Different Patti View

#1

Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:06am

So am I the only one out there that doesn't think the sun rises and sets on Patti LuPone?? I actually can't believe that she won the tony, nor that Gypsy was even revived so soon. That's ridiculous. I do like Patti, so the uber-fans can simma down. I just don't think the show should have gone beyond the limited run she was supposed to do or Tony nominated again. I mean what is she doing next, reviving curtains next season?

#2

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:08am

Ahhhhhh, shaddup. This is OUR day.

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#3

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:11am

Patti has a strong belt voice. That's the extent of Patti. Her acting borders on hammy and when she dances it looks like someone is trying to spank her.

Gypsy is a show that requires a strong belt voice, hammy acting and not much dancing. It was the perfect role for LuPone. (The Peters production should have never been done).

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If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#4

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:14am

broadwayjules:

Well, this production also won first ever Tony Awards for the Herbie and Louise/Gypsy, so there was clearly plenty of reason to put on this production beyond Patti, and the critics seem to agree.

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"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#5

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:20am

But the Peters production WAS done, like 5 minutes ago, so that's moot. Patti may have been suited for the role, but a lot of people are suited for roles they aren't in. She'd probably be good in the Debra Monk role so lets revive Curtains for her when it closes in June.


And thanks for adding something to the thread paljoey

#6

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:23am

Im not a big fan of hers, her voice grates on me

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Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna

#7

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:23am

Who cares. It's here and it's well received, and it's going to stay longer than Bernadette's. The standing ovation after the Tony performance said it all, it's brilliant with these 3 actors.

And LOL, paljoey cracks me up.

#8

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:25am

There was a production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF the same season as the last production of GYPSY, and here we have a new production of that show this season with an all star cast.

We had MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN last season, having had a production a few years earlier, but last season's production introduced the talent of the marvelous Eve Best, who was nominated for a Tony and won a Drama Desk for her performance, and was nominated again this season for THE HOMECOMING.

It's about the PRODUCTION. Not the show.

This production of GYPSY is nothing like the Mendes production that we had a few seasons ago. So why not revive it?

If you don't like it, then don't buy a ticket.

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"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#9

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:25am

I'm not comparing the production to the Bernadette version, who also got a standing ovation after her Roses Turn at the Tonys. It's the short time span after the last production.

#10

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:27am

Two things I don't understand:

1. Where did the notion come from that a show can be done only every twenty years? There were more or less simultaneous "Sea Gulls" in the West End a couple of years ago, both major productions with major actors, and nobody squawked. We see "La boheme" at the Met pretty much every year, and everyone is excited to see a different soprano take on the role. But in the musical theater--which is, let's face it, not a thriving art form--we're supposed to say "Sorry, 'Gypsy' has been done this decade"?

2. Does it occur to no one to say "Patti LuPone's performance style is not to my taste," rather than shouting definitive negative statements as though they carry any sort of empirical validity?

Curious in NYC

#11

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:28am

I personally find her a bit overrated. That isn't saying she doesn't have her good points. But she is not the primary reason I see Gypsy and she's not the primary reason I recommended it to my family for our group show when they come visit.

(See reginald? Some of us can make our opinions personal without attacking! :) )

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Experience live theater. Experience paintings. Experience books. Live, look and listen like artists! ~ imaginethis
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Updated On: 6/16/08 at 11:28 AM

#12

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:28am

No not really, it's my opinion and thats how i feel so that's what i typed

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Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna

#13

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:30am

So when's the most appropriate time to open another revival of a musical? 5 years? 10? If someone else has a concept for it that's different from the last revival, they should be able to mount it.

Also, I know lots of people who saw Gypsy for the first time this time around only because of Patti, and now they love the show, so I'm glad they brought this back with her.

#14

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:32am

I don't think it was her decision alone.Clearly, someone thought it was a good idea, and I think the audiences have backed that.Would you turn Arthur Laurents and CO. down if they asked you to star in a role you have always wanted to play? I wouldn't. Hell, I would do it while the other show was still playing, at the theater next door if I had the chance.

#15

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:41am

Reginald, how dare you come in here all reasonable and rain on our parade!

The West End is having two 'Hamlet's within a year of each other. I strongly suspect they will both be a success. If we get to August next year and one (or both?) has flopped, I'll take back my words. In the meantime, the man raises some excellent points. :3

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Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

#16

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:52am

I've never been a fan of Ms. Lupone's either. I've always found her "singing" to be too close to just "yelling." I'll admit that I did like her Lovett in SWEENEY TODD, but I saw that on opening night and got the feeling that she was being a very good girl indeed, with Sondheim sitting like fifth row center and all.

The clips I'd seen of her in GYPSY seemed to embody what I don't like about her work, just vocal noise without any real sense of any lyrics at all.

And then last night she hit "Everything's Coming Up Roses" out of the park. Wow. I still don't think I'll shell out to see the show, but I've got to admit that she nailed the song on the Tonys.

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"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/

#17

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:56am

Roscoe, there you go! Perfectly rational post.

#18

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 11:59am

I wouldn't mind a new production of Gypsy every 5 years or so. There are a lot of ladies I'd like to see take a turn as Rose.

#19

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:03pm

WBAF, I'm glad you pointed out that this was the first year someone won for playing Herbie. I've already read a few things mentioning the fact that Laura was the first to win for Louise, but no mention was made of Boyd being the first to win for Herbie.

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When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

#20

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:06pm

I still don't think I'll shell out to see the show, but I've got to admit that she nailed the song on the Tonys.

Then, Roscoe, you will be denying yourself one of the great theatrical thrills of your lifetime.

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#21

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:09pm

Whatever anyone thinks of Ms. LuPone - good, bad or indifferent - the fact remains that the women is a powerhouse, with a voice that - thanks to a solid technique - is in better shape than most performers half her age.

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#22

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:15pm

Yep, you're the only one. No one has ever even started a thread before saying they weren't a fan of Patti LuPone!

#23

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:27pm

I look at Patti as one of those forces of nature who constantly straddles the line between genius and outright ham. I found her speech a bit over the top, but this role does fit her like the proverbial glove.

That said, I was just as impressed by Boyd and Laura when I saw the show on May 30...so it isn't all about her.

#24

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:34pm

Even I'll admit that as ambivalent as I am about LuPone, her peformance at the ST. JAMES is one of the most unforgettable things I've ever seen.

Laurents' staged GYPSY the way any book-of-a-musical writer would: with emphasis on the script. That was the revolutionary thing about this production: script and characterization and detail had just as much, if not more, importance as/than the score, perhaps even more.

The result was a tremendously dark, bitingly funny evening featuring the 3 best performances so far this year.

#25

re: Different Patti View

Posted: 6/16/08 at 12:38pm

""Yep, you're the only one. No one has ever even started a thread before saying they weren't a fan of Patti LuPone!""

Well God forbid! I thought this was a discussion group, not a jump all over someone with a different opinion group. My mistake. Just because a lot of people like her, doesn't mean everyone does. That's why I wrote "different" view in the subject, not "correct" view.