Bernadette, GYPSY, and Rose's Turn

So I've been listening, for the first time, to the OBCR of GYPSY featuring Ethel Merman. And I can't STOP listening to it.. especially her Rose's Turn. I've yet to see GYPSY in person, but this climatic ending to the show just blows me away, especially Merman's delivery. It's thrilling, it's frightening, it's maniacal. I feel it. I get it. To me, it's engrossing and entirely convincing without being.. what today's standards would say.. is a perfect vocal performance. I don't want my Rose to deliver a 'perfect vocal performance' while singing this song. It would go against everything this song is saying, in my opinion.

With that said, finally listening to this recording made me wonder why so many people have said that Bernadette Peters was miscast in the '03 revival. I never saw her in the role.. only in her moving Tony performance. But why was she apparently miscast? She's obviously a tremendously gifted actress. Too sweet to be believable? I'd love to hear other people's takes on this. For now, back to my latest obession. Cue up Track 16. Love you, Merm.

Having seen the 2003 Broadway revival with Peters twice and actually LOVING Sam Mendes' minimalistic staging I will admit that Peters basically 'belted' all of her lines. She seemed to SCREAM all of her dialogue throughout the entire show so her Rose always looked angry and defensive to everyone she interacted with.

Tammy Blanchard was sheer perfection as Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee. Seeing her transformation was literally a Master Class in how to play the role.

I've only ever seen her performance of Rose's Turn on the Tony telecast and was not impressed at all. I just didn't get the Rose vibe from her... don't know how to say why in words!

Well, I don't think anyone would say she had vocal problems in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, lol. Although she did go somewhat flat on the last note of CLOWNS when I saw her - but pulled it off as a 'character choice', haha.


I didn't see Peters' performance - only a bootleg- and did notice that she did literally scream soooo many of her lines. Not good. I'm going to see the Lincoln Archive Video to be sure though. Of course, in Night Music she did like to deliver some of her lines this way. Perhaps it's just Bernadette....

I think her Rose's Turn Tony performance is amazing though, I LOVE the part "welll, someone tell me when is it my Turn" and her eyes etc...I enjoy BP's Gypsy cast recording immensely. I love her voice.

But perhaps her Rose's Turn, and maybe her Coming up Roses and Some People are like her CLOWNS - which transcend her performance in the show as a whole.

Yay for inconsistently with capitalising things :P.

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Updated On: 6/3/11 at 04:20 PM

yeah, I guess that was my point (that it was so easy no one would challenge)

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Well said, egghumor (lol). Physically, you almost want and need your Rose to be, well, not on the shorter side. It obviously just plays better and is more convincing on the stage when she is on the taller side (although no one questions how convicing LuPone was in the role.. don't know what her height is compared to Peters'). Was Merman the tallest Rose? And is it true that she didn't have the luxury of a microphone because, at that time, they weren't used on a Broadway stage?

I've listened to both the cast recordings of the Merman and Bernadette Gypsy. Here's what I think on their renditions of "Rose's Turn":

For me, Bernadette's Rose showed a lot more vulnerability than Merman's. That's probably why someone felt she didn't have "the Rose vibe." During "Rose's Turn," when Bernadette gets to the part where Rose is stuttering (the entire "Momma's gotta let go" sequence of the song), I really felt that there was (to borrow Greek terminology) anagnorisis--she realizes the mistakes in her actions that led her to this point of the tragedy. This, for me, makes the "Everything's coming up roses for me!" part of "Rose's Turn" all the more tragic because the you as an audience member knows that her turn isn't coming, and I felt like Bernadette's Rose knew it too. It's so devastating.

Whereas, I felt Merman's Rose still seemed blinded with determination. It seemed like Merman's Rose was still angry that she was betrayed and abandoned. During Merman's "Rose's Turn", I felt like the character still hadn't realized the mistakes she had made. It seemed as if Merman's Rose thought that her actions were unselfish and right. That is, I feel like Merman's Rose was less introspective that Bernadette's Rose. I do, however, enjoy the fierceness that she brings to the character. I don't think Bernadette's Rose achieved the same level of ferocity.

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"although no one questions how convincing LuPone was in the role" (cough)
be carefull about generalizations like that.

I also think the Merm's version is very scarey especially since she had no idea how to act the song (who would?) Sondheim and Styne and Robbins were asking her to sing a Shakespeare friggin' monologue, but they knew her raw singing power would make it thrilling, and if she tapped even a bit of manic it could work.
Merm: This Ma...Ma...Mama, is it on the beat or off it?
Steve: It's a breakdown Ethel, it comes when you feel it, it's hard to say Mama because you question your own Mama's love.
Ethel: Hm, OK... But is it on or off the beat?

Updated On: 6/4/11 at 12:09 AM

I personally loved Bernadette's performance of Rose. I never saw Ethel Merman obviously, but the recording actually annoys me. I think whatever "acting" she's doing sounds cheesy. Just my opinion in case this angers any Merman fanatics. Don't even get me started on Lupone. :)

I'll take Bernadette any day.

I saw Bernadette in Gypsy, the night before she actually took those 2 weeks off, so vocally, she really didn't sound that great. That being said, she commanded that stage.

One part that distincly comes to memory is the scene when she tells the Manager of the burlesque house that "My daughter can do it". At the moment, you heard the audience gasp, whic I've only heard once before in a theater. That's how effective at being relentless she was.

And the scenes with baby june on the stage within the stage, where she's mimicing the performance were down right scary.

Don't judge Bernadette's performance by the bootleg that's floating around. It's only the third preview and she clearly hadn't settled into the role yet. I saw it three times (the first right after she got back from being sick, the second a few months later, and the third just before they closed) and she was substantially more layered/textured each time. She really grew in the part.

I admit that I like Patti's performance as Rose in Ravinia far better than I like what she did on Broadway. At Ravinia she seemed to have a few more layers to the character, on Broadway it just felt very one note to me. I didn't feel her hurt or her anguish in the moments where Rose should be vulnerable. Because of this I never felt that I should care what happens to this woman in the end. She was nothing but a battle-tank plowing through the lives of everyone around her trying to dominate the landscape.

I love reading about the different interpretations of this iconic role. And that's what they are.. interpretations. We of course all have our favorites, but the term 'best' is entirely subjective. And it's not entirely fair to base your opinion on a Rose that you've only heard on a CD (Merman, Landsbury perhaps) than ones you've seen live in a Broadway theatre. With that said, is there anyone on this board that is even old enough to have seen Merman during her two-year run, or perhaps have parents who did and talked about that experience?