The Ultimate 'Some People'

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 1:07am

Everyone who ever performed "Some People" in 3 minutes. (Well, almost.)

Ethel
Angela
Judy
Tyne
Linda (Lavin)
Betty
Liza
Bette
Bernadette
Patti

http://youtu.be/M5pAxcb-nEc

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 1:12am

That was the first time I ever saw a clip of Betty in Gypsy and now I TOTALLY get Sondheim's feelings.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 3:01am

What were those, out of interest?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 3:09am

Thanks, PJ.

[binau]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 3:19am

Glad they included Patti's final note. Does anyone know the story behind it? (is it recent?) Why do some/most (?) other Roses not sing it?

Updated On: 11/27/11 at 03:19 AM

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 9:01am

...wait, so Judy Garland actually performed a number from this show? Ah, dammit, now I wish even more she had essayed the part of Rose.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 10:41am

I'm curious as well. What are Sondheims feelings exactly on Buckley (Who I adored as Rose)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 11:23am

Wait. Did I confuse something Laurents said and put it in Sondheim's mouth?

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 11:37am

I believe Angela also took the high note at the end. It may have been at the end of the the reprise in the Seattle to Los Angeles section.

[The One and Only]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 12:15pm

defyingravity11 Angels did hit the high note. Here is a video of her singing "Some People".
Angela "Some People"

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 12:25pm

Betty Buckley's truly frightening "Rose's Turn"--at the end, if I remember correctly, she devours her daughters:

http://youtu.be/28JZZLNZM_I

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 12:40pm

I'm not quite sure how to put in words why those clips lack appeal for me (a fella who has seen Buckley many times, in my venues). I think I can see on stage that she has done her typical deep psychological examination into the pathology of the character and is trying to perform every aspect of Freudian overdetermination in Mama Rose. But it looks like stitched together high maniera rather than a performance of a human being as a human being.

Also, the harshness she uses in singing is obviously a choice she made, but it reminds me of the dulcet speaking style of Miss Patty Duke in Valley of the Dolls.

[artscallion]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 2:55pm

gvendo2005, Garland also included "Together" in her popular repertoire. If I remember correctly without pulling out the DVD, there is record of her and her children doing it on one of her Xmas specials.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 3:44pm

the high note is in the actual 'some people' number and the other ending where they swoop down to the other note is in the 'seattle to los angeles' transition.

[AMH]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 4:36pm

Judy Garland as Mama Rose in a full production of GYPSY (on stage or film) would have been amazing! I would love to have seen her interpretation of Rose.

[artisn'teasy]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 4:52pm

This just made my day, thank you.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 5:48pm

I have a shelf full of Ethel Merman records, but her "Goodbye, to blueberry pie!" on the OBC recording is the single best line she ever sang.

(ETA and now we know where Liza got her Some-People-on-amphetimines tempo: it's in her DNA.)

Updated On: 11/27/11 at 05:48 PM

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 6:24pm

I've always found Betty's take on Rose to be endlessly fascinating. I saw the whole production and she did have a few moments of lighthearted fun (although a lot of people would want you to believe otherwise), but still, she's never been that great at comedy, so a lot of the big punch lines just felt...off? Her interpretation was pretty grim and creepy. It's interesting and unique, but I guess I can see why Laurents and Sondheim didn't want her coming to Broadway with the show. However, I honestly don't think I've ever heard that score sung with such power before.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 6:42pm

Actually, the clip of Betty in this video must be from a different production. I saw the Papermill one. Hmmmm...which one is this from? She played it twice?

Also, I sort of love Judy and Liza's "Some People" on crack. It's surprisingly exciting.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 7:16pm

The Betty Buckley is from the Paper Mill.

Here's Judy's whole "Some People":

http://youtu.be/teRnBS8qRHw

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 7:24pm

Here's a video of Judy and Liza doing a short version of "Together" in 1963:

http://youtu.be/GTIWO0hdAeU


And here's another video of Judy and Liza doing it at the London Palladium two years later:

http://youtu.be/BrqhTL1_HWE


And here's an audio-only clip of Judy and Lorna and Joey doing the same arrangement at the closing night of their Palace engagement in 1967:

http://youtu.be/kGa_IqrFEDM

Updated On: 11/27/11 at 07:24 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 7:33pm

And for those who think Liza was capable only of frenetic versions of songs from Gypsy, here is Liza singing an unusually slow and extremely touching solo version of "Together" on one of her first Ed Sullivan appearances:

http://youtu.be/xXfPlaujUq4

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 7:45pm

Oh, PJ, always a tease. I was expecting Betty HUTTON not the Buckster.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 8:26pm

I could have sworn Betty's Papermill version had a different sets, hairstyles, and costumes. Everything sort of resembled the Bette Midler TV version.

[bryan2]

Posted: 11/27/11 at 8:27pm

Having seen Patti/Tyne/linda lavin ugg/ and Betty Buckley
IN this order
Tyne-unbelievabley great
Betty-totally nails it
Patti-good but classless/brassy
I dont get the whole Patti Lupone worship she screams ..eats the words and is always brash and class less as Rose.
Betty was great and deserved the Bway cast.
Bette Midler was another nightmare..alltogether