Next Mama Rose?- Page 2

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:23pm

Raul Esparza!

[Jon]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:25pm

She is actually NEVER called "Momma Rose" in the show. She is called "Momma" and "Rose" and "Madam Rose"

Here's a scary thought: Andrea McArdle played Rose in a production in Texas over the summer. Yes, Little Orphan Annie is 39, which is just about the right age for the role!

[edenespinosalover]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:40pm

I'd love to see Patti LuPone play the role.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:42pm

"Here's a scary thought: Andrea McArdle played Rose in a production in Texas over the summer. Yes, Little Orphan Annie is 39, which is just about the right age for the role!"

And I would've killed to see that! I love Andrea.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:50pm

Loretta Swit

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:57pm

"I'd love to see Patti LuPone play the role."

Tell that to Arthur Laurents.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 12:25am

harriet harris

also i could see some merit in
nathan lane
harvey fierstein

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 1:08am

There are some great suggestions here and some not so great ones. Idina could in no way handle the acting for this role. I would love to see Julia Murney or Carolee Carmello do this role. Both would be amazing.

[wildcat]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 3:25am

Stockard Channing
Alison Janney
Joanna Gleason

[magruder]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 7:10am

Emily Skinner would never show up.

Frankly, even though we see it about every 14 years on Broadway. I don't think Gypsy is going to get revived anytime soon. It requires a big cast, big orchestra and lots of scenery and costumes. And it's never been a show that general audiences respond to over the long haul. Even the original production played a less than two year run, with Merman no less. The economics of producing Gypsy today make it very difficult to run it profitably, unless you want a scaled back cast, orchestra, or sets made out of tissue paper. So, it may not come around again for a while, until a can't miss star wants to do it.

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 10:29am

Why not do a tour with alternating Rose's? Kathie Lee, Liza and Barbara... imagine who huge that would be....

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 10:30am

Brilliant idea. You should be a producer!!

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 10:35am

I wanna be a producer, and say, "You, you, you, not you"... sorry, had to get it out of my system.

[Justice]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 11:22am

Kristen Chenowith (Hey, if they could cast Bernadette in the role...)

But, really, if they would only do non-traditional casting, then Queen Latifah would make an AWESOME Mama Rose

[Switz78]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 1:07pm

what about the fact that there are still many new faces to come onto the broadway stage? so my pick for 20 years from now would have to be ME! I'll be 40ish. Just had to say it. Plus let's remember the original, Merman and Tyne Daly was awesome and that Rose shouldn't be an ingenue all grown up. She's a woman who was never pretty enough or fit into the mold to be a star.
I must say Julia Murney would kick ass though.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:01pm

Ellie3, you are correct. In Arthur Laurent's recent memoir, he muses about how so many people refer to the charachter as MAMA ROSE. According to the Laurent's book, she is never, ever called Mama Rose in GYPSY. However, there are a number of times when she is referred to as Madam Rose.

We "theater folk" and some leading theater pundits over the decades have ingrained MamaRose into our heads. She certainly is the mother in the story and her name is indeed Rose.

It is understable how she has come to be known as Mama Rose to theater folk. But, in the show, she is never called Mama Rose.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:26pm

Whomever plays Rose in the next Broadway incarnation will likely be completely unexpected - much as Tyne Daly was in her day. Who thought the butch one from Cagney & Lacey would be the next musical comedy diva before it actually happened?

And I believe this is the first time the show has failed to find an audience on Broadway - also the first time the original staging wasn't recreated, too. Hmmmmm. Sometimes the wheel may not require reinvention.

Andrea McArdle as Rose - what a kick! God I'm old. Maybe soon we'll get to see her Madame Armfeldt!

I once doubled as Uncle Jocko and the back end of the cow. MOO-MOO, MOO-MOO.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:29pm

Barry Brown, one of the producers of the Tyne Daly GYPSY (as well as the Lansbury production and the original LA CAGE) actually saw Daly sing on the Dolly Parton variety show, and brought the idea to the Weisslers. Thus, a musical comedy star was born.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:38pm

Not exactly, OtherDaryl. GYPSY has never been a smash hit in any of its Broadway (or London) incarnations, including the original production.

Personally, I've seen enough productions of GYPSY to last me the rest of my life.

And I know I'm in the minority, but I hated Tyne Daly's Rose. I much preferred Linda Lavin, in that particular production. (Lavin was one NASTY Rose. She looked like she was going to eat Louise during the first act finale.)

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:46pm

Oh wow. I couldn't stand Lavin. So nasal and disconnected. And where was the Irish accent from??

[Mattio98]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:52pm

I, for one, just wish that Laurents and LuPone would make amends so that she could play the role.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 2:55pm

I have never heard of Laurents "making amends" with anyone.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 3:00pm

I was thinking less of a Smash Hit on the order of Phantom than a decently running production that likely recouped its initial investment.

The original ran 702 performances, the Lansbury revival 120 performances (though I know it toured signifigantly), the Daly revival 476 performances, and the most recent at 451.

The original likely recouped (I'd have to check Burns Mantle, if I can find one that far back), but the Lansbury revival couldn't have, unless it was a limited run situation with special financing. The Daly/Lavin production may have - finances weren't yet what they are today.

It's a shame a show can run a year or more and still be a financial failure.

[Gpvegas]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 3:01pm

It will be ...................

Bonnie Franklin - at the Bucks County Playhouse at least that is what their 2005 calendar says Updated On: 12/30/04 at 03:01 PM

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 12/30/04 at 3:16pm

No kidding, Rathnait62. Laurents is a monster.

As far as the Daly/Lavin thing, I can't rationally defend Lavin's bizarre performance. But I found Daly very cartoonish, and her singing certainly left something to be desired. Lavin's performance was like a smack across the face. Strange? Yes. Good choice for that particular character? Probably not. But I found it oddly thrilling, nevertheless. (Maybe it's because I hated Christa Moore, and was secretly hoping that Linda Lavin would kill her).