Sam Mendes Gypsy (2003) - Page 2

[matt1982]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 8:55am

I was lucky enough to see Bernadette Peters twice in Gypsy.  In May 2003 I was so excited to see Gypsy for the first time onstage, having enjoyed the Merman recording and the Midler and Russel films.  I completely adored the production and Bernadette.  I thought she nailed it.  When I went back in January 2004, she had gotten even better, immersing herself in the role.  

I saw LuPone in the 2008 production 6 times.  I fell hard for her star power and wanted to see it over and over again.  Her performance remains a favorite.  Not to mention the performances from Benanti and Gaines.  However, the production itself was just, fine.  Laurents wrote a terrific book, but did he really direct with flair?  That's what I loved about the Mendes production.  It was different, it took risks.  I would love to see what it would have looked like if Sam had had full reign without the Laurents interference.  Maybe we will see something like that someday.

As mentioned above, Peters was certainly raked over the coals in early performances.  But I don't think she missed a single performance of Follies, Night Music, or Dolly.  And much as I enjoyed Winokur, Peters was robbed of that Tony.  

[BJR]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 10:04am

qolbinau said: "''It holds up the way 'Citizen Kane' holds up,'' says Mr. Sondheim of the show now. ''Every scene is juicy. The characters are vivid. The songs are sharp and entertaining. You can't get bored in 'Citizen Kane' and you can't get bored in 'Gypsy.' I can hear someone saying it's a vulgar show or an obvious show but not that it's a boring show.'' There is a bit of Kane as well in the driving, pioneer's energy that prevents Rose's character from becoming a hateful Mommie Dearest. ''The fact that she's monstrous to her daughters and the world is secondary,'' says Mr. Sondheim. ''She's a very American character, a gallant figure and a life force.'' He quotes one of Rose's lyrics from ''Everything's Coming Up Roses'' -- ''And nothing's gonna stop us till we're through!'' -- and adds, ''Everyone has to feel that and identify with it and go with it.''

He still marvels at his mother's self-delusional take on the show itself: ''She said, 'You know, Steve, there are mothers like that.' I couldn't believe it -- my jaw opened.''"

Thank you for sharing this! I had never read it or heard his comments before and they're so spot on.

To throw in my 2 cents, I agree with matt1982. The Laurents production got incredible performances out of Patti, Boyd and Laura. Laurents directed the hell out of that book. A musical comedy that descended into a greek tragedy.

That said, I also agree Mendes' production had more flair, took more risks, and was more visually interesting.

And I hate choosing who is "better," truly. Patti was born to play the role and mined it for everything it was worth. (Frankly, I don't understand people who say they like the show and didn't like her - that's Rose.) Peters is a really great actress and pulled it off, despite being miscast IMO. She's such a strong actress, I believed her each step of the way, but I never believed those giant songs wanted to come out of her. The seductive or more comedic ones, yes. But simply not the way that, say, a Patti just opens her mouth and "Everythings' Coming Up Roses" falls out.

[binau]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 3:12pm

Shockingly, a video has emerged of a deleted scene in SMASH with Bernadette singing Rose’s turn! Is this well known?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aelu6OYa8u0

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 3:17pm

Here, kids.  So much easier to watch stuff when it’s done correctly.   Geez.

 

[Fagnes Gooch]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 4:48pm

Isn’t that funny. I thought LuPone showed no nuance at all. She missed so much of the humor. She just did Patti. There’s nothing wrong with that. I saw it three times. But she shouldn’t have a Tony for Gypsy. And that production was so shoddy. It felt like it was put together on the cheap - and I still don’t understand the smock or like the jumping.

But Bernadette was a REVELATION. Every single word, each lyric, a subtle raised eyebrow, a sly smile. She was absolute perfection, mining so much humor and depth. I cannot say enough. I saw the show several times throughout the run, one at which she was clearly sick. But her performance continued to grow Throughout the run. It was startling and thrilling to see her. F*CK, I wish Arthur Laurents hadn’t ****ed it up. It would have been amazing to see Mendes’ unobstructed vision.

All that said, Peters should definitely have won the Tony that year. I’ll never forget that performance.

Updated On: 6/19/20 at 04:48 PM

[Fagnes Gooch]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 4:48pm

Isn’t that funny. I thought LuPone showed no nuance at all. She missed so much of the humor. She just did Patti. There’s nothing wrong with that. I saw it three times. But she shouldn’t have a Tony for Gypsy.

But Bernadette was a REVELATION. Every single word, each lyric, a subtle raised eyebrow, a sly smile. She was absolute perfection, mining so much humor and depth. I cannot say enough. I saw the show several times throughout the run, one at which she was clearly sick. But her performance continued to grow Throughout the run. It was startling and thrilling to see her. F*CK, I wish Arthur Laurents hadn’t ****ed it up. It would have been amazing to see Mendes’ unobstructed vision.

All that said, Peters should definitely have won the Tony that year. I’ll never forget that performance.

[AADA81]

Posted: 6/19/20 at 9:17pm

I saw this revival three times because I thought it was so good.  The streamlined, grittier production was notable from the start and played extremely well into the setting and the performances,  I noted no jolting shifts of tone and I thought Bernadette Peters' choices as an actor were completely valid and believable.  Compared to her, Lupone's shadings were about as subtle as a cloudburst.  I also thought Tammy Blanchard was a better Louise than Laura Benanti (whom I love) because she was innocent without being coy and tough enough to stand up to Rose without losing who the character was.  Also, the musical numbers, especially "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" and Rose's Turn", were spectacular.  I take anything Arthur Laurents said with a grain of acid; he was an impossibly mean-spirited person.

One other thing, the Grammy Award-winning cast recording is an excellent representation of the show..

[binau]

Posted: 6/21/20 at 5:42am

Came across Bernadette's final ""Rose's Turn" and it is clear that this is not the same performance that was sung in previews, on opening night or on the cast recording. The line readings are much more intense (AND YOU HAVEN'T ANY TALENT......not what I call tallent ms [mocking]Gypsy, Rose Lee[/mocking] and the vocals are much stronger. How I wish this is the performance we had on the cast recording!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MzFSHe_W00

If anyone has the full show, please PM me!! PLEASE!

 

[Fagnes Gooch]

Posted: 6/21/20 at 12:00pm

Goosebumps. Multiple times. Man, this is what is scorching and raw and glorioius and I can’t believe you found this. THANK YOU for sharing. You sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole and her closing night curtain speech is also on YouTube. Her humility is quite lovely and gracious. “Mister Sondheim is here...”

But, that recording! Thank you from the bottom of my Gypsy-loving heart!

Updated On: 6/21/20 at 12:00 PM

[binau]

Posted: 6/22/20 at 8:43am

Other random thoughts & things I've come across (I've decided I'd like to post here so I can come back and refresh my memory)..

* I read in an interview somewhere that Tammy was competing against Anne Hathaway for the role? That would have been interesting to see and I wonder if it would have changed the dynamic & financial outcomes of the production (not to mention the performance)

* The story of Tammy is that apparently Sam Mendes saw her slumped in a chair waiting for an audition and 'saw Louise' right there, or something to the effect

* I read in an interview somewhere that Arthur Laurents asked Kate Reinders if she wanted to repeat her role in Patti's Gypsy...she didn't seem interested to return again but, how random. 

* Reading around various interviews it is clear that Bernadette considers this the most challenging & most satisfying role she ever did. I'm happy for her that she was able to experience this while her husband was still alive.

* I've looked back at all her NYTimes reviews and it's interesting to see...while always typically getting some positive comments she rarely gets complete love-letters. If I recall, Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Follies, and Into the Woods had positive things to say about Bernadette but mainly brief mentions (and ITW review was critical about the writing of her part). Song and Dance, Annie Get Your Gun, The Goodbye Girl were very positive about Bernadette, but all very critical of the show & productions. A Little Night Music was close to a love letter with some slight reservations, and Hello, Dolly! was very very close to a love letter. But her Gypsy review is by far the most positive and unequivocal NYTimes rave of her career.

 

 

Updated On: 6/22/20 at 08:43 AM

[binau]

Posted: 2/7/21 at 11:57am

Came across a poignant and fascinating story from the 'Behind the Curtain' Podcast with Richard Jay-Alexander speaking about how he helped convince Bernadette to sing "Some People" for the first time at her Carnegie Hall concert among other details, which was surprisingly personal and perhaps gives a glimpse into how important Bernadette's work is to her. I wish there were more details about her backstage career and creative process - we know so much about LuPone for example but barely anything about Bernadette. I bet there are a million stories like this that could be in a Memoir! 

"Bernadette Peters changed my life when she asked me to do that concert...she said she's not doing it without [me]. I remember Tom Hammond [her manager] was very nervous about her doing it. She'd been on Carnegie Hall stage in things like Anyone Can Whistle, but she hadn't done solo and Arthur Laurents asked her to do it. I called Tom and said I'm not doing it without your blessing.

But he is thinking more along the lines of people like Sinatra - record sellers with hits to sing. But Bernadette had an astonishing career so he did bless it, and Bernadette came up with the idea of doing the whole second act of Sondheim. She interestingly didn't want to revisit her career - Dames at Sea and all that. I said you've got the wrong guy - that audience remembers or fell in love with you in Mack and Mabel or Dames at sea. And she did - she went along for the ride.

We had a very famous fight about "Some People" to end act 1. There was nothing in her career to end Act 1 - it needed an ender. So I listened to Bette Midler, Rosalind Russel's version, Linda Lavin - I listened to everybody do it and I thought nobody's in that pocket. And I remember a very famous rehearsal on 47th street and I think we had press there on that day. And she said 'Why do you want me to sing this?' and I said "Because there is nothing in your career I can end the act with".

"You know Bernadette, everyone says Oh Bernadette's so cute...But Bernadette is very complicated in a good way. And she's got so much..but it's always give give give and it's time to take. She stormed out of the room and she came back in and she sang it [Some People]. And I was sitting on the dance bar and I said everybody Rehearsal's over. Bernadette I'm going to go to Sardi's  - if you'd like to join me  for dinner I'll be sitting under my picture. I actually said this - so ridiculous haha. 

And she came over about a half hour later. And she was a little teary and so I said what is going on with you? Because we were very close and I couldn't understand what was going on. And she said "I want to play this part some day and what if people say I can't?" I immediately said I don't live at that address. I can't even consider this - and she committed. And it was that night she got offered Gypsy by Arthur and Stephen. And thank god Arthur said that in the NYtimes I was so happy because it's not about being right it's about wanting for your star and no two stars are the same. But I will never let anyone out there with any danger to them what so ever.

I remember staging it..she comes back and says "but not ROSSSSEEEEE" and the audience went wild. And I was so happy. The show was just a great night and I remember the party afterwards - and Arthur Laurents was so kind despite everyone saying he was so mean. And he wrote the liner notes for the album, and we got a grammy nomination - and went to the Grammys, and that review......my whole life changed. Every time when I get a job, when Bette Midler called I always thank Bernadette Peters. 

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

Posted: 2/9/21 at 9:18pm

I remember seeing newspaper ads for Tyne Daly in "Gypsy" and believed it to be a huge joke.  I asked myself why would Tyne Daly apprear in a revival of "Gypsy"?  I have loved "Gypsy" so much, I remember running home after school because the Rosalind Russell version was going to be on the afternoon daily movie.  So I bit the bullet and bought front row balcony tickets over NYE's weekend.  The overture gave me goosebumps and Tyne Daly's performance was one for the ages.  Her performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" terrified the holy hell out of me and when she held that last note and the curtain came down, I was completely scared out of my mind.  Flash forward a few years to Arthur Laurents gasbagging about how Patti Lupone was never, ever going to play Rose on Broadway.  Then the Ravinia Festival announced that they would be doing a limited engagement in August 2006.  Being lucky enough to have won tickets to see the show on a Saturday afternoon, with three friends, Patti Lupone was a hurricane on stage and her "Rose's Turn" was amazing.  I remember telling my friends on the drive home that if Laurents still doesn't want her to do this show on Broadway, he was an idiot.  I do feel that I never could imagine that this show would be revived as many times as it has since I was an adult.  I think that the actresses that have been chosen to play Rose are chosen for the reason that they can bring something that no one else can!...

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/9/21 at 10:16pm

This is sort of an aside, but I am so intrigued by Bernadette. She is very private and she doesn’t tell tales out of school. It seems a lot of insight is gleaned by the stories people tell about her. She tends to not speak ill of anyone and focuses on positives. Yet I’m always intrigued by the tidbits she shares.

There was a New York Times piece when she was in Follies and she talked about how much she hated mirrors and wanted the multiple ones removed from her dressing room. I also remember an interview where she talked about how many offers she got to appear nude in films in the 70s and 80s and how it really disturbed her.

She just fascinates me. I think she is a more complex and layered person who has been relegated to sexpot in her career. I’d love to see her play darkness. I’m so sad she didn’t get to go raving mad in Gypsy. I liked her Follies performance a great deal.

[binau]

Posted: 2/10/21 at 4:50am

I agree 100% Bettyboy72

 

Other things I've come across recently -  you can see how much she was exploited for her looks in this rather uncomfortable interview where the two male hosts keep making sex jokes about her. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpTOxe05csw

I also came across an appearance she made in Saturday Night live that probably shows how much of a good Louise she might have made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMCWQGAVDF4

I suspect that Bernadette was in a tough place in her career in the 70s/early 80s because she knew that her look was part of her brand (something that still remains so), but at the same time she wanted to be treated with respect as an actress/comedian/singer not a sex object.

"As mentioned above, Peters was certainly raked over the coals in early performances.  But I don't think she missed a single performance of Follies, Night Music, or Dolly.  And much as I enjoyed Winokur, Peters was robbed of that Tony."

On this, I also came across a podcast with Michael McCormick (who played Uncle Jocko, and then came full circle as the Judge in Dolly) - who said Bernadette was having vocal issues during the Tony voting period as his explanation for why she lost (and no surprise believes she should have won).

" I liked her Follies performance a great deal."

It's been 10 years so I decided to revisit as an audience-recorded video of the full production is now on YouTube (the one from side mezzanine of the Broadway production is the best example I've seen with a lot of good clear closeups).....besides a few odd line readings that still make me scratch my head her performance is more haunting and devastating than I had remembered. And I forgot how often she actually was on the stage - during "The Road You Didn't Take" it's not just Ben's performance - Bernadette's reaction to what he is singing throughout the number is a performance in itself. 

When I have some time I might post a long essay here of her performance scene by scene in case it helps anyone see what I see and hear what I hear in that incredible performance. 



 

Updated On: 2/10/21 at 04:50 AM

[A Director]

Posted: 2/10/21 at 5:15am

qolbinau and others - Do some research. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Peters

Ms Peters started her career at 3 and a half!  At 13, she was in the second national tour of Gypsy. I can't say for sure, but unlike Patti, Tyne and others, she had first hand knowledge about children in show business.

I seem to recall her saying back in 2003, her mother was nothing like Rose.

I read Arthur's self-serving book where he trashed Sam Mendes. Mr. L was a fourth rate playwright who got lucky and wrote the books for West Side Story, the weakest part of the show, and Gypsy.  His plays are seldom, if ever revived.

Updated On: 2/10/21 at 05:15 AM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/10/21 at 10:50am

Qolbinau Id love to read more of your thoughts. I’ve seen most if not all of her filmed dramatic work and most of her stage work. I don’t know how to say this precisely, and I saw this at times during Follies. At certain dramatic moments it feels like she is straining.

