Why was Bernadette Peters considered an ill fit for Gypsy? — Page 2

Rentaholic2 said: "AC126748 said: "Peters is the only Rose I’ve seen whom I actually believed could have had a career if she hadn’t been “born too soon and started too late.”"

But isn't that just her delusion? Isn't that the point?"

The only part of Rose's Turn I've ever taken to be complete and utter delusion is the idea that there's going to be a "this time." The rest of it always seems slightly journalistic to me. She might be losing her mind but she's finally telling the truth to some degree. Even the line "someone tell me when is it my turn" on the back of her saying she did it for everyone else is her final admission that that's not true. She did it for her.

She wasn't a bad fit, she just wasn't your stereotypical Rose which most had by that point assumed needed to be played as a battleaxe (Daly and Midler both cemented that "idea" in the preceding era and every production except for the Mendes one I have ever seen plays her this way). Bernadette was lovely and challenged those battleaxe assumptions - in vocals, stature, and performance. She was mostly successful. I will say the Mendes production was horribly hamstrung by Arthur Laurents and the more he meddled - the less "bite" the production had. I personally wanted that total breakdown with mascara running and think had Bernadette really been able to be fully committed in that direction, it would've been a frightening and dangerous side of her we haven't really seen onstage (probably the absolute most vulnerable she would have been ever). Bernadette has a carefully constructed and maintained image that I think she was trying to break, but when Laurents ordered that Mendes soften all the edges to his Gypsy, it limited her performance as well. What's sad is I think an enjoyable performance by Bernadette could've been a groundbreaking one, but she and Mendes weren't given that freedom. It's easy to see/play/stage Rose as a battleaxe belter - to do anything more nuanced is going to be seen as divisive and unexpected and may be a gamble. But, I prefer to see these classics given a complete overhaul rather than a paint-by-numbers revival. And I actually think that's a large part of why Audra Gypsy failed - it wasn't really revisionist at all.