Bernadette Peters - "Rose's Turn" - 2003 Broadway Preview

Bernadette Peters doing what she does best -- Giving a sincere and believable performance. I absolutely love this -- Most "Rose's Turn"s (*cough Patti and Bette cough*) are WAY too obnoxious and screamy. Bernadette was sick during this performance (it was still even before the run -- just a preview), and you can see that she's not as in character as she was for her sensational Tony's performance. It's really a shame -- Her voice was shot for the previews (which is generally for the critics) and for the cast recording, and because of that, she got pretty weak reviews and the people who bought the BCR thought that she was unable to handle the score. No -- Her viral infection only lasted until a bit into the actual run of the show. People have said that when she was back to normal health, her voice was as powerful as it was twenty years ago in "Sunday in the Park" and "Into the Woods," but with even more emotional depth.
Shortly after this, they changed the dress she wore and ditched the hat.
I absolutely LOVE the way she delivers the monologue before the song, too.
No copyright infringement intended. I didn't record this. For entertainment purposes, only.

[@omnigeek13]

what i love most about bernadette in this role is the sadness i hear. everywhere else i hear anger, and maybe a bit of insanity. NOt so much in this clip, but certainly in others of hers, Bernadette's "well" before "someone tell me" has intense emotion packed into it

[@josiahmontgomeryofficial5062]

Exactly and people portray it as if her she’s mad at some stranger… no it’s her child and she’s upset

[@MrMdprosser]

I saw this show with Bernadette twice, and it still remains one of the best things I've ever seen on Broadway. She encapsulated this role. She was absolutely phenomenal.

[@PhaedrusNYC]

I don't understand why people have to slag off others for the sake of praising their favorites. Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone are classy enough to share a stage and share roles and not insult each other. It would be nice if their fans could do the same.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

I am probably one of the few people who will write here who saw Merman in the original, which of course can never be matched. I also saw Bernadette during the run on Broadway. It was an interesting performance as she seemed to begin as Bernadette singing a role but by this point she had become "Mama" completely. With each of the songs through the show "Mama" emerged bit by bit. It was fascinating to see how difficult it was for her to give herself to this character but that in some ways added to the power of this final piece of the show.

[@TaraJRoberts]

I cannot believe that she was sick during this performance! I know that I could never sing like this if I were sick...I was losing my voice during the run of a show almost a year ago, and was doing everything in my power (including sucking on lemon wedges) between scenes - sometimes in between appearances onstage during the same scene - and my voice was pretty weak at the end of the play. Bravo Bernadette! This is what makes a true star.

[@hpfan]

I love Bernadette. She's fantastic, and she is Broadway. And she does a great job singing this song because her voice is great. But I don't think Rose suited her. Out of all the Roses I've seen, Patti LuPone is still Rose for me, especially in "Rose's Turn." But LuPone's triumphant performance in a role, I believe, she was born to play, doesn't take away the fact that Peters is a force and has earned her place as a Broadway legend. She's just not my Rose. But still wonderful.

[@BWAY62]

Fantastic!

[@chrisn7259]

Having only heard negative things about this production, I have to say I was happy to see this--thanks for posting. Bernadette's legendary vulnerability worked well for this character, giving her a humanity that is refreshing. Was the real Mama Rose this appealing? Probably not, but it worked for me.

[@ronalddennerlein5796]

You know everything there is to know about Rose from this performance by Bernadette.

[@SilverArro]

I agree with some that the 2003 revival of Gypsy was something of a letdown - but I saw it along with the Encores presentation of Gypsy where Lupone first took the role on as well as the official 2008 revival and I have to say I love both Peters and Lupone in the role, they each had a different interpretation of the character and they both worked very well for me. The 2008 revival was much better overall, but Peters was absolutely fantastic in this show, so give her a break!

[@MisstressFurter]

At the end for a split second she had this expression that said, 'Oh God, I feel like crap. How did I just get through that?' and then she pulled it together and acknowledged the audience.

[@EasyLivingable]

I LOVE the way she takes the bows after.

[@taylordowning2533]

For Bernadette to have been sick, she sounds great!!

[@toughcookie5454]

I'm still in shock that she is 62. For one thing she loks like she's 40 and sounds like she's 30. THAT'S talent right there

[@allwinds3786]

Is that Chris Jaudes on lead trumpet, it shure sounds like him. He was my favorite grad asst at ISU in ' 78!

[@LIBeachcub]

Great performance!

[@danaheidrick]

How could you say Rosalind Russell and Bernadette Peters were horrible? Russell is one of the greater actors of our time, and Peter who was superb. Pity you think that way.

[@Empoweredwoman1234]

The best revival of this show I think was in 2015 with Imelda Staunton. Patti Lupone was also great. I’d love to see Liza Minelli on this role.

[@cherylkoski7184]

Liza would have been absolutely amazing.

[@toughcookie5454]

@MrMusicstone I thought that the infection made this song ten times more powerful. It gives her this raspiness that makes her voice more real

[@TheTombRaider94]

It's a preview... they do it to mark the stage so you know where to stand and where props go etc. They still have markings on the stage in all other shows, they just blend in with the stage better.

