Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Miss Birdseye, Miss LuPone and misplaced criticism

A piece in the souvenir program for the current Broadway revival of Gypsy casts some aspersions on Ethel Merman's performance as Rose, attributing to Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim assertions that the Merm's acting wasn't up to snuff. (I heard Sondheim talk extensively about the original staging of "Rose's Turn" at the Jewish Book Fair here a few years ago, including the same sentiments that Merman was a rote actress.)

It's a shame that anyone feels the need to disparage a prior—and in this case iconic—performance in an attempt to promote a new one but in the end, these are simply opinions and shouldn't diminish the star's legacy. For my money (and I've spent a fair amount of it, seeing Patti LuPone in three different productions of Gypsy now), both Merman and LuPone were thrilling in the role. Different, yes, but thrilling nonetheless.