Bernadette in GYPSY- Page 3
Bernadette in GYPSY
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#50
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:08pmMendes had a very good idea with Tulsa that he didn't get to explore. He wanted a Tulsa who perhaps was not as good as he thinks he is, and wanted to subtly suggest that June would be throwing away her life running away with him. But Laurents demanded the Jerome Robbins choreography for "All I Need Is The Girl," so out that idea went.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#51
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:13pmThe very same Laurents also personally called Bonnie Walker, who recreated the Robbins choreography for both the Daly production and the Midler MOW, and informed her that the show this time around was being taken in a completely different direction because of Mendes, and so she wouldn't be hired. Absolutely does not match up with him insisting on Robbins's original choreography for GYPSY, because Walker knows and produces it better than anyone. But then again, Laurents isn't known as the most reasonable man, is he?
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#52
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:14pmIt would seem he isn't.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#53
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:29pm
I love Bernadette Peters, but I'm not too keen on her take on Rose. I welcome different intepretations of the character, but I felt that Bernadette didn't really do the best job in her version of Rose. A lot of her line delivery, IMO, was off or just plain bad, and her renditions of songs make it sound like she's overly constipated.
That said, she did blow me away at the Tony Awards performance.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#54
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:37pm
If we're lucky, the next time the show is revived, Laurents won't be there to throw his artistic weight around. If you get my drift. Therefore, we'll definately see a different take on the piece; direction and choreography-wise.
This man seems like nothing more than a blatant pain in the ass. I'd love hear what he thinks of the new La Cage.
Updated On: 12/31/04 at 07:37 PM
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#55
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:41pmPJ, he probably has a stipulation in his will preventing any new productions of his shows after he dies. Either that, or he has spelled out precisely how they are to be produced/directed/choreographed/acted/designed.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#56
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:43pmOnce he passes away, maybe someone can finally go in and fix the book of Anyone Can Whistle so the score can have the book it deserves.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#57
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:45pmDoubt it. See above.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#58
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:49pm
Certain shows, though, are really so well defined by the original creators, that it's hard to see how anyone can really reinvent a show like Gypsy in the first place. Mendes had the chance to reinvent Cabaret by changing and deleting songs, rewriting the book and making it his own. His hands were tied on Gypsy, but as he commented in some interviews, what could you really do to that score and book when they are as good as they are? Even as to the staging, I remember him saying that there were probably 10 different ways to do the young to old "Time Change" after Baby June and Her Newsboys, but would anything be as exciting as the original Jerome Robbins strobe light effect? It's a quandary, when dealing with a show like Gypsy.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#59
Posted: 12/31/04 at 7:50pmVery true, Magruder. There is a reason GYPSY is known to many as "the perfect show."
Swing Joined: 5/27/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#60
Posted: 12/31/04 at 8:58pmOkay, one question: How could she possibly have been "miscast" if Arthur Laurents himself chose her for the role??!! He wanted her to do it in 1996, when she sang 'Some People' in her Carnegie Hall concert. It was NOT Bernadette he had a problem with. He was not a fan of the direction of Sam Mendes. For example, the limited sets, etc. Bernadette Peters was NOT miscast. She did a phenominal job in the show, and portrayed Rose differently than anyone else ever had. That Tony was hers, and she was robbed.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#61
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:06pmGod could have descended from heaven to direct Gypsy, and Laurents still would have had a problem.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#62
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:07pmHe did not choose her. You are being mis informed. And I bet there is a tape or transcript of that DGA talk somewhere.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#63
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:10pmDame, are you saying that Peters is lying? Broadway.com used to have the Gypsy opening night video and she clearly said that it was Laurent's idea to have her play Rose. Whether or not he regretted it later is another subject.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#64
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:11pmHe did indeed choose Bernadette, and he is probably lying at the DGA.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/22/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#65
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:15pmI definitely thought one of the reasons she didn't get the Tony and all of the acclaim she deserved was because of her ailments. She missed a lot of performances, which was probably considered in to whom to give the Tony.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#66
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:17pmI think the fact that she was doing a role that was done so many times (and some felt have been done better) didn't help her chances either.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#67
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:18pm
From The Stephen Sondheim Society newsletter:
"...For this revival, the tiny, forever sexy Peters, who's 55, supposedly was the favorite choice of librettist Laurents, who told an interviewer that "finding the killer” beneath Peters' soft exterior "would make Rose seem even more dramatic.” Laurents had seen Peters as the witch in Sondheim's "Into the Woods” in 1988 and later heard her sing "Some People,” one of Rose's numbers, in a 1996 solo concert at Carnegie Hall.
