Will Lupone Be The Best Sung Momma Rose Since Merman? — Page 2

The more interesting question is, what will Lupone bring to the role? I think she will bring a regal quality, a cool classiness to Mama Rose we haven't seen before, that will make Rose's own missed opportunity at stardom all the more poignant.

I guess there's no way this is going to be recorded, eh? Laurents is doing the theatre a great disservice.

---

well, in my opinion, Lupone is an over-singer with a voice that grates on my nerves like no other so she'll be perfect for this role. She's fit for the big belting "look what i can do" roles.

---

http://www.ravinia.org/

---

I only just read about LuPone's tiff with Laurents last year, and to hear that she is playing the role at Ravinia makes me want to eat my own spleen. I live in the South, (Yes, we capitalize it for a reason) and there's no way I can make it to Chicago to see this. I guess that's the trade-off for having 75 degree sunny weather in January.

---

There is a misconception about Bernadette because of what happened to her pre and post opening. She got sick about three weeks into previews, and then re-aggravated the problem soon after the opening. She missed around 11 performances total during her illness. Once she recovered fully, she sang the role 8 times a week, in good voice, missing almost no performances for the entire run.

And I have to agree that Betty Buckley sang the score thrillingly. She's probably not an ideal match for Rose, but she did things with those songs that I've never heard before. I've seen Gypsy a lot, but it's the first time that "Everything's Coming Up Roses" really scared the **** out of me,

---

Lupone is an over-singer with a voice that grates on my nerves like no other so she'll be perfect for this role.

--

I guess you haven't seen her in the new Sweeney revival?

I actually enjoyed Bette Midler in the Role.

My only problem with her is that sometimes her acting seemed too large for the small screen.

As for her voice - it has always had a bit of an edge to it, never been some crystal clear voice. Especially her live recordings, there was always a bit of rawness to it.

I have always liked her, and pull out the DVD a couple times a year to watch, especially "Rose's Turn." or better yet, Divine Madness.

But, I am no expert on the various attributes for the role. I just enjoy her in the part. I have not seen many of the others, so I cannot compare performances. But, I do love me some Bette.

Just chiming in to add to those that agree its unfair to say Bernadette couldn't vocally handle the role. Merman, Landsbury and Daly ALL had one kind of vocal problems or another while singing this role 8 times a week so if that's your criteria for not being able to handle the role than they all couldn't handle it. I've heard of Norbert Leo Butz taking some time off from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels several times now since the beginning of the show run for vocal rest. Has anyone claimed he can't vocally handle the role? No. Freddy is also just a very vocally demanding role (and I don't think as demanding as Rose)and anyone's voice is going to suffer temporary problems from it over a long run.

I only saw Lupone in "Regina" live. Singing with a group of opera singer, her voice couldn't shine at all. I still didn't understand the fuzz about her. But I didn't see Sweeney yet. I will make judgement after that.

To me, Peters is brilliant.