Rosie is flippin' the old "Taboo bird"

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 4:44pm

Rosie Flips Critics Off! Updated On: 11/21/03 at 04:44 PM

[JakeB]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 4:53pm

You put the URL into the 'optional link' box and then put in 'link title' for what it is. Simple :)

[bluemangirl]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 4:55pm

Oh my gosh! I was there last night sitting right across the aisle from Rosie. It was pretty insane!

I thought it was nice that she was there to support tbe "Big Sue" understudy, for what I guess was her first performance (Brooke Elliot was phenomenal!) but I feel it really turned the attention to Rosie instead of the performance. It sort of wore me out (and I'm no Rosie hater by any means). Just my .02

[Cadriel]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 5:18pm

Wow. I'm seeing the show tomorrow...and I'm sort of embarrassed that I'm one of the people helping to keep this woman's show afloat. Ugh.

-Wayne

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 5:23pm

Lol, Rosie is such an angry woman. I love it.

[LC]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 5:24pm

bluemangirl, what did you see her say and do?

[bluemangirl]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 5:48pm

Well, at intermission, she got up from her seat to go to the back of the theatre, and as she walked back to her seat, the theatre burst into random applause, which she graciously acknowledged, but then started into this crazy speech about the critics. She thanked the ones that were there, and then she said something like, "and to the other ones..." and flipped the off the whole audience. She continued to say, 37 standing ovations can't be wrong, this is theatre as good as it gets people.

It was very strange I thought. My friend and I couldn't help wondering what the cast must have been thinking backstage.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 6:00pm

ahhh, the bird. what a lovely gesture. i myself am quite fond of it and use it as often as possible. whenever stars use it, i immediately feel closer to them. like the time johnny cash took out a full page ad in variety with a pic of him flipping the bird to the camera as a little message to nashville. i like it, won't deny and wanna see more of it!

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:44pm

She did WHAT?

[WSS2]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 8:05pm

We're complaining about Rosie flippin' the bird, but have no problem with Britany showing us her hooters?

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 8:12pm

Um, nope, we don't...

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:04pm

WAIT! She didn't flip the bird, at least not according to her publicist. Whether this is true or not, it is HILARIOUS:

O'Donnell, through her publicist Cindi Berger, on Friday denied making the gesture. "Rosie has a permanent deformity in her left hand, with the tendon of her middle finger, that keeps her from being able to move it," Berger said. "When she has her hand up, the other fingers bend naturally but it looks like her middle finger is extended. It's permanently up."

Well, Rosie, for goodness sake, wave with YOUR OTHER HAND!

Updated On: 11/21/03 at 09:04 PM

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:10pm

LMAO. That's so funny. So then why was so attempting to flash her fist at people?

[Sunfish]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:27pm

Does this mean Liz McCartney had/is having her baby?????

[bluemangirl]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 10:00pm

Oh my gosh, I almost fell out of my chair when I read that! I thought it was so awesome that her publicist would say that, when it was SO obvious what she was doing, both in speech and action.

Ah well...whatever.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 10:32pm

ok, i thought this story was too good to be true so i did a little research and i just want to be sure that no one mistakes me for a shrill (spelling intentional). i found multiple mentions of the finger, the staph infection and this tidbit from a usa today article from 2001. bear with the title, and scroll down about 2/3 of the way.

http://pub76.ezboard.com/funtalentfrm15.showMessage?topicID=85.topic

in the truth is stranger than fiction category, ladies and gentlemen: rosie's frozen middle finger!!

Posted: 11/21/03 at 11:39pm

"This show gets standing ovations every night," O'Donnell said before taking her seat. "That's the real reaction."

Honey, EVERYTHING gets a standing ovation these days.

[etoile]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 1:36am

Papa, you know I love you, but Chris is right on the mark suggesting she use her other hand. Rosie is very aware that her middle finger doesn't bend. She repeatedly, jokingly, numerously made mention of the fact that it is interpeted as an obscene gesture. I have no doubt she communicated her desired response. And unless one is attempting the "royal" wave it's customary here in the US to wave with all fingers raised.

[Horsey]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 2:51am

You have to love this woman. She is a real Producer, in the old-time tradition of Broadway. This is a woman with Balls.
Hooray. Long may she reign!!!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 9:04am

oh, etoile, you got me wrong, i'm not doubting that she made her point. lol. i was just pointing out the stranger than fiction nature of things. i read that defense of her and giggled hysterically thinking what a bulldog of a pr rep to come up with a story like that. to find out it's basically true, that she of all people has a middle finger that won't go down...that's just too funny to me.

[Cadriel]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 9:20am

Horsey -

If Rosie were a real producer in the old-time tradition of Broadway, she'd have had the good sense to run Taboo in Philadelphia or Boston for a month before talks of transferring it to New York. That's the way you ran shows for a long time. Further, she'd have the librettist and composer working day and night up until the show was fixed. The critics panned Away We Go in Boston and opening night on Broadway wasn't full, but Oklahoma! drew raves, ran for years, and is one of the most enduring pieces of musical theatre ever.

Further, if she were a real producer in the old-time tradition of Broadway, she'd have posted a closing notice on the opening night and not had a second. If she were a real crafty producer in the same tradition and wanted to save the show, she'd have run back the opening until the critics just gave in and reviewed the demned thing in previews, since it was obviously going to get negative press in the first place.

If Rosie O'Donnell were a real producer in the old-time tradition of Broadway, she would not make herself the center of the media attention surrounding the show. She certainly wouldn't make all the comments to the press about how the show is so great and will certainly win Tony awards - that's just not how you did it if you had a success on your hands. She's talking like many flop producers have talked before, and that's simply a fact.

Ultimately, if Rosie were a real producer in the old-time tradition of Broadway, she wouldn't have invested a cent of her own money in the show.

So, I have to say, Rosie O'Donnell just ain't a great producer. You either got it, or you don't. She don't.

-Wayne

[Horsey]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 12:27pm

oh

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 12:40pm

Not for nothin', but I met a man last week who had had all of his fingers on his right hand amputated EXCEPT for the middle finger. I'm guessing that sometimes when he waves his hand, he's truly giving the finger, and sometimes not. It's all in the context of the moment.

Rosie's context leaves little to the imagination.