Favorite "Rose's Turn" On Recording?- Page 2

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:22pm

For just a recording, I'd go with Merman's. I saw Lansbury, and she was superb; but, for me, the performance by which all others are judged, is Russell's. Not just "Rose's Turn"; but the entire thing!

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:25pm

I don't know if you're being sarcastic. Or if you are talking about full performance, not just singing. I LOVE Roz Russell. But some of her outtakes are just plain scary. Her outtake of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is pretty good, I think it could've made the film, if they had Lisa Kirk touch up some notes on it. Her MR GOLDSTONE was fine enough to make the film. Otherwise it was smart to have Lisa Kirk dub her on many songs. Though I absolutely love the Kirk/Russell mix on ROSE'S TURN.

Updated On: 7/12/06 at 06:25 PM

[JarNerdAV]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:28pm

They're all great, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I really liked Bernadette's version. I've said before, she played it like a tiny but fierce scrappy little dog, and it worked--much the way I believe Judy would have done it. Speaking of Judy, Liza has done an interesting version as well. I have a feeling that this is the role Liza longs to play but doesn't dare for fear of comparassion to others.

[Buck]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:29pm

Libby Morris ends "Rose's Turn" on a B natural. She's ok. Actually, she hits a couple of clunkers throughout the recording and the orchestra is less than stellar. ljay889, I need to get a life as well!

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:32pm

I like peters the best.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:33pm

Glad to know I'm not the only one Buck! Thanks for sharing she ends on a B natural. So she's in the group with Bette and Bernadette.

So I still think Merman's High C is unmatched.

[PJ]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 6:56pm

Lansbury's rendition is by far my favorite. Merman sounds so...well, Merman-esque. Her version sounds almost comical next to the acting chops on display in just about everyone else's recorded version.

Merman - She owns "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

Lansbury - Owns "Rose's Turn"

Tyne - Wonderful acting choices. Poor, poor recording. Also, I can't say that I enjoy the big band-like orchestrations.

Bette - I am not too fond of Midler's work here. The only part of her performance I enjoyed was the "why did I do it?" section in the big finale.

Bernadette - Owns "Some People" on her Sondheim, etc. album. However, she sounds so shrill on her "Gypsy" recording. She sounded so much better live.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:01pm

BroadwayGirl-Bland? Compared to what? Idina Menzel?

Ethel Merman IS the first lady of the American Song. If this turns into another Merman bashing thread, I'll be happy to go into great detail on the blandness of most of the current crop of Broadway stars you masterbate to on a daily basis.

[WhoCouldBeBlue]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:22pm

Merman is/was bland in my opinion. She knew one tone, one level and one emotion... and it was quite evident in Gypsy what emotion that was- Anger.

There are so many levels to the character of Rose, and she missed many of them.

Bernadette by far brought the proper amount of emotion to the role. If her Rose's Turn didn't end on the same note Merman's did, doesn't mean it wasn't as effective, if not more.

And.. Just because Merman was the "First Lady of the American Song", doesn't mean she was the best! I wonder how well she'd do in NYC these days.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:25pm

I wasn't being sarcastic. I think Russell's Rose is the definitive one. Regardless of who is doing the singing, at any given moment.

[HeartandMusic]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:33pm

Bernadette Peters for me, hands down.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:38pm

I'll be happy to go into great detail on the blandness of most of the current crop of Broadway stars you masterbate to on a daily basis.

This is why I love Bobby. He speaks the truth, and is so damn right!


Blue - how the hell would you know Merman missed all those layers, if you didn't even see her live in it!?

Johnboy, I can't believe we found someting to agree on. I LOVE Roz in the role, and have argued with many about how good she is.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:40pm

I prefer Michael Jeter's rendition in "The Fisher King."

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:43pm

I agree that Ethel Merman's recording of "Rose's Turn" is superb, but I believe that Bernadette Peters acting is far superior in this song. Just my opinion. Perhaps it has to do with the fact I saw Peters live numerous times and she brought so many different emotions to the song, it was a true haunting performance. Tyne Daly's "Rose's Turn" is perhaps the only recoridng of this song that I thoroughly dislike.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:49pm

I would rate Bernadette's TURN an A. But her lack of vocal strength makes it more of a B+ performance for me.

I really think you need to see Daly's to get it. We all know it's on Youtube (please let that be the only mention of that site in this thread) And she's SPECTACULAR. No other Rose can top her For Me's at the end. So powerful. I actually enjoy how she sings the song also. Some say she did it like a soft-core porno, and boy did she! Updated On: 7/12/06 at 07:49 PM

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:50pm

Bernadette is my favorite by far.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:56pm

I have Kay Medford and Dolores Gray on an old audiotape someone gave me.

