| Token Gypsy thread: memories of different Louises? | |
| Last Edit: DanielVincent 12:22 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 12:11 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| I've been on a bit of a Gypsy quarantine kick. Perhaps because I've already had so many conversations comparing different Roses, I'm interested to learn about people's different reactions to the Louises they've seen. I'm particularly interested to know if anyone here can share memories of Sandra Church or Zan Charisse. Church is a fascination because she originated the role; Charisse because there's so little record of her performance. Personally, I've seen Crista Moore (opposite both Tyne Daly and Linda Lavin); Tammy Blanchard; Ginifer King (Blanchard's understudy); Laura Benanti (at both City Center and on Broadway); and Lara Pulver. Moore and Benanti were both spectacularly effective--with opposite fortes. Moore handled Louise's transformation into Gypsy Rose Lee during the strip more believably than anyone else. Her Gypsy was sexy, empowered, and having a great time, but also performed with a sense of ease that now, having YouTube, I see in actual footage of Gypsy Rose Lee. In her climactic scenes with Rose, she was a force to be reckoned with: every moment of the confrontation before Rose's Turn and the reconciliation that follows it was performed with an honesty that people often say does not exist in musical theatre. However, some of that stereotypically mannered musical theatre acting crept into her first act where I could see her working to perform vulnerability. Benanti's scenes as Louise (as opposed to Gypsy Rose Lee) were a master class in sincerity. She was painfully, but never performatively, vulnerable. In her (beautifully sung, but appropriately restrained) rendition of Little Lamb and All I Need Is the Girl scene and song, her sense of longing was so palpable, it hurt. Certainly, her transformation to Gypsy was believable and, of course, Benanti is a stunner--but it was in this final section of the show that I saw *her* working. This was particularly true in the dressing room confrontation where I never quite bought her bellowing, "I said TURN IT OFF." It felt forced, especially on Broadway, where she seemed to push a lot harder than she did at City Center. And in those final moments of the play ("It's okay, Mama; it's okay, Rose"), I never felt her connect to LuPone the way I felt Moore connected to both Daly and Lavin.* Nevertheless, both women gave fantastic performances and were deserving of their respective Tony nominations and win. I had the hardest time with Blanchard: in her scenes as Louise, she came across as too harsh; in her scenes as Gypsy, she came across as too vulnerable. And while Louise does not need to be a great singer, Blanchard--whether it was an acting choice or her vocal limitations--could barely make it through Little Lamb. Her trajectory in the part was so unimpressive, so non-transformational, I felt it didn't give Peters nearly enough to play off of. I found Peters and the production as a whole to work significantly better when the much more believable King was on for Blanchard. King's Louise had a softness and her Gypsy had a confidence that Blanchard's lacked. (Both actresses were also plagued by the production's terrible wigs for the character.) Having been a fan of her work elsewhere, I was quite excited by Pulver's casting. Utimately, I found her take on the role to be fine, but unremarkable: it struck me as a little unspecific, especially opposite the comprehensively conceived and fully realized Rose that Staunton gave us. It may be insensitive to say, but I also felt Pulver read as too old for the part. The production's design didn't manage to convincingly conceal her beauty in the first 3/4 of the show, but, then, surprisingly, didn't showcase what a stunner she is in the last 1/4. What are other people's memories of these performances? What are people's memories of their covers? (I believe Michele Pigliavento went on for Moore several times; did anyone see her?) What are people's memories of impressive Louises they've seen regionally or on tour? It's such an exquisitely written role; I don't think she gets the attention she deserves. *It was in this short scene, particularly in her delivery of "It's okay, Mama; it's okay Rose," where I saw Moore most recalibrate her performance opposite the revival's different headliners. Much has been written about the vulnerability of Daly's Rose and the ruthlessness of Lavin's. Opposite Daly, it had such tenderness, it truly felt like a reversal of the parent-child relationship. That love was there opposite Lavin, but, as Moore took Lavin's face in her hands, there was a sense of breaking it down for her--leveling with her; there was a subtext of practicality in her assurance they'd move past this. I feel so privileged to have seen Moore perform opposite each of these giants. |
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