Hairspray VS Bernadette

I think a lot of people are confused over what is performance and what is show. I saw Hairspray and loved it. I wanted it to win the Best Musical Tony and it did. But what makes it so great is not Marissa. It's the songs and that high-energy cast that are a hit. I realize that Marissa is the lead female in the show, but I don't feel her performance sticks out any more than the girlfriend, or Linc, or the rich girl's mother, or the Big, Blonde and Beautiful singer, or Wilbur. THE standout performance in Hairspray is HF and everyone knows it. Any talented actress could play Tracy. Pack 60 pounds on Sutton Foster. Put a beehive on Rosie O'Donnell. Even Vanessa Redgrave could pack a punch. Well, maybe not Vanessa. My point is that not too many musical actresses can pull off Rose from Gypsy. Tracy Turnblad is not any great stretch. I saw Marissa for 2 hours. And I saw Bernadette for 2 minutes. Bernadette Peters in a landslide.

My feelings exactly. I think Hairspray is a fun, upbeat show; and I love when new shows come to Broadway. I was glad to see them win Best Musical, I was happy that Harvey won Best Actor, and they certainly deserved most of the other awards they got. But yes, Rose in Gypsy is a much tougher role and not many people can pull it off. A lot of girls can be a bubbly chubby dancer (Ricki Lake for example) who is surrounded by a large, flamboyant production. Not everyone can take a classic like Gypsy and make it their own. Bernadette may have lost the Tony, but she's a winner in my book.

---

Whenever the word "versus" is used in thread it implies a contest, and now on the morning after the Tony's, many people seem upset that Ms. Peters came away empty handed. In the effort to accord Ms. Peters "her due" some demean Marissa's performance in the process (which was raved about by the critcs last August). It is like trying to compare an orange to a banana.

Gypsy was shut out of the 2003 Tony Awards. Ms. Peters failed to get the Drama Desk award, and she wasn't even nominated for an Outer Circle Award. Nine beat Gypsy for Best Revival of a Musical. Quite a few "audience" survey awards tilted in favor of Ms. Winokur and also in favor of Nine. A New York Times article noted that Nine was a great production of an average musical, while Gypsy was an average production of a great musical (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the essence).

There are threads on this board comparing performances on the Tony telecast, as if that should have determined the outcome. Ms. Peters did an admirable, but not flawless, job with Rose's Turn. She WAS hoarse. I noted in an earlier thread that I thought Rose's Turn would not be appreciated (by the TV audience, especially) taken out of the context of the show. Yes, Bernadette got a standing ovation from the crowd... an honor to her status as a Broadway legend. I would have cheered her too, had I been there, but continued to root for Marissa and Hairspray.

I enjoyed the pre-filmed clips from the show that preceded Rose's Turn. In fact, I enjoyed the pre-filmed clips from ALL the nominated shows more than the number they presented on stage at Radio City. I thought You Can't Stop The Beat felt rushed... some attacks were rough. Movin Out seemed lost on that large stage, or the camera never seemed to know where to focus. The scene from Frog and Toad didn't capture the charm that so many fans of the show have professed on these boards.

I'm a fan of HAIRSPRAY, so I'm glad it won the awards it did. That doesn't detract from the opinion of those who thought Gypsy (or any of its performers) should have won an award, but there isn't any need to slam the orange just because you liked the taste of the banana better.

---