GYPSY 1989 revival

[lovebwy]

I haven't read the other responses yet, but I saw Lavin. She wasn't very memorable. She underplayed it, with an Irish brogue. The least exciting Rose's Turn I've ever witnessed. I like her in other things, but she really was not very good in this.

[lovebwy]

The way Lavin sings Some People in that TV special clip was not how she played Rose on Broadway.

I enjoyed Tyne, but each time she sang, I thought, "if there were Patti LuPone, it would be spectacular." 18 years later, I got the chance, and I was right.

I always liked Andrea Martin's imitation of Lavin from SCTV. She gets her strange, annoying singing style (...don't let him take meee, oh nooooooaaaoo, don't let him handle meee...) Pretty savage imitation, but accurate.  

Andrea Martin as Linda Lavin doing I Loves You Porgy

 

 

[henrikegerman]

EthelMae said: "I had (and have loved) Linda Lavin in so many shows that it was with regret that I found her to be so disappointing in Gypsy."

I felt exactly the same kind of disappointment with Lavin's Rose.  While I didn't quite take to Daly's Rose the way so many others (including EthelMae) did, her performance was vastly superior to Lavin's.

[ComingUpRoses2]

That's what I never got -  how Daly seemed like she'd be a huge train wreck and Lavin seemed like much more of a natural and, yet, Daly was excellent and Lavin was just...there. 

At least we'll always have that clip of Lavin's "Some People", which really is terrific. I wish she'd played it like that on stage. Then again, Imelda Staunton was horrible on the BBC broadcast and absolutely excellent live. It was like 2 completely different performances. Who knows what went wrong there? 

[henrikegerman]

ComingUpRoses2 said: "Then again, Imelda Staunton was horrible on the BBC broadcast and absolutely excellent live. It was like 2 completely different performances. Who knows what went wrong there?"

Was the problem that Staunton's Rose on stage and her Rose on screen were "2 completely different performances" or rather that they were exactly the same performance?  One which proved  (almost universally) spectacular on stage but (at least to a great many) way too theatrical for the broadcast?


 

[DAME]

henrikegerman said: "ComingUpRoses2 said: "Then again, Imelda Staunton was horrible on the BBC broadcast and absolutely excellent live. It was like 2 completely different performances. Who knows what went wrong there?"

Was the problem that Staunton's Rose on stage and her Rose on screen were "2 completely different performances" or rather that they were exactly the same performance?  One which proved  (almost universally) spectacular on stage but (at least to a great many) way too theatrical for the broadcast?


 

 

"

Both.  It really is both.  I found her too much when I saw it live and by the time they taped this it looked like more over the top shrillness had crept into her performance.   

[bryan2]

I remember this show very well I saw Tyne in it 5x (including the comeback at the marquis where I sat next to some of the "directors" who were talking and writing what she Tyne was doing right and wrong and had to tell them to shut up)   Tyne was amazing one of the best performances I have ever seen. When Linda took over originally I thought great choice...when I went to see it she was just bad..her voice was bad her strange irish accent was very odd...and it felt like they were telling her what to do in her ear because it was so mechanical.....she worked her ass off I will say and I have so much respect for her..but I have seen Gypsy about 20x including regional and high school performances...and she was the worst ROSE I ever saw......I actually felt embarrassed for her

 

[henrikegerman]

bryan2 said: "When Linda took over originally I thought great choice...when I went to see it she was just bad..her voice was bad her strange irish accent was very odd..."

I can also attest to Lavin's odd, inexplicable Irish-ish accent as Rose.  I remember sitting there in the audience thinking "Why is she doing THAT?"   

I also remember thinking from the start of this revival that Lavin rather than Daly should have gotten the role.  But her performance when she took over proved me entirely wrong about that.

 

[David10086]

According to an interview with  Arthur Laurents when the Midler movie came out, he claimed that Streisand had contacted him and wanted to remake the movie back in 1989. Apparently they had wanted her for the movie years prior but she felt she was 'too young' and turned it down. This time around, Laurents told her no - it was going back to Broadway.  He didn't want a movie version at the same time. Too bad she didn't do it after the Broadway revival (she was doing 'Prince of Tides'   and waited until she was in her late 60s to resurrect the idea once again. Now it's a goner, and she's 75. 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Liza was kicked around for what ultimately became Bette Midler's TV movie as well. That would have been something to see.

