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Anonymous
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152.163.189.x | posted: 5/4/2003 at 8:04:35 PM ET
There's a great article about what was going on during the preview period of Gypsy in tomorrow's Times but it's up today. Wonder if we'll ever hear Peters' side of all this. I kinda of doubt it; as one reviewer said Peters is too "well-mannered" and I would add private and classy which is one of the things that sets her apart from some other divas I can think of.
There's also a very positive review in Newsweek! Yeah
Now where's that Charlie Rose appearance. Some of the cast of Nine were on the other day.
PTM
|  moljul
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Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
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| posted: 5/4/2003 at 8:36:46 PM ET
Thanks for the heads up. For those of you who can't get the paper, here is the article
New 'Gypsy' Struts, Silencing Naysayers
By JESSE McKINLEY
By the time Momma Rose had had her turn, they knew they had a hit.
At about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, a good 10 minutes before the opening-night curtain fell on "Gyspy" at the Shubert Theater, the producers of this $8.5 million revival had already read several major reviews — on a hand-held BlackBerry — confirming that the critics loved their show, and that they loved Bernadette Peters's performance as Momma Rose even more.
While the advent of BlackBerry may have killed the romantic notion of Broadway investors nervously awaiting the morning papers, the reviews also gave proof to the perception all across Broadway that "Gypsy" — a production that had been regularly trashed in some newspapers and on Internet chat rooms before its opening — had been miraculously transformed into the best-received revival of the season.
The critical response was almost unanimous, and Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote that Ms. Peters had pulled off "the surprise coup of many a Broadway season" and anointed her a worthy successor to Ethel Merman, the gold standard by which all Momma Roses are judged.
So how did they do it? How did Mr. Mendes, his producers and his creative team manage to pull "Gypsy" — the classic musical about a stage mother who robs her daughter of her innocence and eventually her clothes — out of the fire?
It wasn't a easy ride, despite a nearly foolproof score by Jule Styne, book by Arthur Laurents and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. From the safe distance of postopening, those involved say they never doubted the show's success.
"Everyone felt, having given ourselves a month of previews, that if we stuck to the job, we'd be fine," Robert Fox, a producer of the show, said. "I was never worried. Right from the first run-through, the night before the first preview, I could tell it was going to work."
But Mr. Laurents was not so sure. A fiery and outspoken collaborator at 84, Mr. Laurents was highly critical of the early previews.
After seeing the show's first preview on March 31, Mr. Laurents, took up his concerns with Mr. Fox at the back of the Shubert Theater, an incident reported in The New York Post.
Mr. Fox called it "a heated discussion," while Mr. Laurents said he never raised his voice. He did admit, however, that he was unhappy with the direction the show was taking.
"I was worried," Mr. Laurents said. "I never doubted Bernadette's abilities, and I always believed in her. I knew that she'd surprise everybody. But what you believe and what was going on are often two different things."
He had early concerns about "practically everything," he said, from Ms. Peters's costumes ("they had her looking like a frumpy, middle-aged housewife") to the set ("these brown chairs and nothing else") to the show's finale, "Rose's Turn," which Mr. Laurents said had been staged too conservatively.
Immediately after the first preview, Mr. Laurents sent a 10-page memo of his notes to the producers and Mr. Mendes. That move could have been seen as intrusive, Mr. Laurents admitted, but Mr. Mendes said he needed the involvement.
"Arthur's reputation is that he's mean, but he is the engine that motors his show," Mr. Mendes said. "He just tells you the truth, which can be rare in this business."
Mr. Fox concurred. "Arthur knows the show backwards and forwards and inside out," he said, adding, "I think he possibly expected results sooner than we thought possible."
Mr. Laurents had a vested interest in the production beyond just his authorship. It was his idea to cast Ms. Peters as Momma Rose despite a perception among many theatergoers that she was a tad too pretty and too dainty to belt out the tough-stage-mother songs that Merman had made famous.
Roughly five years ago Mr. Laurents talked to Mr. Mendes about directing the revival, and Mr. Mendes said he was surprised by the idea of casting Ms. Peters as Rose.
"My first reaction was, `How old is she?' " Mr. Mendes said, thinking Ms. Peters too young for the role. "And Arthur said, `Older than she looks.' "
In the end it was Ms. Peters's remarkably durable sex appeal — she is 55, for the record — that Mr. Mendes said intrigued him.
In looking at archival pictures of the real Rose, who led her daughter Louise (a k a Gypsy Rose Lee) into a life of striptease, Mr. Mendes said he saw not just a stage mother but a woman.
"She was a small, dapper woman, extremely alluring, and looked actually a lot like Bernadette," Mr. Mendes said. "She was a woman who used sex as a weapon her whole life, was married three times, had countless affairs and eventually led her daughter into a career in the sex industry. That was a big part of her life, whether she liked it or not."
