Actress Patti LuPone who played Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival thinks the lead role should be given to a younger actress in the movie adaptation.
- April 29, 2020
AceShowbiz - Broadway legend Patti LuPone has urged Barbra Streisand to give up her dream of starring in a planned movie adaptation of hit musical "Gypsy", because she's "too old."
Streisand has been desperately trying to get the passion project up and running ever since she received the blessing of playwright Arthur Laurents to adapt the show prior to his death in 2011.
She helped to develop the screenplay and wanted to direct and star in the big screen reboot as classic stage mother Mama Rose, but the film, loosely based on burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee's memoirs, remains in limbo after years of setbacks.
Now LuPone, who won her second Tony Award for her portrayal of Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival, insists Streisand should allow another, younger actress to tackle the famed role - if "Gypsy" ever makes it into production.
"I'm sure there's technologies (to make her appear younger onscreen) so that she could do it," LuPone mused when asked for her thoughts on U.S. chat show "Watch What Happens Live".
"I think maybe 50 years ago she would have been a brilliant Madame Rose. (But) I think she's too old."
"Gypsy", which features musical anthems like "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose's Turn" by famed lyricist Stephen Sondheim, was first made for the big screen in 1962 when Rosalind Russell portrayed Mama Rose. Bette Midler played the character in a TV project in 1993.