[nasty_khakis]

Really? I've read Liza was on Laurent's "Banned Roses" list.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Well, I dunno about the list, but I misspoke. USA Today said: "Both Liza Minnelli and Bernadette Peters say they would love to play it, but they weren't even approached for this production."

[David10086]

I don't think either one was considered for the TV movie. I believe they both wanted to be in the stage revival, and Daly got it instead. That's what I've always heard about Minnelli and Peters. 

[ComingUpRoses2]

Minnelli's "Rose's Turn" is thrilling. I think she could have been a brilliant Rose, because, when you think about it, they're very similar. I think Liza could relate to being born at the wrong time. By the time she was coming around in the 60's, her style was already outdated, so I'm sure she could relate to Rose's off sense of timing. I believe Arthur Laurents thought she was too "raz ma tazz" for the role, but I'm sure they could have dressed her down and directed her to be more ordinary. 

As for Imelda, her live performance was charming, hilarious, as well as being gritty and terrifying. In fact, I'd say she was the best Rose since Tyne. Then the BBC broadcast showed up and I saw her only playing three notes - shrill, psychotic, and hateful. That wasn't what she'd been doing on that stage. She really was rather funny in act 1, but you'd never know it if you saw the BBC version. I've been trying to figure out what happened. It really is like a totally different performance. It's more than just a performance being too big for the screen. 

Honestly, even if she'd been the right age, I can't picture Barbra as Rose. I'm sure she would sing the hell out of the score, but there's something about her that doesn't scream Rose. Sure, I would have loved to have been surprised, but she doesn't seem common enough. She has a lot of mannerisms and tics that just don't seem to work for Rose. There's a regality that just wouldn't seem to fit. 

[morosco]

Arthur Laurents thought she was too "raz ma tazz" for the role, but I'm sure they could have dressed her down and directed her to be more ordinary. 

I think Liza would have been sensational.  One only has to watch Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon or The Sterile Cuckoo to see that she can easily turn off the "raz ma taz" and turn in a highly effective dramatic performance.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

ComingUpRoses2 said: "I believe Arthur Laurents thought she was too "raz ma tazz" for the role,"

'Cause Rose is so down to earth and relatable in the show.

 

[David10086]

Well they saw something in Daly that they didn't see in Liza or Peters in 1989. And it worked wonders for the show and Daly.

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

As a child growing up, my only time to enjoy "Gypsy" was when the local TV station would play the Rosalind Russell version.  As a child, I could never have imagined seeing this show live.  Seeing Tyne Daly live, Patti Lupone at Ravinia, before she went to Broadway and Imelda Staunton on DVD.  Staunton went through the whole show like she was late to an appointment, Patti Lupone was phenomal beyond belief, but my all-time fave would definitelu have to be Tyne Daly.  She was all business, all the time.  I literally felt fear inside the theatre from her performance...

[DottieD'Luscia]

Interesting tidbit, June Havoc (Dainty June) used to live next door to my aunt and uncle.  I always remember my mom telling me that, especially when the 1989 revival opened.  It was definitely a point of reference.

[ljay889]

Wow! Peters name came up for the 1989 revival?

When reading about this production, I always found it interesting when people say being sick caused Tyne's poor vocal performance on the cast recording, but whenever I watch Youtube clips from the actual production or hear audio recordings, she pretty much sounded exactly the same in the theater. Her voice isn't strong enough to make the score thrilling like Merman or LuPone, and it's not unique enough to put her own stamp on it like Lansbury did. But my god, her acting is absolutely ferocious in the clips that are out there. I love how intense Laurents' directed Daly and LuPone in "Everything's Coming Up Roses," I assume Lansbury was directed with the same intensity, I wish there was a full clip of her performing that number.

I love this musical so much and reading all about the different Roses.

[ComingUpRoses2]

I still think Daly's "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is the scariest one I've ever seen. I remember shaking by the end of it and even welling up a little bit. There was something so desperate about it. It was like a woman possessed. I'm not sure why or what she did to make it so frightening, but it was magic.