Betty Buckley - "Rose's Turn" - 1998 Papermill Playhouse 

Probably the BEST performance of this role ever... Beyond magnificent.

I'm so glad I found this! Despite the limitations of this recording, the power of her performance goes right through me. I would have loved to have been able to see this in person, I would have been floating on air!

I think it's interesting to see all of these talented ladies come up with their own interpretations. :)

Body and soul passion performance! God bless Betty Buckley Xxxooo

She was wonderful...just love all the renditions from the Bway girls!

This is crazy good. Every moment felt real to me. There is something in all the other Rose's that are great, but this to me was authentic. I never liked Betty before, i've been converted!!

I’ve never seen this before; it’s yet another great interpretation of this larger-than-life character played by a super talented lady! Unlike some, I love to experience the differences that each performer brings to the table-you’re bound to be disappointed in most performances if you want them all to be the same! :)

Such a powerful piece! And she did a terrific job with it! Thanks for posting this.

Wow! What power!

I took a class with her as well around 1993-94. She is a great performer. I did not dig the meditation and she knew it. She let me take a pass on the meditation.

I would have liked to have seen this version in person.

LOL damned right!! I get to see her in April, I cannot wait!! She is too cool, when not overslammed she even answers Tweets personally.. pretty classy.. when I am sure she gets lots of tweets.

Wow, she was great! Thanks for posting...

Awesome, and as always, Betty is brilliant Thx for posting!

Great video. I LOVE her!

@DivaBehavior Of course, LOVE Ros Rusell in the film... in anything she did. Still, this performance by BB is, for me, just about the best acting/singing realization of the role that I've seen... But truly, how can we compare? Ethel, Angela, Tyne, Bernadette, Patti... They're all absolutely amazing-- and they all OWN the role in their own unique ways. Thank God for actors!

There's a little bit of this in Patti's Rose. I wonder if she watched it.

@DivaBehavior I must disagree. LuPone was trained as an ACTRESS. It is as an actress that she is most successful, and her acting skills are the reason she's had such an exceptional career. The fact that she CAN perform is a testament to how powerful her acting is.

nice i saw this performance with debbie gibson.. but betty was sick and jana robbins the undersudy went on,... she was amazing!!!

I agree with Jman383. All the Patti bashing is fascinating. She cuts to the gory heart of whatever she is doing.

@DivaBehavior I saw her at Papermill and thought she was amazing. The best Rose I'd ever seen. I always wondered why it didn't go to Broadway. I think Patti LuPone had trouble getting Laurents to approve her for Broadway also.

I think Betty and Bernadette play the role with true emotion, while most others use it as an excuse to belt fortissimo.

wow

THE best sung Rose of all time, no exceptions. FABULOUS but she has a few missteps towards the end. NO one tops Delores Gray. Her Rose's Turn was uttterly ferocious. She would mess up her hair and look like a madwoman by the end so when Louise entered, she had to compose herself physically and mentally. It was volcanic and touching at the same time.

i LOVE how her feet dont really stop when she repats mamma.

Mind you, I love Chicago, with Catherine Zeta Jones, but she too does NOT have the nasal voice.. and could do broadway version. I saw Broadway tour of Chicago, in Seattle. THough enteraining, the singing was just that, all NASAL and the two leads sounded the same. Unlike Chicago movie that really had opposites. I just scored Front row tickets to Betty's Broadway by Request in April in Bend, Oregon too! I cannot wait!

@ChrisRandomSinger Oh yes, Bernadette's Rose was painfully human. Her performance struck a real chord with me. I loved Patti in the role, but she never affected me the way Peters did. Peters just takes it to a whole new level to the point where she's practically untouchable. And I liked Ros Russell's performance a lot, however, I disliked both film adaptations of "GYPSY." The Russell adaption took wayyy too many liberties, and Midler's was just messy. There needs to be a new film of "Gypsy"!

i disagree, i met her a few years back, a very very lovely lady to talk to:)

The greatest part in musical theater has allowed many talented women to strut their stuff. Lansbury was bigger than life [I saw her many times] , Daly and LuPone by far the best acting, Gray a stunning performer, Buckley the BEST singer by far. Peters stunk to high heaven and Merman ..well she was no actress and she sang every song the exact same way....effective but appropriate to the role? Merman was Merman.

