| Author | Topic: Some GYPSY questions! |
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matolen
Registered User
Registered:
4/6/2003 | posted: 4/6/2003 at 3:44:32 PM ET
First off, I LOVE this show so I am excited to see it. I have some real honest questions though, and i loko forward to hearing your thoughts...
I guess first off, I am real curious how they handle the drama...I mean to me GYPSY, despite its great humour is similar to DEATH OF A SALESMAN in that we have a story about a parent who destroys themselves by trying to make their children live a life that no longer exists/or they never really had. Is Roses Turn all bum and grind or is it chilling that we see this women push on even after its clear its all over. One of the things I was so struck by with Merman's performance on the cast recording was how that came across. Anyhow its a great song...and some the scenes, of course, with Herbie and grown-up Louise are very direct and dramatic.
Secondly, how is the music, are the orchestrations kept as the originals or is this another "Tunick Special"?
Thanks!
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Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 4/6/2003 at 4:20:52 PM ET
I think the humor and the drama of this production are perfectly mixed together and in all the right places!! For me its never more apparent that Bernadette's Rose is a little nuts then when June leaves and Rose tells Louise that she's going to make HER a star and she sorta flings her across the stage and pushed her. I had never seen that done before in any other production so it was surprising and I thought worked extremely well to show just how wacko Mama Rose was and how far she was going to take this. Rose's Turn is definitely chilling!!! She plays it back and forth as a very vulnerabl;e women to a crazy, madly-dertermined mother. Its awesome!
To me the orchestrations sounded pretty much the same. 
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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: 4/6/2003 at 4:21:23 PM ET
The orchestrations are original...I love the score from this show (I can't wait for the cast recording).
Bernadette puts so much feeling into "Rose's Turn" it's almost indescribable. You feel so bad for this woman because you realize that she realizes she has missed so many opportunities in her own life and how everyone in her life has either turned on her or run out. When she starts "crying" and stumbling the word "mama" OMG! I teared up a little both times I watched it. It's also during this number that the audience reaizes just how much she gave up for her daughters. Definitely the greatest moment in the show (I think). It is definitely not a bum moment.
I also love the scene where Rose overhears the guy saying the star spot has dropped out of the burlesque show, and she walks out and says, "My daugher can do it." You know it's coming, but you still get that feeling of, "Wow, she really did it. She really put her own daughter in front of men and let her take her clothes off." That's when you realize how disturbed and determined this woman is.
<3CMH<3
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 Jenny_loves_
bernadette
Registered User
Registered:
6/6/2002
From:
London | posted: 4/6/2003 at 5:35:59 PM ET
when bernadette stumbles over the word "mama" is she really like hysterical? or is she just mroe quiet and sad. i love that moment - so poignant. also, does she keep bowing?
they say bernadette's wonderful..........and she is
xx Jenny xx
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matolen
Registered User
Registered:
4/6/2003 | posted: 4/6/2003 at 6:02:44 PM ET
I guess the first time I heard Rose's Turn and it got to the point near the end where she launches in on "and...everythings coming up Rose..." to the end. I thought it was brilliant. I mean, like a wild woman crying out for all the attention she DIDN'T get, (and will never get now). Its a mad scene. Maybe I need to direct this show...lol
Mark
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 MsPetersFan1
Registered User
Registered:
6/25/2002
From:
Long Island, New York & Boston, | posted: 4/6/2003 at 7:06:45 PM ET
When I saw it on Monday, she wasn't bawling but it was GREAT acting. It really touched you and made you want to cry because you felt so bad for her.
~* Megan *~
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Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 4/6/2003 at 7:30:36 PM ET
I noticed this much more yesterday than Monday...during Rose's Turn she wasn't exactly crying...she played it as if Rose was holding back the tears.She was teary eyed tho and her voice was shaky but strong....which I think works magnificently! Bernadette is a rarity in her profession...she can sing AND act at the same time. So many performers get lost in their singing. Focusing on staying on pitch and their singing techinique. While Bernadette's singing seems effortless and she performs throughout every second of her time on stage.
