Topic UCF and GYPSY.... again... take two. from the General Chit-Chat forum.
Post a reply or begin a new topic.
View other threads or jump to a different forum.
Go to page: 1, 2, 3
|
| Author | Topic: UCF and GYPSY.... again... take two. |
|---|
 moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:34:38 AM ET
I guess I really didn't view it as a public site but I guess in reality it is. I was just a little worried about people looking at the bachelorette party pictures because, well, it was a bachelorette party and you know. 
Even though I'm not in the pictures I guess I feel like I kind of shouldn't be displying the pictures of the others without their consent.
So that's why I was kind of concerned but I agree, let's move on.
|  UCFGuardgirl
Registered User
Registered:
6/15/2003
From:
New York City | posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:35:28 AM ET
Okkkayyyy....
Let's get back to the South Park hat. 
Bernadette. Cartman. Strange jungian symbol, schoolgirl crush on a cartoon character, or just a hat? Film at eleven.
edited to say: i just realized I can edit my posts. So all the typos are gone from the original review. Yay! Color me happy!
***************
Rose: Mr. Weber, you left me right in the middle of a sentence.
Weber: Madam Rose, you're always in the middle of a sentence.
---- GYPSY
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:37:42 AM ET
Or ... Maybe just a warm hat.
| StinKerRoadMann
Registered User
Registered:
8/7/2003 | posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:38:22 AM ET
LoL, UCF, that made me think of Pretty Woman.."Well color me happy, there's a sofa in here for two!"
**Kristen**
| UCFGuardgirl
Registered User
Registered:
6/15/2003
From:
New York City | posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:46:59 AM ET
Some stage door anecdotes to leaven the moment (does the moment need leavening anymore?) anyway.
Besides the conversation about the South Park hat (which seemed to amuse Bernadette, because she is apparently very proud of the South Park hat) there was an older man at the stage door. He gave Bernadette his playbill and said, "I've been a fan of yours for a long time. The first thing I ever saw you in was THE JERK, back in the movies, when you had that great kiss with Steve Martin. But that was a long time ago."
And Bernadette nodded and said, "well, yes, but not TOO long ago. Long ago but not... well, it was a little long ago."
And I said, "I remember that; the scene on the beach, right?"
And Bernadette said, "Oh yes, well, that was some kiss. It was a good kiss. He was a good kisser." And she's laughing (because, if you've ever seen the movie, this is a WEIRD WIERD kiss, and I don't know how she kept a straight face.) And she started to move on, and she's signing another playbill when she turns to the man and I, and says, "huh, I guess that was a long time ago."
Then two more playbills down the line, and she turns again. And the look on her face is the same look the witch gives the baker in INTO THE WOODS, when he says he is going to tell the royal family about the giant. And she says, "a long time ago. Wow. That was a long, long, long, long time ago. My God." And then she laughed to herself, and went on down the line.
It was a very amusing little moment. It was nice because not many people were around at the stage door (World Series, anyone?) so she stood out there for a bit (all the actors seemed to hang out for awhile) and talked to everyone.
***************
Rose: Mr. Weber, you left me right in the middle of a sentence.
Weber: Madam Rose, you're always in the middle of a sentence.
---- GYPSY
|  SingOutAnnie
Registered User
Registered:
8/23/2003
From:
Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 10/23/2003 at 8:47:40 AM ET
Sorry for the lateness of this, but I am only reading UCFGuardgirl's original post this a.m.
I've been trying to decide whether to just, what the hell, go deeper into debt to make another NY run to see "Gypsy" again. Your post convinced me -- I gotta go, and soon.
Reading your review, I was actually worrying about Bernadette... was there something going on in her real life that would force out all that emotion?? Was she going to be alright, make it to the end of the play??