[@ndrwmls10]

@SuttaBro Your comment is the most constructive one I have seen. There are no attacks.

[@ChrisRandomSinger]

Poor Bernadette just never had a chance with that staging. You can tell every move was choreographed. It doesn't flow naturally like most of the others. Once she recovered and got to do her own thing, she was wonderful! I think she's more realistic than Patti. I wish there was a way for Bernadette to play the role again in good heath and without a director who didn't know what he was doing. The whole production was just very bland besides Bernadette.

[@purrkittycatman6496]

Chris Moore I'd love to see her revive the role one day.

[@PhaedrusNYC]

@KellyBevel Patti and Bernadette have enough grace and dignity not to insult each other's talent or appearance. It's a shame you can't learn from their example. And to answer your question: Chita Rivera, Elaine Stritch, Marin Mazzie, Marc Kudisch, George Hearn, Brian Stokes Mitchell, are all people, off the top of my head, who have made the majority of their income from Broadway theater.

[@megan132]

back when they actually had stage hands instead of automic on and off sets, :)

[@bigred8432]

That was an artistic choice. They had automation long, long before 2003

[@ctranbaby]

@Brathford Wait. Where/When did this happen? "June Havoc went on record as saying....." I mean. I love Bernadette in this role so I tried to google it, but nothing really came out.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

She should play Peter Pan. She would be unforgettable in it!

[@MM-tx7gi]

Way better than Patti Lupone! Patti Lupone was too crazy and not believABLE AT ALL!

[@JordanGleeLover]

Why don't you go watch one of their videos and fudge off to people who don't Like Bernadette Peters...i.e people who are very very strange! Anywho! LEAVE BERNADETTE PETERS ALONE (also she and Angela Lansbury are my favourite Rose's so go away)

[@megan132]

what you guys dont understand is that patti is a different actress then bernadette, therefore the character is portrayed differently, and everyone is entitled to there opnion.

[@alxscrz]

Bernadette shows all the sides of Rose in this perfomance. Sexy, emotional, determined. Btw I love the cast recording, her voice might sound a bit shot in Rose's turn but that's what makes the number better for me. It makes her sound like she is hurt but then as the song goes on her voice grows strong and she nails it :)

[@bird-watcher-91]

I'm going to have to agree. Like Roz, Angela and Tyne before her, she brings a sincere, realistic performance of Rose. Sure her voice is too soft and not as powerful as Ethel, Bette, Patti and Lisa Kirk (voice-dubbing actress for Roz in the 60's version of "Gypsy") but she does emotionally ground Rose in this performance.

[@ChrisRandomSinger]

@boynamedalexxx I thought Bernadette was great and I've enjoyed many of Mendes' films and other shows, but there was just something off about this particular version that I just can't pinpoint. He seemed lost here for some reason. I don't know why, but he did. I find Laurents to be a bit much, too, but I actually agree with most of his points about this Gypsy. It felt very slow to me. Just my opinion, though.

[@omnigeek13]

@DivaBehavior can i just say that i adore the fact that you have not only used histrionic in a sentence, but you used decent unforced alliteration with it? the poet in me wants to kiss your feet

[@applelover09]

@KellyBevel Julie Andrews sing could act and sing. Made two amazing musicals and still did broadway until the horrible day when she lost her voice because of surgery. Liza minelli beyond belief. Chita Rivera, She's good and she was the orginal velma. I mean there are a few people but you have a valid point

[@crackerpopskikay]

@omnigeek13 I agree, Bernie has made Rose human and that makes me empathize with the character, she certainly became rose

[@Alunamai]

@KellyBevel Not to mention she does the occasional TV and Hollywood thing... I love her!!!

[@victoriaindigo]

@DivaBehavior Arthur Laurents said in an interview that he gave notes to Sam Mendes but Mendes decided to stay with his own "concept". Any faults of Mendes' Gypsy weren't Bernadette's fault, but Mendes'.

[@victoriaindigo]

@boynamedalexxx I agree that Laurents decided not to do Gypsy, he said that in a Theater Talk interview, I don't remember the exact details, but in any case he decided not to do it. Personally I don't think Mendes has the musical in his bones. I recall the reviews when Mendes' Gypsy came out. Most of them focused on the fact that Mendes was directing and staging as if he was still on a film set. In any case I was just happy that AL validated Bernadette!

[@hollywoodboysa]

Bette Midler was a campy and aggressive but very well DONE MAMA ROSE.

[@ALM965]

@DivaBehavior I agree that patti acted this number out way better than bernadette and i love both of them. I personally think that bernadette looks to young and acts to subtle for this role. Mama Rose is a diva, so it is more than natural for her character to be a little over the top. Besides this is musical theater in which everything is in a heightened state of reality. Therefore, even though bernadette's voice is amazing, her acting simply doesn't make the cut for this role.

[@ctranbaby]

@boynamedalexxx Thanks so much.

