Linda Lavin in GYPSY

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 10:22pm

I'm not going to say I just watched her in this because, well, how would that even be possible, right? But MY GOD she was awful! Does anyone remember seeing her in the show?? I looked it up on ibdb and it has a start date but doesn't say when she finished with the show. How long was she in it for??
Updated On: 2/22/11 at 10:22 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 10:27pm

She did not receive a great review from Frank Rich.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/18/theater/review-theater-linda-lavin-takes-her-turn-as-mama-rose.html

[theatreguy]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 10:28pm

She started July 30, 1990 and remained until it closed at the St. James on January 6, 1991. So she was there a little over 5 months.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 10:49pm

I have talked to some people who liked Lavin the role a lot. Clearly she was one of the weaker Roses vocally, but those that praised her said she nailed the sexual-manipulation thing and was fascinating and scary in a way that was probably closest in type to the' real ' Rose of all the woman who did the show on Broadway. From the clips I've heard, she for better or for worse certainly went for broke! Has there ever been another Rose who added an 'oy' during the "Mama's talkin' loud' segment of "Rose's Turn?"

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:01pm

I loved her in but it was about the acting not the singing.

And re-reading that Frank Rich review, I wonder if Arthur didn't lead her astray, emphasizing the akkhhh-ting (meaning melodramatic overacting) and telling her "Don't worry about the singing! Every other Rose could sing the role--you're the only Rose who has ever AKKHHT-ed it!"

(Similar to the manner he told Karen Olivo that it didn't matter if she danced the role or not--every other Anita could dance it--she was going to be the FIRST Anita to AKKHHT it.)

FWIW, I remember laughing at Lavin's Mr. Goldstone scene, which usually consists of everybody running around the stage pretending that something funny is going on. Lavin was even funny in the fake-rape section.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:07pm

I've heard both Daly and Lavin, and I think Daly's vocals were worse.
Updated On: 2/22/11 at 11:07 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:14pm

Daly shouldnt be judged by her cast recording. In the actual show, she was the best Rose I've ever seen.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:16pm

I've heard audio and seen video of Daly. It's the same exact vocal as the cast recoding. I don't doubt that her performance was brilliant live.
Updated On: 2/22/11 at 11:16 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:30pm

I saw Tyne Daly live. My ears are still bleeding from her singing.

I can see PalJoey's point, but I think it was Daly that Arthur convinced "never mind the singing, you are a great akkktresshh. You can "act" being a singer."

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/22/11 at 11:31pm

I loved that particular production. I saw it with Tyne Daly 7 times (fantastic), Jana Robbins 1x (saw her first performance; she was excellent) and Linda Lavin 1x (huge disappointment).

[alxscrz2]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 12:18am

Linda Lavin Rose's Turn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5G99FafczQ

Linda Lavin Some People http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucelmzykiTc

Linda Lavin Everythings Coming Up Roses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0MDvT1Qyxk

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 1:06am

Random thought. I cannot help but wonder what Elaine Stritch's Rose would have been like if she really got to play the role in the 70s. I imagine her singing would have been like Tyne's, but her acting likely would have been incredible. Such a shame it didn't work out.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 1:23am

I'd love to see or hear Linda.

[D2]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 6:32am

"...yet she rarely seems a participant in the pulsating production (still in pristine shape, by the way) spinning around her."

Apt summation of her performance. The night I saw her in it (early in her run) she was already walking through it, only coming to life at two points: "Everything's Coming Up Roses," and "Rose's Turn." At least those two moments worked, but the rest of the evening was a long slog. And for some reason, she employed an Irish accent. Sometimes.

[bryan2]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 9:31am

Updated On: 2/23/11 at 09:31 AM

[bryan2]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 9:31am

Having seen Betty Buckley/Tyne Daly 5x/ and Patti Lupone
and Linda Lavin I can say I have a lot to go by.
Linda Lavin worked her butt off in the part but she was awful
Her voice was shrilly and not musical at all..She also had this funny irish/jewish accent that was really distracting..plus she was so damn skinny you wanted to feed her during the show. I was sooo disapointed because there were so many who could have replaced Tyne (who in the theater was the best I have ever seen she was ROSE)
I was also not thilled with Patti because I felt she was screaming all the lines..(she sang it well) but it seemed like she was acting.
Betty was my number 2.it was nice to see a Pretty Rose..who shook the rafters in New Jersey LOL
Now Barbara is going to be Rose...?????
Rose is irish ..but then so was Dolly Gallagher so oy vat can y do!! I think she will figure it out and make it entertaining
Updated On: 2/23/11 at 09:31 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 11:20am

You can really see in that "Some People" clip what was likable about Lavin's performance.

No other Rose has ever taken that "Well, then, I'll get it and get my kids out" as small and interior as she did. Rueful and regretful. Then (after she walk up those crazy stairs) her "Goodbye to blueberry pie" is pretty damn exciting.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 1:11pm

MAN, those clips make me wish I would have seen Linda instead of Tyne! When I saw Tyne I said to my boyfriend "WOW, what a shame she's sick or having vocal problems tonight . . . too bad!" Then the cast recording came out and I realized that was just Tyne trying to sing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 1:24pm

Ok, those clips are NOTHING like how she did it live.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 1:39pm

I was hugely disappointed by Lavin's Rose. I'd loved her in BROADWAY BOUND and was eager to see her in GYPSY. It was a "small" performance in every sense of the word; perhaps more worthy of a television screen than a Broadway stage.

She sang "pretty" but lacking the emotion that others have put into the part.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 2:14pm

"Random thought. I cannot help but wonder what Elaine Stritch's Rose would have been like if she really got to play the role in the 70s."

Elaine Stritch is a great actress when she has a good director. If Laurents were directing her, it would have been messy. Elaine goes over the top and if there's not a director to reign her in, she'll end up screaming all her lines. Her Rose would have been the most cynical and she would have created a monster Rose rather than a human Rose.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 2:30pm

Plus Rose needs to wear pants.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 2/23/11 at 2:32pm

She only is wearing pants metaphorically, though, in her relationship with Herbie.

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/24/11 at 5:41pm

I saw the show in Oct of 1990, but she was out that night. Jana Robbins was her standby and went on for her.

[DAME]

Posted: 2/24/11 at 6:15pm

I remember feeling very bad for Lavin. Someone had scraped the word "SUCKS" on her face in the picture that was on display on the side of the St james Theater ( the displays that double as doors). It remained there for the last few weeks of her run . There was no way she didn't see it on her way to the stage door. And the reviews were also very unkind towards her.