As previews progressed, Mr. Laurents continued to observe, attending the show on Thursdays — "Arthur's night," producers called it — and delivering typewritten notes the next morning. Mr. Sondheim was also giving notes on the music, although Mr. Mendes described his approach as "more low-key."
It was a grueling time for actors, with daily rehearsals from 1 to 5:30 p.m., notes from the director between 5:30 and 6 p.m. and then an 8 p.m. performance.
"I pushed this company very, very hard," Mr. Mendes said. "We'd run things over and over. I got used to hearing people screaming, `Not again' from the orchestra pit."
At the same time producers were trying to fend off the impression — much of it from Internet chat rooms — that the show was in trouble.
For his part Mr. Mendes — who refuses to own a computer and says he does not read reviews — said the early criticism no doubt came from the fans' intense love of the musical, which was first produced on Broadway in 1959, and has been revived there three times since.
"If you imagine that you're somehow going to take on a Broadway classic, a legend, and people are just going to wave you through, you're mad," he said.
To keep his company focused, Mr. Mendes banned newspapers from the rehearsal rooms and from the theater. He also instructed Ms. Peters to avoid contact with cast members in the minutes before she made her entrance, with the line "Sing out, Louise."
He said: "I told her: `Five minutes before the show, go stand in a corner, face the wall and think about Momma. And remember, "Sing out, Louise" is an order.' "
In the fourth week of previews, though, the tough schedule took its toll when Ms. Peters caught a cold, which made things worse for her already tired vocal cords. Just days before the show was to be seen by critics, she missed four performances, setting off another round of speculation that she was not up to the role.
Paradoxically, however, Mr. Mendes said those days off suddenly transformed Ms. Peters's performance into the one that wowed the critics.
"She didn't want to miss any performances, but she came back with clear eyes," he said.
Specifically, Mr. Mendes said he remembered one moment just minutes before the first critics saw the show on April 26. He recalled entering Ms. Peters's dressing room to find Momma Rose herself.
"I walked in, and she was in costume," he said, "and I suddenly saw that this is a woman who cannot wait to get onstage."
In the end it was just that intensity that critics — and now audiences — are keying into. For Mr. Fox and his producing partner Ron Kastner, there has been an instant gratification: sales on Friday were nearly $450,000; by yesterday about $950,000 in tickets had been sold since the opening.
For Mr. Laurents, meanwhile, the satisfaction was more gradual, but deeply fulfilling.
"It was slow but sure," he said. "But it got there. Boy, did it get there."
| Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 5/4/2003 at 9:22:45 PM ET
In all fairness...don't you think you should wait until AFTER the paper isn't on newstands anymore to post the entire article?? Or even if its online atleast post a direct link to it? Like anything else its a business and it needs profits to survive.
Btw, for those interested, registering online with the NYT is free.
|  MsPetersFan1
Registered User
Registered:
6/25/2002
From:
Long Island, New York & Boston, | posted: 5/4/2003 at 9:57:42 PM ET
Thanks, I didn't know registration was free. I thought it cost something to get the articles.
~* Megan *~
|  Christine-NYC
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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: 5/4/2003 at 11:14:49 PM ET
I'm sure it was posted with good intentions, but I agree with BwayBaby. The NY Times is a business. Even if people choose to read the articles online, rather than buying the paper, they should read them from the official website. Afterall, Website hits are also important for a business. They need feedback, even if it's by recording the number of hits their website gets on a daily basis.
<3CMH<3
| moljul
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New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/5/2003 at 2:59:00 AM ET
Within the online article there is a multimedia column off to the side called "A History of Roses". It has several pictures of the current production. However, pretty much every picture Bernadette is in she is singing and her mouth is in a weird position. But still fun to see.
| 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: 5/5/2003 at 1:34:38 PM ET
LOL I love how it said Bernadette was told to stand in a corner and face the wall to avoid contact with the other actors. That made me laugh, because I could just picture it.
<3CMH<3
| Bwaybaby
Registered User
Registered:
3/10/2001 | posted: 5/5/2003 at 5:22:34 PM ET
For anyone who hasn't already...I suggest you go out and actually buy the paper...they have two cute pictures and a GREAT add with another great picture for the show 
| 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: 5/6/2003 at 12:20:59 AM ET
Yeah, that's where I read it. LOL not to be mean, but I refused to read it here....I wanted the expreience of getting the paper, seeing the pictures, and reading the actual newspaper.
It may sound weird, but it's more exciting to read these wonderful reviews in print as opposed to online (even at the official websites). It's like proof that it was written, and cannot be erased.
<3CMH<3
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