I was scrolling down with the mouse in my right hand. When I got to the end of the review, I found my left hand had a death grip on the keyboard tray. UCFGuardgirl, you should be writing fiction. Riveting... like reading "The Da Vinci Code" this summer. (Write a novel, then you can pay for more theater!!)
| UCFGuardgirl
Registered User
Registered:
6/15/2003
From:
New York City | posted: 10/23/2003 at 10:29:17 AM ET
Thanks, SingoutAnnie!
I thought I might post this question to the group, since you brought it up.
How do you think Bernadette gets into character?
I've always thought (or, from what I've seen) that Bernadette sort of leaves herself behind. That when she's on stage, it's not about what her personal emotional state is, or how the material relates to her; it's all about the character, and she embodies that character and feels what that character feels.
Any thoughts? Especially from our budding actor sect? Methods of acting (of getting into character) fascinate me, because there are so many.
***************
Rose: Mr. Weber, you left me right in the middle of a sentence.
Weber: Madam Rose, you're always in the middle of a sentence.
---- GYPSY
|  Fan55
Registered User
Registered:
3/1/2003 | posted: 10/23/2003 at 12:40:38 PM ET
I think and from what I've heard...Bernadette does use her personal life while in the character. Yes, she does leave "Bernadette Peters" behind...then she IS Mama Rose (or whomever). I'm not sure where I read this, but I know that BP has said that (and don't quote me)...for example in "Sunday in the Park with George" the song "Move On" (sigh) she related that song to how she was feeling at that particular moment and what other's in her life were going through at that time. So it seems, that Bernadette does infact become what ever character she is playing, while trying to find the truth of the character, inside herself.... ...I guess!
Fan55
| SingOutAnnie
Registered User
Registered:
8/23/2003
From:
Bradenton/Sarasota, FLA | posted: 10/23/2003 at 1:12:16 PM ET
I think it is in part your storytelling skills, UCFGuardgirl. I don't know that Bernadette wasn't just very much "in character." But, the intensity of your description, of pushing Herbie (don't remember that before) and going to her knees in "Rose's Turn," I thought, "Geez, why that night?" Did she fight with her husband? Hear bad news?? And that the cast, Tammy in particular, was recognizing how intense a performance it was.
Really, I think she is a performer who just gives and gives, and keeps finding new things in the role. She is so intelligent and "in tune" with characters, that she doesn't get bored and is why she is a great actress. She would never just "walk through" a performance, as Arthur Laurents is said to have said Merman did.
I've recently become engrossed in "Into the Woods," watched the DVD three times last weekend (that show really grows on you). When Rapunzel dies, I marveled that Bernadette's eyes glisten and she/the Witch has to, sort of, take a breathe to sing the next line. She was so into the moment.
Regardless, her performance that night you described sounds soooo draining, you wonder how she can work to the end of the week. And twice a day, twice a week?? Oh, man...
| BroadwayQueen06
Registered User
Registered:
9/3/2003 | posted: 10/23/2003 at 11:57:11 PM ET
Regarding methods of getting into character:
As an actor, I have tried method after method, and what helps me to get into character most is to simply listen to the other actors. Then, the lines come naturally as well as the emotion. I do think, though, that in order to be a powerful, successful actor, one must channel his or her own emotions. Even if the emotions are completely opposite of what the character is supposed to be feeling, the actor channels the energy from the "real" emotion and turns it into "acting energy." At that point, an actor can feel at one with his character.
Sometimes, depending on the character and how close the personality is to the actor, the emotion comes naturally. Okay, I'm gonna share something kind of embarrassing and you're all going to laugh and thing "That girl is such a dork" but oh well, I'm proving a point. I think. Anyway, I was Swiffering my floor while listening to my Gypsy CD. I finished the floors just as "Rose's Turn" was about to start so I though to myself "I'm just gonna sing it once, see how I do. Have fun" So I put down the Swiffer and prepared myself to take on the character of Rose. I gave Rose a thought to be thinking, I thought of her monologue, of her anger towards Louise, towards herself, and June, and Herbie, and anyone who ever left her. And then I thought of my own anger towards someone in my life that had pissed me off that day. My anger was trivial compared to Rose's, but when put into Rose, it transformed into a rage that I, as a person, have felt only once or twice, if ever. I sang the song with every bit of emotion in my body, while standing in the middle of my living room, in my pajamas. It was honestly the most powerful thing I have ever felt. In those 4 minutes, I *was* Mama Rose. I wasn't Rachel; Rachel didn't exist. It was only Mama Rose.
