CMU School of Drama


Friday, September 05, 2008

Patti LuPone plays Mama Rose in "Gypsy"

PRI.ORG: "Patti LuPone has made a Broadway career out of playing powerful women. Maria Callas, Eva Perón, and now, a Tony-winning performance as Mama Rose in the classic musical 'Gypsy.'Patti LuPone has made a Broadway career out of playing powerful women. Maria Callas, Eva Perón, and now, a Tony-winning performance as Mama Rose in the classic musical 'Gypsy.'"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw Ms. LuPone's performance at this year's Tony Awards and was blown away. Having stage managed a production of "Gypsy" years ago I know how big and how challenging the role of Mama Rose is. It takes a strong woman to play this intense, strong woman, and I think Ms. LuPone has nailed it. I would love to see her perform in this production.

Anonymous said...

i saw this production when it first opened in its Encores run, before it extended its run and changed houses and i could not disagree more with all the good reviews it got. i found that Ms. Lupone's Madame Rose was identical to her Ms. Lovett and every other performance i've seen of hers. i stage managed a production of this show in my high school and agree that a very strong actress is needed to carry off this role and i find it unfortunate that Lupone's big name got into this show, but checked all the talent at the door. i also found various other bothersome discrepancies with the show like the fact that while baby june could do tap and gymnastic routines on pointe, she was tonedeaf while dainty june could sing but could barely mimic the steps her younger counterpart did.