Sutton Foster as Mama Rose in GYPSY

[LovesBway!]

This would be a great role for her in a few years.... your thoughts?

[Jordan Catalano]

Please, no.

[ljay889]

No.

[BrodyFosse123]

A few years? She’s technically the right age now. How old do you think Mama Rose is? 70?

[TotallyEffed]

BrodyFosse123 said: "A few years? She’s technically the right age now. How old do you think Mama Rose is? 70? "

Leave Barbra out of this.

[bwayobsessed]

It’s gonna happen, just be excited for it

[ljay889]

bwayobsessed said: "It’s gonna happen, just be excited for it"

Oh, ok. 

[SouthernCakes]

Love me some Sutton, but don’t think this is the ideal role for her. To me, she’s a lot like Peters, and doesn’t quite have the ferocity this role needs - which LuPone has in spades.

I think she’s make an interesting Lovett though. Or Forsca.

[helvizz]

This takes me back to when they announced Sutton as Reno in the Anything Goes revival and this board flipped, everybody said she was dorky and not sexy, therefore she was wrong for the role (as if an actor has to be the part they are playing, instead of... playing it). A few months later, she won the Tony for playing Reno.

Anyway, I, for one, would love to see it happen. She showed a lot of vulnerability and anger in her Violet, which I think could work for Rose.

[SouthernCakes]

Totally. Does it sound right on paper? No. But would I see it? Heck yes.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

She'd be a wonderful MAME if for some reason the Toni Collette production falls through.

[Valentina3]

I know she wants to play the role. She's performed Rose's Turn during one of her concerts I attended (and KILLED it). I think she's be glorious. My current dream role for her is still Cassie in A Chorus Line.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

I personally don't think she would be right for the role.  But that's just me.

[qolbinau]

I’m really sad that we may never get to see Donna Murphy in the role.

[JBC3]

The sexy Rose that Peters portrayed was excellent as her Tony performance highlights so very well.

[round2]

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?

[givesmevoice]

Tyne Daly was only 43 when she played Rose, for the record.

I think that a part like Rose is challenging to cast as "age-appropriate" for several reasons. The role requires a gravitas that often comes with age. Not always, but often. Casting a younger Rose could also lead to problems when casting Dainty June and Louise. If your Rose is 37, for instance, would she look old enough to be a 29-year-old Louise's mother? If not, you'd have to cast a younger actress as Louise. Would your Louise then look enough like an adult to make her transformation believable? We've grown so used to seeing adults play teenagers that it's often disconcerting to see an actual teenager play a part.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

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?"


In reality, Rose was 21 when she had Louise. But the musical also strays from the facts in many other ways. A director must choose how much of reality to infuse into the characters. On stage, I think the issue is less about Rose's numerical age, and more that she is a woman who has lived life. The audience might even be more sympathetic towards Rose if they see a 28-year-old shepherding her kids around; on the flip side, an under-40 actress might disappoint emotionally because she doesn't have the wordly experience that it takes to properly sell "Rose's Turn" and the act 2 book scenes (since the role was written for 51-y-o Merman).

It's a fine line, but at the end of the day I don't really care about the actress's age as long as she can sell the part.

(What's also interesting –– Bernadette Peters and Linda Lavin are the only Roses who have not had the real-life experience of being a mother.)

[IdinaBellFoster]

I love her, but no. This is like when she played Queenie- some roles just aren't a fit. She shocked us with Reno, and I imagine will do the same with Marian, but this seems a leap too far.

[David10086]

BrodyFosse123 said: "A few years? She’s technically the right age now. How old do you think Mama Rose is? 70?"

70 is too young. Streisand, 77, still wants to do it. So I'm guessing 80 is the appropriate age? 

[Jarethan]

I am one of the people who bought BP was robbed of a Tony for this. I never thought of SF for Gypsy, and I am OD’d on Gypsy, but I would get tickets in an instant if she announced. She’d be terrific.

Will she be the best Mama Rose? Since we all have different opinions on that, who cares? She can sing the role and her performance in Violet tells me she can act the role. I’d much rather see her than Imelda Staunton (or anyone else other than the aforementioned Donna Murphy), but Murphy’s ship has passed.

Since SF doesn’t even open in The Music Man for a year, we are talking quite a ways in the future. I think it would be quite (incredibly) impressive if she can pull off both Marian and Rose fairly close together. Talk about versatility. To me, Marian is the ?, not Rose.

[HenryTDobson]

I agree that Marian seems like more of a stretch for Sutton than Rose. I miss the days that she was constantly originating stuff. Those roles ended up being much more suited for her skill set.

[round2]

givesmevoice said: "Tyne Daly was only 43 when she played Rose, for the record."
 

Of course, I should have realized that. I think of her as older, but that was 30 years ago. I wish I'd seen it, too. 
 

 

[JSquared2]

I'd rather see Kristin Chenoweth as Rose in 5-10 years.

[round2]

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?