Bette Midler Sucks in Gypsy

Everyone seems to hate her in this.

I haven't seen it since it first aired, but I remember liking her. And I'm not a big fan.

Weirdly enough, I just watched part of the Tyne Daly Broadway production (full length, bad video but decent audio on youtube) last night. I saw that show in NY with my mom in 1990 or so, but didn't fully appreciate it until now. Daly was amazing, and even as more of an actor than singer, she delivered completely.

Loved the later Bette M version on TV, at the time, watching with my first real boyfriend.

But now I see the difference, I guess. My mom was right and I was wrong. Typical.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but Barnes & Nobles’ 50% Off Criterion Collection sale just started.

Could someone start a thread?

Link is below.

She really is awful in this. She has moments where she's terrific, but that monologue pre-"Rose's Turn" should be studied by actors as what not to do. It's THAT bad.

I'm still bitter they passed over Tyne for this production. Sure, Bette probably had the bigger name, but CBS was Tyne's network and she'd have been a million times better.

Test...

What's going on with DL today?

The director (can’t recall his name but he also directed Dirty Dancing I think) died of AIDS days before Gypsy was broadcast.

Likely he was just too weak to reign her in

I think the director might have been the culprit. I think even Arthur Laurents thought so. Then again, he hated anyone who directed the show besides him. In this case, I do think he was right. He was simply far too weak at that point.

Bette had a Rose in her somewhere and there are brief flashes of brilliance in her performance, but most of the time, she's playing it like a sketch on Carol Burnett.

Bette always has to have "heart." Completely wrong for this role.

Bette Midler was fine in the role In the TV version. Not excellent, but damn good.

I liked her "Rose's Turn," which she performed live several times

I never really felt anything from her "Rose's Turn." She just didn't have the grit for Rose. Her Dolly was great, though. It almost seemed tailor made for her. They'd be idiots to not record her performance in that or do a live TV version or something.

Hello Dolly is a stupid show with cardboard characters. Community theater can do it justice.

Rose in Gypsy is more difficult to get right -- and that song is very hard to pull off.

Honestly, I never have believed the "breakdown" halfway through the song, no matter who sings it. It seems so "theatrical" (in a bad way), like it belongs on a soap opera, not Broadway.

[quote]Hello Dolly is a stupid show with cardboard characters. Community theater can do it justice.

I'm glad. That's where I'm seeing it (for the first time) in a few weeks.

R13 I hope you don't find my remark wildly inaccurate hyperbole.

Believe it or not, I bought Imelda Staunton and Tyne Daly's mid-song breakdown the most out of all the Roses I've seen. I thought they did a great job with the transition.