Best Mamma Rose?- Page 3
Best Mamma Rose?
re: Best Mamma Rose?#50
Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:09pm
firstly, the character's name is Madam Rose.......she is never, ever called "Mamma Rose" in GYPSY. I have seen several Roses and for me the best was Angela Lansbury.
I remember thinking that she held back a bit in the first act, but thought she shook the roof off the theater in the second act. Her Rose's Turn was electrifying and unforgettable.
I wish I had seen Merman. Many of those who saw her at the beginning of the run, and I knew personally one person who saw her last performance, said she gave the greatest performance ever in the history of the theater.
Sadly, Merman rather famously (it is written about in many, many books) "phoned in" her performance for the vast majority of performances. She also, according to written reports, reverted to performing GYPSY as "more of a Merman vehicle," than the disciplined, structured dramatic performance of Rose she gave on opening night. IT is my understanding this is why the legendary Merman, in this legendary, amazing role, was legendarily "unTony'd" for creating Madam Rose on Broadway.
Understudy Joined: 11/24/03
re: Best Mamma Rose?#51
Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:38pmI have to say that I think one day Sutton Foster will make an amazing Mama Rose.
re: Best Mamma Rose?#53
Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:53pmI agree, JKM. She has the vocals for it and if Little Women proved anything, it was that Ms. Foster is a fine dramatic actress.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
re: Best Mamma Rose?#54
Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:57pmI grew up watching the Bette Midler version and, for a while, didn't know anything else. But I really prefer Rosalind Russel.
re: Best Mamma Rose?#55
Posted: 3/21/05 at 3:05pm
All right, PJ and JK--based on your enthusiasm (which I value highty) I will take another look at Sutton and try to envision her stepping into Rose's shoes, somewhere along the road.
re: Best Mamma Rose?#56
Posted: 3/21/05 at 3:20pm
Of the recordings I've heard (I've only seen Bernadette).. I heavily prefer Lansbury. Second comes (I think) Daly. Even with the vocal problems, she sounds like she would just come through the speakers and tackle me.
And I like that in a Momma (or Madame..) Rose.
I think Lansbury is the singer that Merman was, and the actress that Tyne was.
Which equals a perfect Rose.
Such an urgency in her voice.
I LOVE hearing that on a recording. It's electric.
Bernadette - her Rose's Turn - devastatingly wonderful.
The rest of the show- Eh.
I thought she was.. good, but my love for her blinded my view of her performance.
Too cutesy.
I didn't feel urgency or electricity until Rose's Turn.
I felt like she was saying, "I have to preserve my voice and ferociousness until Rose's Turn, and then I'll turn everything on - and win the Tony".
Eep. Didn't work.
Even though she should have won over the disaster that is Winokur.
*Ducks*.
re: Best Mamma Rose?#57
Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:14pm
PalJoey: Go see Little Women if you haven't or even see it again if you have. Even if you don't like the show itself, just sit back and watch Sutton. She's magnetic. And that stage presence, sheesh! She completely upstages any actor who's sharing the stage with her. That my friend, is a true performer. She'd be perfect as Mama Rose. You just have to envision her being a lot older to really get the whole effect. I mentioned La Sutton a long time ago when the discussion was who could be the next Rose on Broadway, and my idea was shot down by one poster who said she didn't have the right "build" for the character. As Bernadette showed us, there's no required physique to portray this mammoth of a role, but there is however a tremendous amount of talent required. And Foster has plenty of that to go around.
EDIT: A while back when she was doing an Ask a Star for Broadway.com, she answered my question of whether or not she'd ever care to do Gypsy. Her answer was very enthusiastic so she's definitely up for it in the future.
Updated On: 3/21/05 at 04:14 PM
re: Best Mamma Rose?#58
Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:26pmThe last time I saw her was in the Snoopy concert--in which she made a terrific tomboy!--so I'm having to stretch my imagination a bit. But I agree with you about her talent.
re: Best Madame Rose?#59
Posted: 3/21/05 at 10:26pm
Ethel Merman. The part was written for her and the score tailored to her unique vocal abilities. No one since has sung those songs withs uch intense drive and anger. Her "Rose's Turn" is ferocious. Sondheim said in a recent interview that Ethel was better in the first act where the script calls for her to do more low comedy (as in her early musicals) but less effective in the darker moments of the 2nd act. He said she never did "get" what "Rose's Turn" was all about.
Angela Lansbury, Sondheim said, was better in the 2nd Act but less funny in the first part. She has a little trouble negotiating the range of some of the songs. For me the Lonon cast CD fails because of all the British accents and the strange decision by the record producer to merge the Baby June/Dainty June routines into one cut with a voiceover announcer calling out "five years later..." Obviously the show was not staged this way so why was it recorded like that?
I never saw Merman or Lansbury but I did see Tyne Daly and she certainly deserved her Tony award. Unfortunately the cast album was made at a time when she was not in good health and her vocal limitations are spotlighted. So that CD is of little help.
I did like Bernadette Peters take on the role though her odd inflections are bothersome. But her recording would be my second choice after the original with Merman because it is the most complete GYPSY we have to date.
As for the films, both are OK to watch, but as with any stage show GYPSY is best seen live on stage. With Roz Russell it is like seeing a road show version with a major star brought in to replace the original. And Midler never quite gets inside the character of Rose but she gives it a good try and the supporting cast is great. Neither CD is essntial unless you are a fan of the performers or (like me) must have every OCR that is released.
But if I had to choose only one GYPSY on CD it would be Merman at her best on Columbia.
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
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