At the age of 86 and a 70 years career behind her Ms. Lansbury still performs 8 times per week on Broadway at this very moment in The Best Man to audiences standing ovations. So to my mind she’s indeed the GREATEST actress of her time whether it’s stage, screen, or TV.
Lansbury is simply magnificent! I have seen every Broadway show with her since "Mame" and no one can touch her on the stage. The woman could do it all and is in a class all her own!
In 1975 I saw an ad for the U.S. tour of this production of Gypsy. I had never heard of Angela Lansbury, so I asked my grandmother who she was. Oh, says, grandma, she's a really big movie star. Can we go? We did, and I have never looked back. How such a beautiful actress as Angela Lansbury could have escaped my knowledge before then I do not know. What good fortune for my first exposure to a bona fide Broadway legend to be this show, and Angela Lansbury's Mama Rose left me awestruck. I've seen marvelous Rose's since then, but Lansbury's is the standard. She toured in Gypsy again, about a year later, and after the show I met her daughter, Deirdre Shaw, who was very sweet, and played Miss Electra. After seeing Gypsy twice, and Mame twice I have felt blessed. These were great performances.
I suspect that Dame Angela herself would be the first to contest that opening statement. Musical theater would be a paltry art form indeed if it made room for only one "greatest artist" of the twentieth century. But fortunately it's a very robust and resilient one and there's room at the top for a wide range of extraordinary performing artists. Here's to them all!
About comparing Angie to Merman - why do we need to do it? Lansbury said HERSELF, that every interpritation of Mama Rose is valid. "Merman was a belter. I was an actress." - Angela.
I think it's hard comparing great leading lights of the theatre over a century. It's like comparing different era's of sportsmen. Each sets a new standard vocally and dramatically. She was certainly the leading light of her generation, a torch she has passed on to LuPone. (Audra McDonald is a genre of genius unto herself).
With as much as I absolutely adore her, there's no way she's "the greatest musical theater talent of the Twentieth Century". However: She should've won the fucking Oscar for "The Manchurian Candidate".
Musically, she gets the rhythm of the title phrase correctly: Two sets of half-note triplets, quite evenly. Many singers turn this figure into two sets of dotted-quarter, dotted-quarter and quarter. There IS a difference, yes.
I could be wrong, but it definitely looks like her good friend, Bea Arthur, is sitting right there, middle-front, smiling. I hope wherever they are, they’re having a ball performing together.
This video begins "Arguably the greatest musical theatre talent of the 20th century." I've been lucky enough to see the great Lansbury in Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Mame, and A Little Night Music. Also, I've been blessed to have seen Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun and Hello Dolly. I think that the copy of the piece overreached it self just a little bit. We must consider, of course, Merman - and what about M. Martin, Channing, Verdon, Rivera, and Lawrence?
Just heard Angela singing Everything is Coming up Roses from Gypsy now go to .Merman’s rendition....no comparison..Merman is the Brass Band you want to follow with Broadway passion...Love Lansbury But no one can sing Merman ‘s songs like her..GO TO FACEBOOK! Merman more than 30 years gone was still voted#1 Broadway Diva...when she closed Dolly...her last performance on a Broadway stage performance was unforgettable...December will be, l believe 50 years ago, yet Facebook keeps her alive gaining new fans! Will her Broadway ever come back?
Angela proves she is old school. Lest we forget, Mary Martin played ALL of Ethel's roles in touring companies without ever being suited for any of them either. Gypsy became the go-to role, replacing the old "I'm Still Here" era of Follies. Almost like the Vagina Monologues in that way one asks, who hasn't done it?
"Arguably the great musical theater talent of the 20th century..." I don't know that that's true (think Merman and Martin), but if that's the greatest thing you can say about her, then have at it. It's impossible to give Angela Lansbury too much respect. "She invented the steam engine!" Fine with me. Ixvy!
Ethel Merman was the original Mama Rose. I guess she was not big of a name to do the movie. I love Angela on Murder she wrote. I had never heard of her till she did the tv show. She was great as in Fletcher. It was on tv for like 8 years. Everybody in her family worked on that show. They change it to Wed night and it was cancelled. She could figure out who the killer was so fast. Great careers.
We all have our favorites, and Angela is great, but come on, this one definitely goes to the queen, Miss Merman! I can't believe some of the comments here. Hell, this was Ethel's anthem, along with many others
95KIPPIE Although the song was written for Ethel Merman for the 1959 original Broadway production of Gypsy and it was a great song for her, her true signature song was "There's No Business Like Show Business" from Annie Get Your Gun. Ms Merman was not universally acclaimed in the role. She was indeed nominated for a Tony, but lost to Mary Martin. Ms. Lansbury won the award for her portrayal of Mama Rose in the 1974 revival, as did Tyne Daly (1989) and Patty LuPone (2007). After her run in Gypsy (and subsequent National tour), Ms Merman worked primarily in movies and television. There is no doubt that Ethel Merman was a great talent and a consummate performer, but whose performance in the role was better? That's totally subjective. Since you're obviously an Ethel Merman fan, here's a tidbit you might not know. Jerry Herman composed the score for Hello, Dolly! specifically with Ethel Merman in mind, but when offered the role she declined. She did end up playing the role of Dolly Levi for 210 performances on Broadway, but not until 1970, six years after it opened. By then, however, it was a Carol Channing classic. She got rave reviews and won the Drama Desk Award for her performance, staying with the show until it closed. It was her last Broadway appearance.
The two greatest Madame Rose's are Merman and Lansbury. And next are LuPone, Daly, and Midler. Yes, Midler. Her film version puts that travesty by Roz Russell into the ashcan.
I didn't really love it, like I thought I would............eh!.......nothing spectacular to me......Patti Lupone, Roz Russell I like them better..........
