Mrs. Lovetts

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Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 1:17pm

Who do people prefer-Angela or Patti?

I have recently revisited both the concert version and the Broadway version taped for TV and I MUCH prefer Angela Lansbury, mostly because Patti is so devious in the role. I think what make Mrs. Lovett so intriguing is that on the outside you see a sweet old lady who you would never think is capable of the horrible things she does. Patti also doesn't seem to be as enamored with Sweeney as Angela. I think the reason she does all the horrible stuff is for him-she is that infatuated. Patti is so independent-it just doesn't seem to fit.

That's just my opinion-but I'd like to know what other people think. I'll be interested to see if and how she changes for the revival.

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 1:23pm

Having seen the tapes of Angela and Patti, I prefer Elaine Paige, who I saw at City Opera in the role.

My mother always used to say, "The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana." - Rose Nyland

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 1:25pm

I prefer Patti though I don't love her Lovett either. Landsbury's was a little too broad for my tastes and I felt Patti's Lovett seemed a little too distracted so I haven't seen the perfect Lovett yet.

"This ocean runs more dark and deep than you may think you know...I'll be the fear of the fire at sea." -Marie Christine

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 1:41pm

I prefer Angela. She was funnier and better at the role.

I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:08pm

I was completely unimpressed with Elaine.

"Mutate or perish."

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:11pm

Of Patti and Angela, I much prefer Angela. I thought I'd adore Patti, but I just didn't enjoy her performance. A lot of her lines seemed forced and it lacked naturality.

I liked Angela because she was kind of quirky. I do think she was brilliant in the role, but she wasn't everything I'd like to see in a Lovett.

I dunno. Guess I haven't seen the perfect Lovett either!

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:30pm

Angela all the way! Patti is talented, but there is something I don't like about her. I don't know what it is. But Angela will always be it for me.

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:36pm

I really prefer Angela. She's just wonderful, in my opinion, and may be the best ever.

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:37pm

definitely angela

think about the sun-Pippin-think about her golden glance-how she lights the world up well, now it's your chance...

#10

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 2:41pm

Angela...definitely...will always be her role.
I saw the Lincoln Center concert live and on PBS, and I think Patti's interpretation is just different...like Beth Fowler, who was wonderful in the teenie todd revival.
She just needs to get the accent consistent. That is the only problem I had with her performance...she sang it beautifully...

I am more worried about Cerveris, but am waiting (w/ bated breath) to pass any judgements

"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."

"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS

#11

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 3:04pm

My Lovett will always be Melinda Gilb, who performs the role all over the West Coast, to amazing ovations.

For me, she is superior to Angela and Patti by far.

"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'" -- unknown

#12

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 3:20pm

Angela. She IS Lovett.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird

#13

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 3:29pm

<---------- Dorothy Loudon was my favourite!!! I love Angela and I am very excited to see Patti do it in full regalia!

"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds." ~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns

#14

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 3:29pm

Yes, Angela will always be the definitive Lovett -- it's inconcievable that anyone could top her performance. She was the character, inside and out, so much so that when seeing others playing Lovett, I always hear her. That being said, LuPone did quite a good job creating a fresh interpretation, and I look forward to seeing how she does in this new production.

#15

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 4:39pm

I'm excited to see Patti too, but I'll always hear Angela in my head.

#16

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/1/05 at 5:02pm

I'm a big Elaine Paige fan - but her Lovett just didn't do it for me...probably because they took all the tempos WAY to slow in that production - it sucked the life out of the show. I like Patti on the Concert DVD and loved Angela in the original production, so I don't really have a favorite - but would have loved to have seen Beth Fowler do it in an earlier production. And I'm sure Dorothy Louden was amazing.

"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!" Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!

#17

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 5:31pm

doodlenyc-I agree with you, I was a bit concerned about Michael Ceveris as well.

Elaine Page as Mrs. Lovett? Wish that was on tape! Did anyone see Christine Baranski?

#18

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 6:00pm

Personally, I adored Angela. She seemed to fit in the role very, very well. I haven't seen Patti, though. Maybe I'll like her (I hope I do), but I doubt I'll like her as much as Angela.

"I mean, how many of us could honestly say that at one time or another he hasn't set fire to some great public building?"

#19

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 6:01pm

I MUCH prefer Angela Lansbury out of ALL the Lovett's I've seen (Angela, Patti, Christine Baranski, and Elaine Paige)

Angela was a great singer, and incredible actress....I do wish she had belted more, though, but she was still incredible, and I too, will always think of her as Lovett.

Patti LuPone didn't sing the role very well in my opinion, everything was all one level, and TOO loud, and her acting while good in some moments seemed to be for the most part, all one level.

Christine Barankski was very funny, and a decent singer, but not in Angela's league.

Lastly, Elaine Paige was the worst -- the night I saw her, she could not remember her lyrics for crap, and she even made a BIG flub during "Worst Pies in London" and her acting could have been better in a lot of moments.

Cheers,
The Balladeer

"Someone tell the story...Someone sing the song...."

#20

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 6:45pm

Christine Baranski was an impressive Lovett--she nailed every laugh in "A Little Priest"--but she couldn't seem to get any rapport going with a miscast Brian Stokes Mitchell as Sweeney.

Angela had the initial inspiration for Lovett (apparently with very little help from the director) and, like it or not, all subsequent Lovetts have borne traces of her interpretation--the same way that actresses who play Audrey in "Little Shop" can't completely escape Ellen Greene, and those who attempt Fanny Brice almost always succumb to Streisand-isms. I didn't find Patti LuPone even in the same ballpark as Angela--she never seemed real in the part, and her always-shaky diction was compounded by her laughable "Cockney" accent--whole stretches of song were completely unintelligible.

I ask in all honesty/What would life be?/Without a song and a dance, what are we?/So I say "Thank you for the music/For giving it to me."

#21

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 6:52pm

Angela!

#22

re: Mrs. Lovetts

Posted: 9/2/05 at 6:52pm

I think Angela Lansbury was Mrs.Lovett when she got on stage. She was so funny and yet so dark, when you see her transition between "The Worst Pies in London" and "A Little Priest" it is impressive, and you realize how vibrant is her performance. LuPone did not add anything to the role and I wished they had gotten Bernadette Peters to do Mrs.Lovett instead, maybe she'll do the movie. I didn't see Elaine Paige but I cannot imagine her in this role, the idea of that woman doing anything slightly funny is so weird to me.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

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