When she sorta stumbles on the word Mama.I think she plays it as if this is a whole new realization for her...that she is their mother and that she's been acting more like their manager.It also signifies an emotional breakdown. One of my favorite lines she has is when she says " I was born too soon and started too late". That's a huge revelation for Rose to confront. When she does her bows..its odd because you feel like applauding Bernadette for such an amazing rendition of that song...yet its played off as your applauding Rose. Which really she is in character and there's really no one around...so she's really bowing to an imaginary audience. This becomes apparent to the real audience when their applause dies down and Rose is still taking her bows. I have to agree with Christine on this one....its sooo touching at the very end when Rose and Gypsy walk out of the "theatre" and Rose turns around for one more look...that moment is so chilling!! To me its as if she's saying...this was my dream( to be a star), I don't regret what happened but I wish it could have been different.
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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: 4/7/2003 at 12:29:49 AM ET
I love that she keeps bowing even after the audience dies down.
"I think she plays it as if this is a whole new realization for her...that she is their mother and that she's been acting more like their manager."
That's so funny because I never thought of it that way.  For some reason, I always think Rose is thinking about her own mother at that point, but I can see it your way also. Maybe it's a mix of both emotions (regret for her daughters and sorrow over her own mother).
<3CMH<3
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Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
205.188.209.x | posted: 4/7/2003 at 1:09:06 AM ET
I don't think anyone has mentioned "Some People." How does she do with this number which seems to be the one that won over Laurents at her Carnegie Hall concert (still one of the most thrilling nights for me). The last few times I heard her sing that song in concert, she had started to sing the word "blueberry" in a Merman kind of way.
PTM
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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: 4/7/2003 at 9:52:22 AM ET
For some reason, she sings the song with more feeling during her concerts than she does in the show.
I think she has more fun with it during her concerts.
Don't get me wrong, she still does an excellent job in Gypsy when she sings "Some People", but I think "Rose's Turn" is something new to her fans and a much more essential part of the show; and so we tend to be complimenting her more on that song than the one we are familiar with her singing.
Not to compare (because you really can't, or at least shouldn't, compare a movie to a show, or 2 completely different actresses), but I was watching the Bette Midler movie version last night, and during "Some People" she does little things that make the song work well. She slams her hand on the table at one point, and she pushes the chair closer to the table almost to show her determination.
I think it would be beneficial for Bernadette if she played around with the props a little more, rather than just walking back and fourth and focusing on choreography.
<3CMH<3
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Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
216.158.31.x | posted: 4/7/2003 at 5:58:05 PM ET
I saw last night's performance (4/5)and I was totally in awe of the innovative approach to many aspects of the production-- taking it to a diiferent level in many respects. Having seen Gypsy 6 times before (Merman, Giselle Mckenzie, Lansbury-London, Lansbury-New York, Daly, and Lavin) I believe that this productiion may end up being the best. I loved the sets -- after all it is "a backstage musical" Bernadette Peters "acted" many of the songs instead of just singing them -- Sondheim should be proud.
I believe the show had become too old fashioned and stale -- this new production's approach is fresh and new, and I believe, after a month, will be praised. Bernadette Peters may be seen as the greatest Mama Rose.
I've never heard "SMALL WORLD" sung with such depth and meaning!
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matolen
Registered User
Registered:
4/6/2003 | posted: 4/7/2003 at 10:45:17 PM ET
Well there you have it: whose "Mama" is it? It could be a mix I guess. I think the writers meant to have her stumble when she realizes, as Louise told her in the previous scene "Mama you have got to let go of me" and then she sings "Mama's gotta go..." the double meaning there of Mama being strong yet realizing what she really said is "I have to go".
Anyhow, is she thinking of her mother? Maybe. She does refer to having cried a week when her OWN mom left so. So its a big wall she hits when it all comes crashing home. Rose's Turn needs to be specifically played, cuz it fluctuates between regret and rage and mad determination.
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angelgrl9
Registered User
Registered:
2/16/2003 | posted: 4/8/2003 at 12:28:49 AM ET
i too always saw it as her thinking of her mom, but i see where she is thinking about what louis said to her as well. rose realizes at this point, i think, that she is perpetuating the cycle that her own mother started and if she doesn't stop now, it will only go on in a harmful way. such is the genious of sondheim! he's a master at what he does and i'm sure he did this ambiguously on purpose to prevoke such thought.
lisa
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RobRamos
Registered User
Registered:
4/1/2003 | posted: 4/8/2003 at 11:02:19 AM ET
I have really been enjoying reading these posts. The people who post here clearly love and respect Bernadette, but manage to post remarkably intelligent and very thoughtful comments and observations about her and GYPSY. You are a great bunch of people! What an exciting time this is for all of us who love Bernadette. I have heard that GYPSY is only getting better and better. Thanks for making this board an enjoyable place to visit.
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