"She's incredibly different” from the other Roses, Laurents has said -- more like the real Rose Hovick, also a smallish woman whom he described as "very charming” in pursuing her single-minded goal."
http://www.sondheim.org/php/news.php?id=1004
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#68
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:19pmNo, I think the relapse of her illness after the opening, and then going on to perform throughout May when she was not well, so that Tony voters either didn't see her, or saw her at less than her best, is what really hurt her.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#69
Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:48pmThis GYPSY had been in the works for many years. It was originally supposed to happen on Broadway, then for some reason it was going to happen in London, then it finally landed in New York again. It was ALWAYS Laurents's plan for Peters to play the role. I know the original producer - I was working with him on a different project at the time - who Laurents fired from the show because he was having trouble getting backing for another script of Laurents's - a play that no one wanted to invest in, because it wasn't very good. This is as far back as, I believe, '97. Yes, I realize the dates and how close they are to the Daly production. I'm just telling you what happened.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#70
Posted: 12/31/04 at 10:53pm
Raithnait62, I adore you, and am glad to hear the truth about the odious Mr. Laurents being spread about. (Am I correct in assuming that you had a personal run-in with him at some time? We need to form a club.)
Back on topic, I too saw Bernadette very late in the run of GYPSY, and was quite impressed. I went in expecting a disaster. The last two times I had seen Ms. Peters perform she was less than ideal (GOODBYE GIRL, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), to put it mildly. But I thought her sensual take on Rose was fascinating, and she was in terrific vocal shape when I saw her.
She's not my favorite Rose of all time (that honor belongs to Betty Buckley, whom Mr. Laurents deemed "inexecrable," by the way). And that bare-bones production didn't do much for me. But I thought that Ms. Peters provided a very valid, powerful take on the character.
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#71
Posted: 12/31/04 at 10:59pm
Well, Veuve, you secured my adoration of you with your fabulous and brilliant STEEL PIER synopsis. :) And no, I have not had a run-in with Laurents personally - he's just shafted a number of my friends.
I actually loved Bernadette in GOODBYE GIRL - I blame the material for any problems. I think she did a great job with what she was given to work with there.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/9/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#72
Posted: 12/31/04 at 11:00pm
Oh please. She was disastrous in it. And the production was a big flop. And I guess ther is different versions of what Arthur Laurents wanted. That queen never knows what she wants anyway. Time to move on. Glad some folks liked it. Bernadette will be great in something else and a few years from now someone else will tackle Rose.
Happy New year everyone!
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/04
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#73
Posted: 12/31/04 at 11:17pm
I'm glad you enjoyed Bernadette in GOODBYE GIRL, Raith, but I didn't.
I do think she's an amazing performer. (And a wonderful humanitarian, for the record.)
While I don't find her mannerisms as annoying as some other people do, I think there are roles that her kewpie-doll shtick is particularly well suited for (Mabel, Dot, Ruby), and there are times when she lessens the shtick and trusts the character she's playing (SONG AND DANCE, in particular, and INTO THE WOODS to a large extent). It seems like the problem with GOODBYE GIRL was that the character wasn't well written, and she fell back on her usual mannerisms as a safety net due to the bad writing. So I'm not really blaming her for that show, but I would put it in the category of "miscast." She just seems to fall back on her particular bag of tricks when a role isn't well written. With good writing, she's sensational. I think a different actress may have been able to make lemonade out of the lemon that was THE GOODBYE GIRL.
I wouldn't say she was miscast as Rose. It seems like she really grew into the role though, judging from the posts from people who saw her early in the run compared to people who saw her later.
Updated On: 12/31/04 at 11:17 PM
re: Bernadette in GYPSY#74
Posted: 12/31/04 at 11:20pm
Yes, you're probably right about GOODBYE GIRL - however, she sang the sh*t out of those songs.
And obviously I agree with your last paragraph.
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