@DivaBehavior Just saw this.... you'd be correct many years ago, maybe a couple of decades. :) Nowadays, with DVDs, Bluerays and HD Live transmissions, opera acting must be as realistic as musical theater.

@DivaBehavior Aw, shucks! Thanks.

Have you met her TeamJ Rob? Ah. Thought not. I worked with her on stage, night after night. She is a VERY nice person.

What do you mean highly influenced by Sondheim? He wrote the lyrics. Also, did you see Tyne Daily? Angela Landsbury? Did you see Patti LuPone? I would have been too young to have appreciated Merman on stage (and I am 60) So you must be older than I?

@ChrisRandomSinger Definitely, Bernadette handled the role on stage like a film actress to an extent. If done right, I smell an Oscar for her! I agree with Arthur Laurents's comments about Midler. I believe she COULD have been good as Rose at some point, but probably on stage, not film. The whole movie was badly acted, filmed, directed, etc. It wound up extremely hammy. & recording songs live on set is only occasionally successful & hurt the film I believe. I'd really love to see a new movie.

missed T in that Entertaining word, i need to proof read

@BWAY62 LOLOL, ok that was a funny comment, but probably true.. she has hourglass shape!

@Huddie400 wasnt rosalind dubbed?

She sounds great and still looks good here. She's aged tons since this was filmed.Like a bowl of fruit.

I don't ...no one can do it like Rosalind Russell.

Name a performance where she was ever nasaly! The women in Chicago are always nasal, like Bebe Newerth, but Buckley? Never heard it..

Meh, I don't see much of the choreography that's different from any other Rose. The problem is that she probably just didn't know how to make it her own. She let her voice do all the work, and didn't really connect that to a physical presence onstage. It's especially noticeable when she's "taking a bow" and when she walks downstage at the end. Rather than being in-character, she just looks like she's congratulating herself. She's not frantic or desperate. That's what's missing: intention.

@DivaBehavior Or worse, the cartoon LuPone created.

what a voice! great singing, but she could have been dramatic in the monolog. rose's desperate and out of her mind when she starts rose's turn. but it was pretty to be seen and way better than rosalyn russel (or however its written)

@ChrisRandomSinger The '62 version is superior, cast-wise, & cinematically, but it strayed too far from the script, which needed practically no changes since it's so excellent. Midler's was closer, but her performance sucked and it wasn't cinematic. A new film would be great. I'd love to see Peters play Rose, even though it's a bit far-fetched, but there are a lot of name actresses out there who can sing who'd be great. And I'm already certain that John C. Reilly would be the perfect Herbie!

But that just goes totally against a lot of what she's singing. Even if it is about that release, she's still having a breakdown because she never got the shot her children did, and she's all alone.

Yes, I have met her. And she wasn't pleasant. Maybe she only likes actors.

If you listen to the broadway snuck video versions of Both Elaine and Betty in Sunset Blvd, not cd versions Betty has a much stronger voice... and this vulnerable yet strong woman.. Elaine's seems too pathetic and weak

Laurents loved Bernadette, but hated what Sam Mendes did with the 2003 revival... Laurents may be brilliant, but he often comes across as VERY cranky and arrogant.

I guess we all have what we prefer, but Elaine Page seems too crybaby like almost.. too dramatic, I guess in a way she acted like women acted in the 30's and 40's, it was about drama.. Betty Buckley has this classy reserve, yet sweetness that appeals to me as a stronger woman character. We all have an interpretation we connect to the best... I think Bernadette Peters sings this song here the best so far, in terms of well making me wanna cry!

I have to agree with Arthur Laurents....she was one of the crappiest Roses of all.

Yikes, the audience coughs during the too-long pause after "this time boys, I'm takin' the bows...." Not a good sign.

Magnificent....but she always is. Vocally I don't think she has a peer in this role. Many Roses have been great...but Bernadette Peters was WAY out of her league. A horror show.

But Patii LuPone is not a nice person.

completely sung but not acted.

Arthur Laurents is outliving his usefulness. Time for him to move on--to another plain.

Patti lupones is much better.