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| Author | Topic: Parade magazine |
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 GYPSY1527
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Registered:
2/20/2004
From:
New Jersey
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Dot
Fav. BP CD: Sondheim Ect.
| posted: 8/22/2005 at 2:28:48 PM ET
I liked the article alot and think that the author made some valid points. Revivals haven't been doing well (recouping) in the past five or so years in my opinion due to the changing tastes of Broadway audiences. I know that from personal experience (taking family members to shows), they prefer 'light hearted' entertainment as opposed to shows like "gypsy" or "la cage aux folles". In other cases of revivals, the general broadway audience is older and might have seen the original productions.
I remember making causual conversation with this woman (early 60's) on the train one day who expressed that she had seen the original Gypsy and nothing could compare to it. Now mind you, this woman seemed very well off and able to see a show if she wanted to. I think that additude along with the current trend in Broadway audiences lead to reivivals not recouping.
"I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken; the choosing was not. You have to move on."
"Sometimes people leave you, halfway through the wood. Others may deceive you You decide what's good. You decide alone, But no one is alone."
|  Sister Rose
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Registered:
5/4/2004
From:
NYC | posted: 8/22/2005 at 2:31:21 PM ET
Catherine Zeta Jones? A singer? PUH-LEEZE.
Yes - I did say that Bernadette is an actor who sings - there is a big difference between a singer who can act. Musicals are to be interpreted not just sung - even Sondheim characterizes Bernadette as such. It takes a truly gifted actor to be able to sing as a character living that song. There are plenty of singers who have good voices, but they don't necessarily have what it takes to take you into the character.
Karen - This may be true about revivals having their day but look how many revivals are in London and across the country - even Broadway has its share each season, i.e. Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd (soon) - and even Chicago, the revival that won't seem to go away. Revivals are too important - how many newcomers like me are there who never got to see the original but still need/want to be exposed to the material?
Moljul - you're in charge of investors. Get busy.
| Karen
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5/3/2002 | posted: 8/22/2005 at 3:55:50 PM ET
I love revivals and agree that they will always be around (and I'm glad of that). But I do think there may have been a glut of second or third tier (as they called them in the article)shows being revived in the last several years and that's probably going to be coming to an end now that a string of them have flopped. It probably makes more economic sense to present most of these shows as limited rather than open-ended runs. Even Gypsy might have been better off going that route. I may be wrong though--I'm just musing out loud.
| Sister Rose
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Registered:
5/4/2004
From:
NYC | posted: 8/22/2005 at 4:49:03 PM ET
I could go for a limited run of anything as long as BP is involved!
(It will be interesting to revisit this thread in a few months after Sweeney Todd opens, which is slated for open end.)
|  SingOutAnnie
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Registered:
8/23/2003
From:
Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 8/22/2005 at 4:52:13 PM ET
Interesting discussion, all.
|  Surfergal1013
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Registered:
3/22/2004
From:
Long Island | posted: 8/23/2005 at 12:56:42 AM ET
Here is the whole article for anyone that is interested:
Question: When can I see Bernadette Peters, Tony-Winner for Annie Get your Gun, back on broadway? -L.Scott, Roanoke VA.
Answer: "Im talking to producers about a couple of musicals for next year," Peters, 57, tells us. "But I haven't made a decision yet." In the meantime, fans can hear her distinctive vocals on the new CD sondheim, Etc., Etc., from her 1996 solo concert at Carnegie Hall. The petite actress also shot an ABC sitcom pilot, Adopted, ow on hold as a midseason replacement.
And then theres a cute pic of her from AGYG.
Caty
|  TalkinLoud
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5/3/2005 | posted: 8/23/2005 at 11:56:37 AM ET
I read that article about revivals not doing too well, and while it made me sad, it's entirely true. You always take a risk with revivals you know? There's that core audience that's going to remember it from when it first opened and you know you've got them, but are people going to accept the show now, in these times? Right now Broadway is all about spectacle. Personally, I enjoy the more tame shows, like Gypsy; they allow for a deeper concentration on the material rather than the glamor. Anyway... just my opinion.
As for Bernadette in a new show... You know I just saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for the second time the other night. I love Kathleen Turner and I think she's quite amazing, but I can't help but wonder how Bernadette would be as Martha. I bet she woulda been great!
ok. done now.
=-) Izzy
"Mama's talkin' loud."
| Karen
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5/3/2002 | posted: 8/23/2005 at 1:23:35 PM ET
Interesting comment about Martha. I feel as though if I had to come up with the unlikeliest possible casting of all time, it would be Bernadette in that part. In fact, I can see it as a skit in Forbidden Broadway!
| TalkinLoud
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5/3/2005 | posted: 8/23/2005 at 3:30:09 PM ET
well, I mean Martha is just this powerhouse, but she's also scared and lonely and confused. I just feel like after the job Bernadette did with Rose, Martha wouldn't be too far off course. Maybe I'd just like to see her in that role because it's my favorite play and she's my favorite actor. haha.