"Rose's Turn" is the kind of song that, while difficult perform and to sing, is very relatable (I don't think this is a word, but you know what I mean) to one's personal life. The song is about failure, triumph, despair, and a controlled madness that is hard to put into words. Throughout her whole life, people have been leaving Rose out in the cold. Her mother left her, her three husbands left her, June left, Herbie left, and now that Louise no longer needed her, she had basically left, too. All alone, the only thing Rose had left was showbiz. Like UCF said in her original review, showbiz was her anchor, the thing that had always been there for her. In a way, Vaudville and the stage compensated for the love of a person.
Think about it: when June left, Rose's first words were about showbiz, not about how she would miss her daughter or how she wished her the best of luck. She turned immediately to Louise to be her link to fame and to the stage because it was what would make her feel better. The applause of an audience would make up for the empty feeling inside of her. When Herbie left, after Rose sang the Small World reprise, she turned to Louise, telling her that she'll get things ready for the show. Still, after all that emotional trauma, Rose wanted the stardom. She wanted the attention, and the applause. That applause, to her, meant that she was loved. It meant that people she didn't even know thought she was good, and they loved her. "Rose's Turn" starts out as one last cry for love from an audience that is merely in Rose's mind. It ends in self-discovery, self-loathing and once again a wicked determination.
A song with so much depth is easy to relate to. Most actors can tie in their own feelings of loss or aloneness or anger to Rose's and that allows them to pump up the experience to levels that haven't been seen before. Most actors can relate to the desire for applause. Almost anyone who has ever been on stage and received it can tell you that it becomes addicting.
Okay, I'll shutup now. End of the rambling.
Rachel
| UCFGuardgirl
Registered User
Registered:
6/15/2003
From:
New York City | posted: 10/24/2003 at 10:31:10 AM ET
Very excellent analysis, Rachel. Really loved it. I think you were spot-on all the way through. And so well-written.
Also interesting about how you get into character. i think you answered my question. I just always wondered whether actors take their own lives and transplant them into the characters' lives (to get the emotion -- in other words, Bernadette is acting the part as herself, thinking of Rose as Bernadette, and playing it as she would live it in her own life) or if they use an emotion they've felt from the past and dredge that up before going onstage and leaving themselves behind. Did that make sense?
Anyway, very much enjoyed, Rachel, and thanks! Wish I could have seen your performance. I'm sure it was great.
***************
Rose: Mr. Weber, you left me right in the middle of a sentence.
Weber: Madam Rose, you're always in the middle of a sentence.
---- GYPSY
| BroadwayQueen06
Registered User
Registered:
9/3/2003 | posted: 10/24/2003 at 12:10:06 PM ET
I'm glad I answered your question, UCF. It really is a magic feeling, being completely immersed in a character, in someone other than yourself. Maybe you ought to give it a try someday.
Rachel
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
195.93.34.x | posted: 10/26/2003 at 3:45:07 PM ET
We were on holiday in NY from the Uk and saw the show on Wed 22nd Oct, what a wonderful show, and Bernadette Peters was just wonderful, made up for the last time we were there and could not get tickets for Annie get your Gun.
Whish I was still there to see it again but back in the UK with happy memories,
Cliff
| Go to page: 1, 2, 3
Other threads: « Next | Previous » |
Do you think this topic is inappropriate? Vote it down. After a thread receives a certain amount of negative votes it will be automatically locked.
Please contact us with any concerns you might have.
|
