Count me among those who were underwhelmed. The first time I saw Peters, she struggled, gasping her way through it, sustained notes for only half their values (whole notes became half notes, etc...), carefully paced herself, crooning the role (her mic must have been turned up very high) rather than actually singing it. She saved everything for "Everything's Coming Up Rose's" (which was staged like a bad calistenics routine with her marching nonsensically all over the stage) and "Rose's Turn" (which was more phlegm, heavy breathing and pinched expressions than an actual performance).
The second time I saw her towards the end of the run, her voice was in better shape, but sorry to say I was still unimpressed. She's a talented lady (whom I've seen and loved in most everything she's done since Sunday in the Park with George, especially Dot, Emma, and The Witch), but she's no Rose IMO. Great performers in great performances fully inhabit a role, disapearing into and becoming the character and seem to do it effortlessly. Both times when I saw Peters, I saw an actress WORKING very very hard to keep up with the exhausting demands of a role too big for her, as if she wore size 6, but Rose was supposed to be a size 12 and she was trying to compensate for the difference. Each time I could see the visible strain she was going through (and I caught her a couple of times having to coast a bit in order to catch her breath).
However you want to play her (and yes there were some fresh ideas in Peters' interpretation), Rose HAS to be an inexhaustable dynamo of energy -- Peters just didn't have the stamina for it. Ultimately, I found her unbelievable in the role, both acting and vocal-wise. And look, I know every Rose struggled to some extent with the role (Merman missed the only performances of her entire career after bursting a blood vessel in her throat doing Rose), but Peters seemed especially taxed. Daly had more than her share of vocal issues, but she was such a total powerhouse in every other aspect that she managed to wipe away any other deficiencies. Peters couldn't do that. I know the poor dear tried her best -- I could see every ounce of the effort -- but for me, she just didn't make for a convincing Rose.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
