Liza as Mama?

[Oscar Jaffee]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 10:24am

What is everyone's thought on Liza Minnelli as Mama in "Gypsy"? Would she have been better suited for the role than Bernadette?

[magruder]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 10:30am

Around the time of her Carnegie Hall concert ... yes.

Now? No.

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 10:38am

Liza was the obvious choice for Rose for many years. She began doing SOME PEOPLE in the late 1970s and you can see her do it on the video of "Liza in New Orleans" which recreates her original Carnegie Hall Concert of the same time.

I would still love to see Liza do Gypsy. But the cruel, odd folks out there would be even crueler and odder towards Liza than Bernadette, I suspect.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 11:12am

I was thinking about this as well when I saw her sing "Some People" on the Leading Ladies concert. She was out of breath, and could hardly handle that song, and don't think she would ever be able to handle the amount of vocal demand in all of the songs. She sings that one song fine, but I think that her Broadway career is over. Bernadette's however is still up and running.

[Max Bialystock]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 11:34am

JUDY would be better as Mama Rose, even in her present condition!

Just my humble, yet prejudiced, opinion!

[PJ]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 11:58am

Liza couldn't do it. Her voice is not stong anymore. I say they find another replacement when the time comes.

Posted: 7/11/03 at 4:03pm

Yes, Liza was definitely up for it, that's why she sang both "Some People" and "Rose's Turn" for Liza's Back! I dunno exactly what happened. I think she could'nt audition becuase she was planning on taking the show on the road or because of the Tv reality series that never happened "Liza and David"

Here's some news about it if you scroll down to the date 6/12/02 and 6/15/02 to read more on My Liza News Page.
MY LIZA NEWS PAGE Updated On: 7/14/03 at 04:03 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 5:04pm

When Bernadette was experiencing her health problems, there was talk in the theater community of bringing Liza into GYPSY for a month while Bernadette fully recovered. Obviously it never happened.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 5:10pm

Patti LuPone is the obvious choice for Rose. She should have the chance to do it.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 5:23pm

The problem with my adored Patti is that Arthur Laurents can't stand her. That's the REAL reason she wasn't cast in this production.

Geeze, if Patti were playing in GYPSY, I'd be there every weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[magruder]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 5:49pm

At the same time, Patti Lupone hasn't starred in a Broadway musical since 1987. 16 YEARS. The Sunset Blvd. debacle aside, that's a long time to not headline a Broadway musical. Perhaps the stamina of 8x a week in a Broadway musical is more than she wants to exert herself?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 5:55pm

Lupone was recently on Broadway in "Noises Off". Any actor that can survive that show can survive a Broadway musical.

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 6:01pm

I'll bet they pull an Annie Get Your Gun and have TV actresses take over after Bernadette.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 6:13pm

Remember that the entire original cast of "Noises Off" were 'musical folk' -- Lupone, Gallagher, Prince, Finneran.

I still vote that we knock off Laurents and stick LuPone in the role when Peters leaves. Updated On: 7/11/03 at 06:13 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 6:18pm

Anyone remember a few years ago on the Tony Awards, Liza and Lorna Luft sang a medley of songs and one of them was "If Momma Was Married". It was really kind of sick considering that their mother Judy Garland got married five times and "never got carried away".

[magruder]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 7:01pm

Gothampc wrote:
Lupone was recently on Broadway in "Noises Off". Any actor that can survive that show can survive a Broadway musical.

No, it's not the same. Yes, Noises Off is hard work and requires a certain precision and concentration ...but compared to singing the lead in a Broadway musical? Like blasting out the eight songs in Gypsy that Rose has to sing eight times a week? MUCH more taxing.

Lupone worked hard in her musicals: Reno Sweeney, Evita and Norma are a lot of singing and belting, and though not a natural fit for the role of Mrs. Lovett, I think she acquitted herself surprisingly well. So she can do it. But since it has been so long, I'm just wondering if she still wants to push herself that hard... Considering that some of her contemporaries, a few of whom are actually 10x more difficult than Patti, work pretty consistantly, I'm just surprised she hasn't been back on Broadway in a musical since Anything Goes. One has to wonder why.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 10:30pm

"I'll bet they pull an Annie Get Your Gun and have TV actresses take over after Bernadette."

Yeah, maybe if it were a Weissler production.
I think Lorna Luft would actually be good in the role. She has said she would like to play that role. Liza was out of breath at the Leading Ladies concert, but she's lost a lot of weight since then.

I wonder what it would be like if Roslyn Kind (AKA, Barbra Streisand's sister) played Rose. She has a great voice (and her own solo career), and she's a petite, light-haired Jewish woman. If that's not like Rose Hovak, then I don't know what is.

[magruder]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 10:52pm

The lead producers of the Gypsy revival are Robert Fox (a producer of the movies Iris and The Hours, and the plays Closer, The Blue Room, Amy's View, Breath of Spring, among others) and Ron Kastner (the revivals of True West, The Real Thing, and Talking Heads, among others). You are not talking Weissler territory here exactly. Replacing Bernadette is not going to be easy, I'm sure, but I don't think these two are thinking of going the Crystal Bernard or Susan Lucci route.

[redmustang]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 11:11pm

Liza could still pull this off if she got back into top shape, if that is possible.

[PJ]

Posted: 7/11/03 at 11:32pm

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Liza on Broadway someday. Especially in a role such as Mama Rose. I'd like to see her in the role, but only if she can pull it off. Which the way her voice is now, I'm not too sure about. But there's always a possibility.

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 7/13/03 at 10:41am

I, personally, don't like Liza that much. She was okay in Cabaret (the movie), but I thought her eyes were distracting. And I don't see what everyone thinks is so great about her performance of "Cabaret", the song that is. It's just a song and she's just a singer. I'm probably going to get murdered over that, but you have to know that I LOVE Cabaret. But I like the New Broadway Cast Recording better than the film soundtrack or the OBC. I don't like Joel Grey either, but this is about Gypsy, not Cabaret. She might be good, but never a Bernadette.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 7/13/03 at 3:07pm

I didn't like the movie version of Cabaret. But I did go to Liza's Christmas Concert this past December. She is one hell of a performer. I didn't want the concert to end.
I would love to see her as Rose, but I don't think she can pull it off at this stage in the game....Perhaps she can prove us wrong.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 7/13/03 at 7:15pm

Patti LuPone could work. One thing we all know is, she wouldnt try to be Bernadette's Mama Rose. She would recreate the roll. This could bring in a bunch of ticket sales, and would probably keep Gypsy going after Bernadette leaves.

Posted: 7/14/03 at 1:36pm

Geeze, if Patti were playing in GYPSY, I'd be there every weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here here Dollypop, I agree whole heartedly!

I also agree that Liza could still do it, for a short while, limited engagement though.

[AReinkingfan]

Posted: 7/14/03 at 4:23pm

I think, at this point, Liza should go over to "CHICAGO" and replace Melanie! She might not be the Roxie of the 70's, but sounds like anyone would be better in that role right now!