Izzy
"Mama's talkin' loud."
| SingOutAnnie
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Registered:
8/23/2003
From:
Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 8/23/2005 at 5:36:16 PM ET
Critics (silly as they were) couldn't see Bernadette as Rose. What would they do to her if she were cast as Martha??
I think she has far-too-underrated acting skills, but a role is a role, and I'm with Karen on this one. Liz and Kathleen are different kinds of, excuse the expression, broads. Bernadette would be up to it, could do it the guts of the role, but she's just not the right type. (think of the padding she'd need if nothing else.)
| Elmo
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6/9/2003 | posted: 8/23/2005 at 11:23:06 PM ET
Well, I haven't posted in a long time, but this thread got me to thinking.
I believe that Bernadette would be gangbusters as Martha She has the acting chops for it and also has the vulnerability (which the superb Kathleen Turner brought to the role.)
The problem is (as many her have stated, rightly) 1) critics and 2) Internet posters...who simply cannot get past their preconceived notions of how a part should be played (and, more importantly, by whom).
There is no reason that Martha has to be a blowzy harridan. Just because the role is played by a "diminutive" actress like Bernadette does not affect the validity of the performance.
Frankly, I think she would be brilliant. but I do understand the posters who say she would be perceived as miscast. It's not because of her talent, but because of those preconceived notions about the role. IMHO.
| Karen
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5/3/2002 | posted: 8/24/2005 at 1:22:56 AM ET
I'm loving hearing all these different ideas. My take on it is that it has nothing to do with acting abilty. The greatest actor in the world can't play every part. To me, Martha is a brilliantly conceived, darkly comic, gargoylish distillation of the worst possible fears and anxieties ever dreamed, in the Freudian mid-twentieth century, about female essence and sexuality. She's a purposely caricatured monster of demonic womanhood at its most threatening. Very few actresses could possibly carry that off. I haven't seen her, but it sounds like Kathleen Turner is more successful at it than most have been--including Jessica Tandy.
It's not just about technique. It's about somehow being able to embody and project a certain personal quality that will make the audience squirm in discomfort and resentment. That's how I experience the play. Others, I'm sure, experience it differently.
As far as I see it, Bernadette, as a performer, exists in some different universe altogether. Others have spoken about loneliness, confusion and vulnerability. None of that is part of my conception of Martha. So this is where various interpretations all become very personal.
Anyone else who wants to jump in with their impressions--I'm eager to hear them.
|  ANH
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Registered:
8/28/2004
From:
Rhode Island
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Song: Unexpected Song
| posted: 8/24/2005 at 7:12:17 AM ET
Your take on it is very interesting, Karen. I see Martha in a completely light. I see her as lonely, vulnerable, and scared. I do not see the demonic part at all. I think she is an acerbic character by necessity, forced to be "demonic" by her inner insecurities and vulnerabilities. Her whole existence throughout the play is a fiction, and the only way to keep it that way is to hide it and act "strong," forceful and biting. That is the only way, I think, for her revelation at the end of the play to work.
I think Bernadette would be brilliant in the role. I think Martha and Rose are very analagous. However, I have seen Kathleen Turner in the role and, admittedly, it would be very hard to surpass her performance.
| Karen
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5/3/2002 | posted: 8/24/2005 at 10:58:29 AM ET
ANH, when you say Martha's whole existence throughout the play is a fiction, I completely agree. But are you saying that at the end some sort of approximation of reality has been broken through to or achieved? Because I really don't experience it that way. I feel that they've maybe moved on to a different "fiction" and a new game--self-dramatizing false pathos. The play almost seems like a straightfaced, very high level parody of a more traditonal drama of revelation and resolution. But again, it doesn't have to be interpreted that way. I was just wondering how you saw it.
God, I have a feeling that was not expressed in the clearest terms, but I have to get back to my wretched job.
| TalkinLoud
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Registered:
5/3/2005 | posted: 8/24/2005 at 12:50:17 PM ET
my my my, look what I started! I love it! haha.
The only reason I couldn't see Bernadette in the role of Martha is because she is very tiny. There are various mentionings throughout the show that Martha is a larger woman, as opposed to Honey who is "slim hipped." Actually though, surprisingly enough, Kathleen Turner is tiny as well. She's most definitely big boned and a little on the "chubby" side, but as far as height goes, she's pretty small. She looks tall on stage, but off stage, you'd be surprised!!! But anyways, I do feel as though Martha is very vulnerable. In fact, there is a whole monologue that she gives where she connects, for the first time in the show, to her more vulnerable side. The more I think about it, the more I really feel that Bernadette could totally conquer Martha. I'd love to see it.
Izzy
"Mama's talkin' loud."
| SingOutAnnie
Registered User
Registered:
8/23/2003
From:
Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 8/24/2005 at 1:53:08 PM ET
I was watching a TCM special about Joan Crawford the other night, in which it said Crawford was only 5 feet tall. I simply could not imagine it, because she looked so tall and fearsome in so many roles.
The illusions created, especially in theater, are fascinating to me.
Has Bernadette ever done boozy in a role before?
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