Patti LuPone Says Everyone Will Hear Streisand Fart

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 12:26am

Classy, Patti.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Patti_LuPone_Talks_Potential_Streisand_GYPSY_20110329

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 12:44am

First Laurents, now Patti, explaining why think think Streisand Gypsy shouldn't happen in reasons that make no real sense. I do wonder, however, who the other two women that were considered for Rose are.

[Clewis1219]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 12:57am

I know Catherine Zeta-Jones was being bandied about to play Madame Rose in a Rob Marshall directed Gypsy during the time that the Lupone Gypsy was running or had just ended. He mentioned it during his NY1 interview.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 1:05am

I'm pretty curious about those other two actresses, too. Maybe Meryl Streep???? She seems like someone they'd consider.

For some reason, I still like the idea of Zeta-Jones playing the role. At least in a revival down the road from now. I think she's got the brash quality the character needs and certainly the voice. I'd give her a chance.

However, Rob Marshall...please no! I think Arthur nixed that idea a long time ago. I just don't think Marshall knows how to deviate from his usual "it's all in their head" theme. It worked wonderfully in Chicago, but in Nine, there was room for some seriously fun, playful fantasy sequences that just never happened.

God only knows what he'd do to Gypsy!

[James885]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 1:26am

I also would love to see Zeta-Jones take on Rose on film. Unfortunately, it'll never happen. Laurents has made his opinion on Catherine Zeta-Jones known several times. I'd also like to see Rob Marshall do it if he could break out of his 'all-in-the-head' concept, but again, Laurents will never allow it to happen.

[Joey.]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 1:36am

Tactful or not, LuPone hit the nail on the head with the "control" bit. Streisand would never let herself go enough to vanish into the role. She'd constantly be worrying about the lighting and the angles she was being shot from.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 2:21am

See this marks the huge difference between the attitudes of lovely Angela Lansbury and (sometimes) rude and upfront Patti LuPone.

This is why Lansbury is a legend, and Patti never will be.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 2:35am

This is why Lansbury is a legend, and Patti never will be.

LOL, K.

Patti will never be a legend because she speaks her mind? K!

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 3:12am

As much as I hate to admit it, Patti is probably right. Streisand is a total control freak and would probably be directing the director anyway. I used to really like her and, of course, you can't deny that remarkable voice, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how weird this film might turn out.

If they're going to do it, which I think they should, can they at least get someone who will completely become the character? I'll take Streep, Zeta-Jones, Annette Bening, Sigourney Weaver, anyone. Just get someone who will commit to the role and not worry about vanity.

As much as I thought Patti's performance was just sort of decent, at least she didn't seem worried about how she looked, especially in Rose's Turn.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 3:23am

Yeah, no huge fan of LuPone, but I think what she's saying about the emotional nakedness of the song is true and the likelihood that control-freak Streisand would get "naked" for her public -- as an actress, not a singer -- is something I'd not bet money on.
And she is simply TOO OLD for the role now. I know she looks great, but there are limits. Remember Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin? Case closed -- and that's not nearly as implausible age-wise as La Barbra spinning Madame Rose.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 4:21am

Patti is a hater, maybe if she wouldn't hate so much, she'd be an A-lister like Barbra.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 4:33am

Completely agree, egghumor! I just don't think Babs will be able to commit to the role. I'd love to hear her sing the score, certainly, but she really is far too old. A 70 year old Rose is just absurd unless they change the character into a grandmother who is raising the kids after her daughter takes off.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 7:08am

I get what she means about the "control" part, and she's right. But I have no idea what that "fart" analogy is that follows. Huh?!?

Is it:

a) Streisand's farts are loud, and everyone will hear them.
b) Streisand's farts are way too controlled, and everyone will hear them.
c) Streisand's farts need to be shot and lit well, by people who know how to direct them.
d) Streisand's farts are pre-recorded, so she can get the exact take she wants, and sometimes she even uses Marnii Nixon's farts.
e) All of the above.

Updated On: 3/30/11 at 07:08 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 8:21am

Yeah, I spent several long minutes with the fart line.

The closest to sense I could get was Streisand is so controlled that she can't even fart spontaneously. Her farts would be planned, announced, and well presented.

Or something.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 9:19am

It's a comment worthy of Charlie Sheen.

[Patash]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 9:25am

It took me a while too, but I interpreted it to mean that Streisand is SO vain and so self-conscious that she would never let any "true" or "ugly" part of herself show to the camera -- something that is necessary for a great Rose's Turn. So the point was she's be so worried about something like a fart coming out that she'd be way too tight assed to commit herself fully to the song.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 9:36am

The other two women were Zeta Jones and Meryl Streep.

As mentioned, Rob Marshall bandied about a version with Zeta (pre-NINE) that got shot down by Laurents.

Streep and Mike Nichols were the other potential pairing, but apparently Nichols met with Laurents and came away saying, "Not in a Million Years, Dolly Levi." I also imagine Laurents didn't think Streep could sing it adequately.

I think Streisand's performance would depend on her director more than anything - Laurents at least alluded to the fact in one of the original articles that Streisand saw her mother (who she hated) as a close cousin to Rose. That seems to indicate she at least may have something dark to draw on.

And for my money, yes Rose has to be able to let go - but what LuPone did with Rose's Turn was a little much. It doesn't need to be an indulgent grotesque self masturbatory number in order to be a powerful climax to the musical.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 9:43am

"And for my money, yes Rose has to be able to let go."

NOW I get what Patti means. Her "Rose's Turn" was a five-minute fart on stage.

She lost control and "let go," and some gave her a Tony while others held their noses.



EDIT: I just love the comparison of "letting go" creatively to passing gas. Patti's Acting 101 tip of the day: "If you want to be a good actress, you have to smell up the stage with your choices!"

Or as Mazeppa might have put it, "If you go for arty, pass a little farty."

Updated On: 3/30/11 at 09:43 AM

[ChgoTheaterTenor]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 10:03am

Really?? Lupone IS a legend... perhaps not an "A-lister", but certainly a legend. That voice!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 10:04am

Those farts!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 10:13am

She thinks hers are coming up roses.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 11:15am

I'd be much more excited if it were Meryl Streep doing this. I don't think Barbra's age would be a major issue, but it wouldn't be a problem at all with Streep, and I think she'd be able to sing it in a film context.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 11:22am

Streep is only seven years Streisand's junior, incidentally.

(Which kind of surprised me, actually.)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 11:38am

Whoever they get for Rose, can I still have:

Mazeppa - Elaine Stritch
Tessie Tura - Chita Rivera
Elektra - Angela Lansbury

[onedaymore]

Posted: 3/30/11 at 11:45am

"She thinks hers are coming up roses"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA