Sutton Foster as Mama Rose in GYPSY — Page 2

JSquared2 said: "I'd rather see Kristin Chenoweth as Rose in 5-10 years."

She's 51 now. Does she read so young to you that she needs to wait?

Frankly, I was surprised when they announced SF to play Marian in the upcoming THE MUSIC MAN. I never think of her as a Barbara Cook/Rebecca Luker soprano, but she has constantly surprised me, and I can't wait. SF as Rose? She will tear up the stage!

qolbinau said: "JBC3 said: "The sexy Rose that Peters portrayed was excellent as her Tony performance highlights so very well."

It is interesting, and obviously I'm probably the last person to provide an 'objective' opinion about this, but it seems like Bernadette's performance in GYPSY gets better and better as the years go by. Listening to her Gypsy cast recording compared to how she sounded in Hello, Dolly - she actually sounds quite strong and powerful. Much more so than Imelda Staunton who as usual croaks or whispers through the singing and gets praised for it (see also, Bernadette vs Staunton in Follies). And as the years go by, it is becoming clearer and clearer that there isn't necessarily a diva waiting in the wings who has quite the same x-factor as Bernadette (or Patti and others of that era, for that matter). Maybe it's a case of taking it for granted at the time and also being quickly overshadowed by Patti in the role, but Bernadette's performance in Gypsy seems very special and almost legendary. And stands on its own next to the other greats who have played the role, including Patti."

I don't know about legendary, but I thought she was an excellent Rose, especially her Rose's Turn, which may be my favorite...'wellllllllllllllllllllllllll, someone tell when is it my turn' can still give me goosebumps. I thought her overall interpretation was better than Tyne Daly's highly acclaimed performance, which I thought was too shrill, and the televised version with Imelda Staunton's highly acclaimed performance, which was ridiculously over-the-top for me from the first second...a horrible performance IMO). Alas, I did not see Lupone...I was just not ready to see Gypsy again, and more importantly, I had entered the 'limited number of NY slots per visit' phase, and there were too many other shows I wanted to see on that visit, including great revivals of SITHWG and South Pacific.

The best Rose I have ever seen remains Angela Lansbury (too 'young' for Merman), even if BP's Rose's Turn may be as good as / better than Lansbury's.

round2 said: "Has there ever been an age appropriate Mama Rose in GYPSY on Broadway? Isn't there some kind of law against it?

Seriously, it would be interesting to see how the show works with someone in that role who more logically ages up to, what? 45 or so? How old would she likely have been at the time of Rose's Turn?"

Angela was certainly the right age (48) for the second act when she opened the show in the West End and even by the time she was playing the part at age 52 at the theaters where I worked in South Florida.

But of course that made her somewhat too old to be the mother of "tweens" in Act I--not that anyone noticed or complained.

My point here is that NOBODY can be the "right age" because the plot of the show spans decades. That's why the parts of June and Louise are doubled, "Babies" v. "Dainties".

BrodyFosse123 said: "Yeah, Chenoweth in another 5-10 years should look old enough."



51 or 81, Kristin Chenoweth and Sutton Foster will always be beautiful women. But this is why I would like to see Kristin as "Mama Rose".

JSquared2 said: "round2 said: "JSquared2 said: "I'd rather see Kristin Chenoweth as Rose in 5-10 years."

She's 51 now. Does she read so young to you that she needs to wait?"

Yup -- that's why I said 5-10 years from now.

"YES!!

Personally, I think Sutton would bring the supposed, hidden youthfulness and ‘star power’ Rose is supposed to exude in spades; the kind that makes even Louise remark as such. Sutton brings that kind of gravity to her roles, and that’s the sort of quality we gradually and eventually see by Rose’s Turn.

She’d be different than, say, Patti or Angela, but that’s not a bad thing. Honestly I feel like Rose is played too similarly now. While Rose is quarrel-prone, headstrong, and shamelessly self-serving; to me there’s still a lot of room for interpretation in there without losing those core fundamentals. Sutton always manages to bring out a different side to her roles (ie. Reno, Violet, and I have a strong feeling Marian will be joining these examples soon), so I’d be interested to see her do something as different as Rose.

Updated On: 11/5/19 at 09:02 PM

darquegk said: "If Alison Janney can sing it, get HER."

She was a step above speak-singing in 9 to 5. While I agree that she would act the hell out of it, I think you'd find the vocal performance to be lacking and receiving similar criticisms that Imelda Staunton received.

jayinchelsea said: "Frankly, I was surprised when they announced SF to play Marian in the upcoming THE MUSIC MAN. I never think of her as a Barbara Cook/Rebecca Luker soprano, but she has constantly surprised me, and I can't wait. SF as Rose? She will tear up the stage!

"

Agreed on both points!

Very informative. thanks for posting

I rather see SF play Louise w/Betty Buckley as Rose: