| Author | Topic: the role of Agnes in Gypsy |
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 Jenny_loves_
bernadette
Registered User
Registered:
6/6/2002
From:
London | posted: 5/13/2004 at 3:54:45 PM ET
Hiya! Long time no post but I've been busy with GCSEs and also, I've really not had anything to say as I can't really contribute to Gypsy posts but heres a question...
The other day I bought the Bette Midler 1993 version of Gypsy (her voice isn't a patch on Bernadettes!)and I was watching the girl play the kind of ditzy role of Agnes and I was reminded that Bernadette played that part when she was 13, didn't she?
I wonder how she played her at that age - does anyone know anything more about her playing Agnes?
they say bernadette's wonderful..........and she is
xx Jenny xx
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 Addicted2BP
Registered User
Registered:
12/25/2003
From:
Atlanta | posted: 5/13/2004 at 5:33:53 PM ET
i could be mistaken, but i believe that bernadette just played one of the general "hollywood blondes" and not agnes. but i'm not positive.
how'd you like them eggrolls, mr. goldstone?!
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Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 5/13/2004 at 6:42:35 PM ET
Hi Jenny, good to hear from you. Some of Bernadette's sixties Playbill bios state that she played Agnes, so I assume she did. Of course it could have been another of her mother's notorious creative embellishments--I don't know for sure. Never heard anything about what the performance was like.
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jmslsu01
Registered User
Registered:
6/9/2003
From:
northern VA | posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:05:10 PM ET
Jenny-
I'm not sure if I'm following your question. Are you asking how she was cast as Agnes when she was only 13? This is my own speculation,but I'm assuming that she looked older than 13,so she might have been able to play several years older at that time.
Jenn
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 moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:16:39 PM ET
Actually, I believe they used to cast shows with appropriately aged children. The Hollywood Blondes are supposed to be teenagers so a 13 year old Agnes would be fine. Remember Gypsy was only about 16 the first time she stripped. Now they tend to cast with young adults, I'm assuming to not have to deal with Child Labor Laws.
Bernadette's Gypsy headshot is on this site and you can see she looks about 13.
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 Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:45:43 PM ET
She does look much older than 13 in that headshot.
<3CMH<3
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moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:47:34 PM ET
You really think so?  I think she looks like a cute little 13 year old. Guess it's open to interpretation.
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Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:57:46 PM ET
I have an old Equity/AFTRA Players' Guide from 1960 (totally fascinating to browse through) and Bernadette's age range is given as 11 to 14. In the two accompanying headshots she doesn't look any older than 12 to me, which would have been her actual age. Given that her adult figure is so shapely, it's possible that she was developed enough at 13 to play older parts. Just a guess.
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Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 10:59:32 PM ET
hmm strange. Perhaps it's because she has that unique look about her. To me she looks like she could pass for 16 in that photo.
<3CMH<3
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moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 11:04:44 PM ET
Karen, I would love to see those headshots if you are able and willing to share.
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poster53180
Registered User
Registered:
9/25/2003 | posted: 5/13/2004 at 11:09:11 PM ET
me too! does she have blond, straight hair in the photos? i think that makes her look a bit older?
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Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 5/13/2004 at 11:11:10 PM ET
Christine, I was in first grade in 1962 and I still have the school year book. Every single one of the eighth graders looked practically middle-aged! The boys wore alpaca sweaters and carried brief cases, the girls had hairdos and harlequin glasses, and even their faces looked old, serious and worried. Within a few years the sixties happened and everything changed, but at that time it was still the thing to look older.
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Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 5/13/2004 at 11:31:07 PM ET
I'll try and figure out a way to share them given my extremely limited technical skills. PM me if you have any ideas.
In one of the shots she has her hair in pigtails. In the other one, I think they're going for an older look because her hair is pinned up and it looks like she has a little bit of make-up on.
It's interesting because in the Children-Girls category, not only is she by far the prettiest or cutest, she's also the only one who looks happy or normal. It's quite disturbing to see the tortured expressions and haunted eyes of almost all the child performers. They look like they're about 10 to 20 years away from alchoholism and suicide. I hope the lot of children in show business has improved since then, but I really don't know.
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Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 5/13/2004 at 11:33:56 PM ET
Isn't it funny how people spend most of their youth trying to look older, and then spend their adulthood trying to look younger.
Of course in Bernadette's case she managed to pull of looking 28 for about 20+ years. lol
<3CMH<3
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Jenny_loves_
bernadette
Registered User
Registered:
6/6/2002
From:
London | posted: 5/14/2004 at 4:44:50 PM ET
hehe. Thanks everyone. Karen - perhaps you could scan them and e-mail them to Kevin to put up? If you don't have a scanner but you know someone else who does you could always use theres and e-mail it to him from their computer.
they say bernadette's wonderful..........and she is
xx Jenny xx
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