Kay isn't much of a singer, but she acts it well, like Tyne Daly.

Dolores, as I have posted before, claimed to be the only Rose who, in her words, "understood the PSYCHOLOGY." Whether or not that's true, her voice is as strong as Lansbury or Buckley and her singing superb.

But my favorite was Harvey Fierstein, dreessed as Tevye, at the Sondheim birthday celebration at the New Amsterdam last year.

Updated On: 7/13/06 at 07:56 PM

[Demitri2]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:58pm

S'maxie...you beat me to the punch with Kay Medford. That has to be the most UNBELIEVABLE studio cast recording I've ever heard!!!

[TheaterJunkie]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 7:59pm

I think acting-wise Angela Lansbury did the best in "Rose's Turn". Singing-wise I think Bernadette's version is best.I agree on the fact that Mermon just seemed angry during "Rose's Turn", I actually think she just seemed angry through the whole thing.

(I'm seeing Patti LuPone in Gypsy next month, I'm really excited!)

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:02pm

Yes, Bobby, Ethel Merman's "Rose's Turn" is BLAND compared to Bernadette Peters'. It sounds to me like it's screaming and generic anger rooted in...nothing while Peters basically cracks as a person. Every "shrill" sound from her is rooted in a pain and anger far more complex than anything I think the others (especially Merman) portray on recording.

"He speaks the truth, and is so damn right!"

"The truth"? What happened to opinion. That's nice that an awful lot of people who have never even seen Ethel Merman perform give into the mass opinion that she's the definitive everything, but I'm allowed to find her shrill and overhyped. It's my opinion.


Updated On: 7/12/06 at 08:02 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:26pm

^ If you were alive during the Golden Age/time of Merman, you would've had a much different opinion.

It was UNBELIEVABLE the way Broadway received her. She couldn't be stopped, she practically owned Broadway.

Not any of these wann-a-be belters these day can even come close to the way Merman belted. One of the only performers who belts in style of the old days is La LuPone.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:33pm

"If you were alive during the Golden Age/time of Merman, you would've had a much different opinion."

Um, were you alive in the old days? No. So how is that statement at all qualified? It isn't. That's like telling somebody fifty years from now that if they had seen Idina Menzel they would have liked her just because of all the hype that comes with her.

"It was UNBELIEVABLE the way Broadway received her. She couldn't be stopped, she practically owned Broadway."
Because she was a belter and nobody else around was. And she could fill up the house without a microphone. Whoopee. It reminds me of how people get all excited just because someone can belt a high F. There's SO MUCH MORE to it than that, but people are thrilled by silly things.

"Not any of these wann-a-be belters these day can even come close to the way Merman belted."
THANK. GOD. Some of them actually have different levels and colors to their voices. And some control over them. Oh yeah, and some of them can actually portray some emotion through their voices.


"One of the only performers who belts in style of the old days is La LuPone."
Patti LuPone's singing is NOTHING like Merman's. It is infinitely and in every way superior. DAMN, I wish I could see her Mama Rose...

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:41pm

I just got a headache reading all of that.

No I wasn't alive then. But all you have to do is open your damn eyes read about what it was like back then, and even talk to some who were alive back then. Watch the damn PBS American Broadway Musical Special, read a damn Broadway history book. All of my info is based on pure fact. Ethel revolutionized Broadway and belting.

Back then there was no such thing as a "rock belt voice." So you would've ofcourse had a different opinion! That would be the only style of belting you would know. Not this Elphaba belting poo-poo, which isn't even real belting.

You scare me Broadwaygirl. You seem like someone who would say Gwen Verdon wasn't a good dancer, and that someone like Sutton Foster is soooo much better than her.
Now can you stop thread-jacking this thread. Thank you.
Updated On: 7/12/06 at 08:41 PM

[castalia56]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:45pm

My vote is for Bernadette all the way!

As for Patti Lupone - she's performing Mama Rose this August in Chicago. I'm headed over to see it! If you're interested, she's performing at the Ravinia festival: www.ravinia.org

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:53pm

"But all you have to do is open your damn eyes read about what it was like back then, and even talk to some who were alive back then."

OKay! Sure. My grandmother saw Ethel Merman perform live. She wasn't impressed. She's more impressed with some of today's performers who have the abilities I mentioned that Ethel Merman lacked.

"That would be the only style of belting you would know."
So then I guess I wouldn't have liked the type of belting back then. Because I really don't care if somebody's belting or singing soprano, I care about the performance that comes with it.

Now YOU can stop thread-jacking...since all I did was state my opinion--relevant to the topic at hand, by the way--only to have it attacked as some sort of false statement.
Updated On: 7/12/06 at 08:53 PM