul'. But your oversimplification truly negates the power of the story. Do you really think Euripides was writing a story to warn all the women of the world that killing your children is wrong? Then why does she have, in some twisted way, a happy ending? I don't know Cherubini's version of MEDEA...I'm not that well-rounded.

I do know she doesn't die in Euripides version. Why? Why let her get away with it? And why make her the focus of a tragedy. By your description, she should be the focus of a horror movie, nothing more.

One of the reasons I hated the last revival of MEDEA was because Fiona Shaw played her as bat-**** crazy (or as a dear friend once said "crazy as a ****house rat"). Making that choice weakens the play and weakens the character. Because we can then 'understand' why she killed her kids. She was loony tunes. But I'm not...so therfore I could never kill my kids. But it's so much harder to understand how a normally sane woman (who is not a monster) can be driven to kill her children. Because then it's possible that any of us may be driven to the same act...or worse...drive someone else to that act. That, I believe, is why the story is important and why it's powerful.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:18pm

Do you honestly believe ANY reason is ok to kill any child never mind your own...?

If so...then we most definitely disagree...

And why would anyone NOT go to a show unless they felt empathy for the character..

I mean if there was a musical about Mussolini, that showed all his troubles and hatred came from his mother and her ideas on potty training...you may then find him warm and fuzzy but will that change history’s view that he was an a-hole?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:19pm

robbiej I never said you said she was a livin doll or a good soul...I was being funny...I never said you said it...

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:20pm

Fiona Shaw didn't play it crazy when I saw it, she played it as a woman destroyed by rage. I have never seen a performance that was so angry.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:21pm

Well..it just goes to show no one ever sees anything in the same way...least of all female roles involving children (LOL)

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:25pm

Oh come now, Voiceanth, I never once said it was ok to kill a child.

I'm saying that in this play we as an audience must understand how she arrives at her choice. We do not condone, we do not support the action. We simply must watch and understand how this series of events can lead to this horrible double murder. Why? So that we may not make the same mistakes and live out that awful nightmare.

If we don't truly 'get it', then we may just put into motion a series of events with dire consequences.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:28pm

LOL! This is a riot! I never said YOU said it was ok...(LOL)....robbiej ...it was more in line with what popcult was saying...

It's rare I disagree with what you say..yes, YOU, robbiej , YOU!!!

popculture and myself on the other hand...we'll...

I think it's because we're really in love..like Maddy and Addison on "Moonlighting"..

sweet jesus...

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 5:31pm

Though, I will say, when eating at Pacific East in the Hamptons and dropping down $90 per person only to be seated next to a screaming kid, I can somewhat understand how one is driven to kill a child. Though I think it's the parents who truly deserve the throttling.