There is a moment in the lovely film “The Last Best Year” where Bernadette has a breakdown and cries. It comes off a little constipated. I felt some of this during her Losing My Mind. It didn’t feel quite as primal as I am used to. As though she was self conscious, which might have been a character choice. However in Gypsy she did seem primal. I experienced her rawness and rage. I think as an actress she does better with going big and is rarely given the opportunity.

For instance she was an inspired Dolly when I initially thought she was miscast. She delivered a heartbreaking and poignant monologue before Parade and she did not move into that emotional territory where she strains. She was sad but resolved. It didn’t move into pathos where I think she strains as an actress.

I hope that makes sense. All that being said I just adore her.

[binau]

Posted: 2/12/21 at 12:27pm

Mmmm I know what you mean and will have to think about this more - my current perception is that Bernadette is not usually in the school of acting of being able to seamlessly/precisely recreate reality. She is a larger-than-life personality - she looks stunning, has a very unusual singing voice and a very unusual speaking voice - not at all like someone you would really come across in reality (which is why she is a star in my opinion because she is so unique and distinctive). And she can act a little broad sometimes. Kind of like a beautiful oil painting rather than a photograph. This is why for me I think I appreciate her stage performances more than close-up film or TV. When you are sitting far away broad stage acting is actually interesting and necessary (otherwise the acting can appear as boring & lifeless) - but on film or TV I don't know why I always find it a little bit weird to watch her. 

On the specific question of what happens when she is breaking down, I suspect that because of the unusual timbre of her speaking (& singing voice) that when she is breaking down she sounds rather like a whining girl (I mean this affectionately), which comes across as little constipated or struggling. I kind of wish in Follies the Director or someone else would have corrected some of the line readings to bring it down a little. I suspect that Sondheim did this during the recording session because her "Losing My Mind" on CD sounds a lot tamer and straight-sung through compared to how she sung it on stage at times.

I am probably one of her biggest fans and I cannot express enough how much I respect her as an artist (especially singing artist) - and how much she has impacted and changed my life. So I don't mean to be critical but of course everyone has their idiosyncrasies (or to some, flaws). 

Updated On: 2/12/21 at 12:27 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/12/21 at 1:52pm

Qolbinau, you don't sound critical at all. I know you love her. Anytime we watch someone perform so much there have to be observations. I think Jessica Lange is a superb actress and she is among my faves, yet I am hyperaware of many of her mannerisms, some of which puzzle me (the excessive touching of her face, throat and décolleté during intense scenes.)

I love hearing you write about your observations. This is what huge fans do.  Please keep sharing. I, too have wondered about her film and television work and wondered why she didn't get more. You seemed to have summed that up. There is something that doesn't always translate. Her star quality and uniqueness can pigeonhole her. I think she often does best when given an eccentric or otherworldly persona to play since she doesn't look or sound like a sitcom neighbor. she is often given very delicious cameos and supporting roles. 

One of my favorite films (which many people feel is a disaster and not due to Bernadette) is Slaves of New York. I found her incredibly compelling and moving. Her unique look fit someone who would be a part of the 80s art gallery scene, yet her voice, humility and style explained why she was an outsider. 

She really played a wallflower beautifully. She talked softly and mumbled at times often conversing with herself. Her emotional outburst at the end felt earned and primal and genuine. It was very touching. I think it is one of her best performances. 

One film I have not seen is "Coming Up Roses," It was never released widely and isn't streaming anywhere currently. The trailer is compelling, but the reviews were bad. Bernadette is singled out as being very good with a poor script. Have you seen it? Has anyone? 

[ColorAndLight3]

Posted: 2/13/21 at 10:09pm

For what it's worth, to my knowledge Bernadette has been the only revival Rose to sing the entire score in the same keys as Ethel Merman (specifically the lowered keys used later in the original production, no one I've heard has sung the score in the same keys as the OBCR). High notes alone don't make a performance, but it's an interesting piece of trivia.