Patti almost not Madame Rose?

I bet this has been discussed many times but I could not find anything about it. Can someone explain to me the whole Arthur Laurents not wanting Patti to play Madame Rose story.

Every time someone talks about Arthur Laurents, he sounds like a real prick.

Finally! I have been wondering the same thing for a while, but was afraid someone would say to use the search feature. That's so interesting about Laurents not wanting her to do any of his work, it really goes to show how amazing LuPone's performance is that it even turned him around. And I'm glad I also now know the motivation behind Patti wanting it in her contract that it would go to NY (SB). Thank you.

Did Arthur actually see the Ravinia concert though? I thought that was just a rumor. He has stated that his partner was the one who told him to do it at City Center with LuPone.

Patti did have a contract to do Sunset on Broadway - that's how she had a case against Lloyd Webber.

When Laurents' play, Jolson Sings Again, premiered at Seattle Rep in 1995, there was no question that Patti would be guaranteed the NY transfer were it to happen. This wasn't the issue. Patti just decided not to do the show. I'm not sure why. Maybe she didn't like it after all... maybe she didn't want to be in Seattle for months with a young son after just having been in LA and then London for a number of years.

Arthur is lying AND telling the truth when he says Patti was never considered for the Mendes production in that, technically, that casting director and that producer never discussed LuPone with Mendes in the pre-production of the 2003 revival of GYPSY - it was, as Laurents claims, always Bernadette. HOWEVER, Mendes had been everyone's dream choice for GYPSY since his Broadway CABARET (and, of course, American Beauty) and had been courting Patti for Rose since he caught her on stage (in either Master Class or The Old Neighborhood, I forget...). Arthur vetoed the idea repeatedly in the years in between the first murmurs of a Mendes GYPSY, possibly in London first, possibly with Patti (98/99/2000-ish) and the actual announcement of the 2003 revival.

And the Sunset Blvd debacle was a case of contract language not being clear. Patti was contracted to do the New York premiere after London, which she and most everyone else assumed would be the US premiere. However, when they decided to put it up in LA first with Glenn Close, then to follow shortly after with Broadway, Patti got upset because she would not be doing the US premiere.

Hahahaha!!!.... oh, wait, that WASN'T funny.

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And the Sunset Blvd debacle was a case of contract language not being clear. Patti was contracted to do the New York premiere after London, which she and most everyone else assumed would be the US premiere. However, when they decided to put it up in LA first with Glenn Close, then to follow shortly after with Broadway, Patti got upset because she would not be doing the US premiere.

right, and then she was unceremoniously dumped, and found out about it from her agent who read it in a gossip column. classy.

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I heard from Arthur himself, that the casting for City Center came down to Patti & Sarah Palin.

Laurents didn't see Ravinia, but saw her in SWEENEY. He said this in the NYTimes article on this whole situation, when GYPSY was at City Center.

And Mendes met Patti when she did Divas At The Donmar in 1999 or 2000.

And, she didn't even blink, Patash. She won't then, she won't now.

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