That would be Linda Balgord...not really keen on her voice to be honest, but never actually saw her in Gypsy. I think she only did one or two performances when Lupone was ill. Lupone certainly had an amazing attendance record...I think she only missed three or four shows in the entire run didn't she? In the first missing performance or two, her understudy was Lenora Nemetz, and Linda Balgord was the later standby.
However, I'm not convinced that Lupone's performance was 'the thing of legend' that many people on the Broadway board seemed to suggest. I saw Lupone in it twice and both times I thought her 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'Rose's Turn' were fantastic. However, this show lasts between 2h40 and 2h50 and two songs, though fantastically performed, do not make a legendary overall performance. Her 'Some People' was decidedly poor IMO (Bernadette was much better on this song). Where you expected Patti to show guts, drive and determination in this song, Lupone's performance of it was decidedly flat in terms of conviction. I have a feeling it may have been deliberately directed this way, but, for me, it simply didn't work. Other songs were OK, as was Lupone's acting on the whole - but that's all it was for me. OK. The two songs and Lupone's acting in the final couple of scenes (the dressing room and after Rose's Turn were very well acted by both Lupone and Laura Benanti)were very good, but, to my mind, a 'legendary performance' should be of an outstanding quality throughout, not just in small patches here and there.
Just my thoughts. I know many people will not agree, as Lupone fans seem to think she could do no wrong in this role. She was very good in parts, don't get me wrong, but she was not outstanding on the whole.
One thing is for sure, we are long overdue a chance to see Gypsy on the West End stage, whether thats with Patti Lupone (who would be my choice - I thought her performance recently on Broadway was outstanding), or with someone else. It's a great show and deserves a new production here.
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