#1
Posted: 7/14/07 at 8:13pm
I'm sure you've all been waiting for this. And I must say....I may be excommunicated for this.
Patti LuPone doing playing Momma Rose. The role she was born to play. So what more can one say? (Sorry, I saw a production of Seussical last night.) I've never been a diehard fan of LuPone's. I've never been a diehard fan of Laura Benanti. In fact, going in, the only person who I'm actually a huge fan of is Boyd Gaines. But pfft, who cares about him. The audience went ape-sh*t for Patti before she even set foot in the auditorium.
Abrasive, brash, terrifying, fu*king nuts...LuPone's Rose is someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. And, as expected and usual, she is giving one helluva performance (I think she has a huge career ahead of her doing this Broadway thing.) Yet, as good as she is, she's still somewhat disappointing. Glowing reviews all around on message boards, being told by people that her performance was the Second Coming...Yeah, she was good, but Patti is Patti. When is she ever NOT excellent? Her 'Rose's Turn' impressed me, her 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' was wonderful, but everything else was, well, same ole Patti. When I could understand what she was saying, I thought she was great.
Definitely worthwhile to see the show for her, but also very worth while to see
Laura Benanti, who, in my opinion, is not only giving the best performance of everyone, but is also giving the performance of her career to date. I've found her to be tremendously overrated through the years (having seen her -not the standby- in Into the Woods, Nine, and Wedding Singer), but this afternoon, she's earned a fan for life. Words cannot describe how terrific she is, so I'll just leave it there.
Boyd Gaines, as usual, is also giving a wonderful performance. A tremendously underrated actor is he.
As for the supporting players, Leigh Ann Larken is a great Dainty June (with a huskier voice than I'm used to) who really let the anger show. Tony Yazbek is a superb dancer (and wins the award for the only Tulsa in the history of Gypsy who's convincingly straight). Allison Fraser, Nancy Opel, and Marilyn Crackser steal the show as the strippers. Brought the house down.
Oh, and must give credit to the girl who played Baby June...she did the entire damn thing on pointe.
So wonderful to hear the score played with a full, tight orchestra. With the excellent acoustics, the score has never sounded better. The physical production is great, as expected. Arthur Laurents' direction still hasn't gotten stale after being reproduced a million times over the years.
My particularly favorite moment? Sitting in the front gallery (which was empty, by the way) and hearing the tremendous echoes of Herbie and Louise's fights with Rose in Act 2. Haunting.
Walked by the stage door following the show. A madhouse, as expected. Overheard a few cast members talking to their families that not only does Patti not "stage door" following the matinees, but she doesn't sign autographs entirely. She uses a different door (I assume on 55th) that the cast is not allowed to divulge the location of (confidentiality agreements, I assume).
Overall, a tremendously worthwhile afternoon of theater.
Patti LuPone doing playing Momma Rose. The role she was born to play. So what more can one say? (Sorry, I saw a production of Seussical last night.) I've never been a diehard fan of LuPone's. I've never been a diehard fan of Laura Benanti. In fact, going in, the only person who I'm actually a huge fan of is Boyd Gaines. But pfft, who cares about him. The audience went ape-sh*t for Patti before she even set foot in the auditorium.
Abrasive, brash, terrifying, fu*king nuts...LuPone's Rose is someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. And, as expected and usual, she is giving one helluva performance (I think she has a huge career ahead of her doing this Broadway thing.) Yet, as good as she is, she's still somewhat disappointing. Glowing reviews all around on message boards, being told by people that her performance was the Second Coming...Yeah, she was good, but Patti is Patti. When is she ever NOT excellent? Her 'Rose's Turn' impressed me, her 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' was wonderful, but everything else was, well, same ole Patti. When I could understand what she was saying, I thought she was great.
Definitely worthwhile to see the show for her, but also very worth while to see
Laura Benanti, who, in my opinion, is not only giving the best performance of everyone, but is also giving the performance of her career to date. I've found her to be tremendously overrated through the years (having seen her -not the standby- in Into the Woods, Nine, and Wedding Singer), but this afternoon, she's earned a fan for life. Words cannot describe how terrific she is, so I'll just leave it there.
Boyd Gaines, as usual, is also giving a wonderful performance. A tremendously underrated actor is he.
As for the supporting players, Leigh Ann Larken is a great Dainty June (with a huskier voice than I'm used to) who really let the anger show. Tony Yazbek is a superb dancer (and wins the award for the only Tulsa in the history of Gypsy who's convincingly straight). Allison Fraser, Nancy Opel, and Marilyn Crackser steal the show as the strippers. Brought the house down.
Oh, and must give credit to the girl who played Baby June...she did the entire damn thing on pointe.
So wonderful to hear the score played with a full, tight orchestra. With the excellent acoustics, the score has never sounded better. The physical production is great, as expected. Arthur Laurents' direction still hasn't gotten stale after being reproduced a million times over the years.
My particularly favorite moment? Sitting in the front gallery (which was empty, by the way) and hearing the tremendous echoes of Herbie and Louise's fights with Rose in Act 2. Haunting.
Walked by the stage door following the show. A madhouse, as expected. Overheard a few cast members talking to their families that not only does Patti not "stage door" following the matinees, but she doesn't sign autographs entirely. She uses a different door (I assume on 55th) that the cast is not allowed to divulge the location of (confidentiality agreements, I assume).
Overall, a tremendously worthwhile afternoon of theater.
Updated On: 7/14/07 at 08:13 PM
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