Betty Buckley in "Gypsy"

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 8:27pm

I know this is random but did anyone else see this production? I thought she was wonderful. Her voice handled the material so well. Why did she never do it on Broadway? Laurents didnt like her right? How did Sondheim feel?

[WickedlyPerfect]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 9:27pm

I didn't see her in "Gypsy" but I did see her for free this past month on campus. She was amazing!

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 9:33pm

Laurents appears to have a very high opinion of himself. Perhaps the best thing for theater, is for him to die?

[jewishboy]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:30pm

I saw it and while her voice was great her overall performance was not memorable. Yes, Laurents did not like her and Sondheim has agreed with him.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:31pm

Arthur Laurents will never die. He drinks blood.

I saw Betty Buckley's Gypsy. It was 4 or 5 hours long (or at least it felt that long) and there was not ONE LAUGH all night long:

Buckley's Rose hated her father so much, he was lucky all he lost when she left was the plaque.

When she sang that it was a small world, the entire audience started to yell, "Run, Herbie, run! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Those poor daughters of hers. It was almost as if they were singing, "If Mama was mangled..."

I seriously thought she was going to kill Mr. Goldstone with that fork. It was weird the way she stuffed the eggroll in his mouth and then tied a napkin around his face so he couldn't speak.

And it was INTERSTING in "You'll Never Get Away from Me" when she handcuffed Herbie to the Chinese restauant chair.

And I never wondered before, but what HAPPENED to Chowsies 1, 2 and 3? Gross.

Updated On: 10/30/06 at 10:31 PM

[JarNerdAV]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:45pm

"Laurents appears to have a very high opinion of himself. Perhaps the best thing for theater, is for him to die?"

Wow, that is pretty harsh. If we wished death on every succesful person in theatre who had a very high opinion of himselfherself (and were succesful in our wishes) the only person who might survive would be Harvey F. He is so self-effacing to a fault.

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 10:54pm

There wasn't one laugh with Patti LuPone either.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:36pm

I thought she was rather boring in the role. Laurents and Sondheim both thought she wasn't good as Rose (I believe Sondheim is not a big fan of her as an actress). Didn't they stop her from opening a major revival in Toronto?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/30/06 at 11:40pm

I disagree. There were lots of laughs with Patti's Rose. She is after all a bit of a clown and a highly skilled comic actress from her Juilliard/Acting Company days.

Betty, on the other hand, eschews humor. She is above it. And she takes herself far too seriously to achieve it anyway.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:28am

I liked Betty's Rose very intense and very dark... okay it was just very Betty!

[once a month]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:34am

I really felt that Patti merely walked through her role as Mamma Rose at Ravinia. To me, it almost felt like a community theatre production. I had tickets to the final performance of Gypsy at Paper Mill Playhouse but got sick at the last minute, wasting both tickets. What a shame.

I'm a huge fan of both ladies, and Bernadette...even with all their Roses behind them.

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:47am

"Patti merely walked through her role as Mamma Rose at Ravinia."

Yeah, big time. Most of the positive responses seemed based more on wishful thinking than on a clear-eyed reaction to what was on stage. She could have been any old actor from the local community theatre. Nothing new or exciting there.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:50am

Years before she did it at Paper Mill, she played Rose in Tucson of all places for a now-defunct theater company called SALOC. No, she wasn't Rose, but with that voice, who the hell cares?

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:53am

I liked Betty.

Wasn't Merman known for steamplowing her way through the role as well? Tyne Daly was probably my favorite Rose.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:00pm

Daly steamplowed it as well, but with moments of softness and humor, which is essential to making Rose human.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:06pm

I'm not a big Betty Buckley fan, but I always enjoyed her Gypsy, I only have the recording though so I can't offer a very valid opinion.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:08pm

Buckley in GYPSY was disturbing, and not in a good way. She played the role like a cross between Margaret White and Norma Desmond: Rose has to have some warmth and vulnerability. Buckley played her like she was borderline psychotic. It was kind of the way I would imagine Faye Dunaway would play a musical version of MOMMIE DEAREST.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:09pm

Sounds like she wasn't acting at all.

You know, from what I've heard.

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:10pm

Wow I'm surprised so many people did not like her. I didn't think she was the best Rose but I did enjoy how she handled the score. What did you guys think of Debbie Gibson?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:12pm

Gibson was mediocre. She oversang the role and wasn't very convincing in the transition.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:15pm

This production was disappointing overall.
Did anyone get to see the revival in Texas with Andrea McArdle as Rose? I've always wanted to see the show with a younger Momma Rose.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:19pm

Okay, of people who have seen multiple versions of the show, who did you like?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:22pm

Daly and Peters. Loved them both - both interpretations were very different, but since Peters was in fantastic voice the night I saw the show, there was that extra added delight of hearing that gorgeous score actually SUNG.

I also enjoyed Jana Robbins, who was the Daly/Lavin understudy. Linda Lavin gave me hives.

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:24pm

I liked Tyne the best. Then Bernie and then Patti last is Buckley. I liked them all though.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:25pm

Peters and Daly were both brilliant when I saw it. Lanie Kazan was "interesting" in stock. Andrea McArdle apparently was very under-rehearsed and had a lot of problems remembering lyrics and lines. She herself admitted it was a really poor production. It would be interesting, though, to see somebody closer to the real age of Rose play the role.