[@JudgeJulieLit]

Here BP disproves all critics who had said her (concert sung) Rose lacked emotional depth and range. This preview performance truly movingly simulates a middleaged wounded mama having a nuanced nervous breakdown. Uploader, I think that here BP's viral illness that somewhat eroded her voice actually works to better portray Rose's breakdown, as sorrow and a tumult of tragic thought crack the voice. BP's versatility and talent endlessly astound!

[@larrydirtybird]

I remember seeing this on Broadway and thinking that her energy was getting more and more drained as the show went on. I remember feeling that by the end of the second act she just seemed spent and kind of exhausted. That was a long time ago, and I’ve wondered if my memory was correct. Watching this video, I see that it was. She just seemed drained by the time Rose’s Turn came around. I had seen Tyne Daly and Linda Lavin do it on Broadway in the 1990 revival, and they just didn’t seem so spent by the end of the show. I get that Rose feels betrayed and discarded when she sings this number, but she should still be the tornado of energy that she always is. I saw a video clip of Angela Lansbury singing this number when she did it in the 1970s, and she was bursting with resentful energy. I could tell that her Rose was a tour de force.

[@Empoweredwoman1234]

Now that I’ve seen this for the second time I really liked her. The main thing that put me off before was that she sung it too much. But otherwise great.

[@crackerpopskikay]

@MyNameIsPuppers Bernadette peters best mama rose ever

[@emlodik]

Dina Lohan.

[@bidubarreto]

@ythc11 i am, for sure!

[@karrezza]

OK, I LOVE BETTY BUCKLEY, but for this, I have to say Bernadette is the one that makes me tear up! I have a 17 year old daughter, who I do so much for, and does nothing for me in return... I will get that one glance as she goes out the door.... and she really emotes what I feel.

[@pudgeuncle]

@KellyBevel Julie Harris. Chita Rivera.

[@victoriaindigo]

@boynamedalexxx Well we'll have to agree to disagree, I don't think Mendes has the musical in his bones, excellent filmmaker though

[@ndrwmls10]

@KellyBevel Way to insult a woman's appearance for no apparent reason other than to score a few points. Bravo!

[@crackerpopskikay]

@011FunnyBunny lol how can u write a book if there are no words to describe her!!! hahaha juz kidding I love BP she's my favorite

[@PhaedrusNYC]

@Brathford 7 thumbs ups for an ad hominem insult. We really have become a society of cretins.

[@edenCONbliss01]

now, im nothing but a backstage dresser, but this video just mad bernie go from my least favorite to my most! she just completley captured rose! rose is breaking down and giving a performance. and her anger and bitterness.... ugh, magnificent.

[@victordunson719]

Patti LuPone and Imelda Staunton are the gold standard for this song.

[@ACinemafanatic]

Angela Lansbury was the first to do the mental breakdown and it’s terrifying

[@MrMusicstone]

@DivaBehavior Right Patti can't act? You don't get accepted into the Julliard drama division without intense ability, shes far superior to this woman so don't even try to argue.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Roz Russell? Good in that dreadful 1962 film? Only if overacting, making faces, and playing Rose as "nice" is good.

[@ndrwmls10]

@TheWeddingProducer really?!? she sounds horrendous and her acting isn't much better. Besides the fact that Patti's performance came after hers and it won Patti a Tony.

[@JudgeJulieLit]

@ctranbaby Google is (thank God) not yet an omniscient, all seeing, all hearing, recorder of all things everywhere, private as public. Is possible that Google was not present at and so privy to June Havoc's comment to BP ! Perhaps June meant that her mother Rose was not (as Roz's and Bette's portrayal of her when the girls were young) unflappably comic pushy as a stage mother . . . more poignantly tragic pushy. Having experienced being talented yet lacking resources to win: coach/agent/$88.

[@gogogadget553]

you know the actress has failed at the line "momma...momma..." in Rose's turn.

[@kerryjay7730]

Compared to Patti and Bette. Bernadette's performance was very... stiff. Stiff and dry in my taste personally

[@victordunson719]

This belongs to the belters, sorry

[@pudgeuncle]

Oh my...how many excuses do people have to make? She was totally miscast and too small in every way for this huge role. Peters did not have the acting ability and that is no insult..few actresses can perform this role. I love her and in the right part, she has no peer but this was painful. I cringed at every second of her performance and she is the only Rose to not make me cry during You'll Never Get Away From Me.

[@PaoloNYC]

I love Bernadette but this is not a role for her. Merman was the original and the best Mama Rose.

[@MrMusicstone]

Okay Im sorry but if she can make it to broadway anyone can. I really dont like her voice at all its barely a voice. I dont see why shes so highly praised, shes nothing too special, shes not Patti.

[@pudgeuncle]

This performance was a mess and Peters should never have taken the role in the first place. Her voice is too small and it requires acting skills way beyond her reach. She was embarrassing, did not realize that the character is supposed to be funny and sounded like a little bugle when a trumpet was required. She was totally out of her league.

[@noahsilva3856]

How. Dare. You.

[@BEE-mp9vk]

The role isn't funny.....

[@syworld82]

Gypsy Rose Lee would disagree