LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU PATTI LuPONE BRINGS MAMA ROSE TO NEW HEIGHTS

FANFAIR

Ethel Merman. Angela Lansbury. Tyne Daly. Bernadette Peters.

The Broadway divas and stars of a certain age who have tackled the domineering Mama Rose in Gypsy would seem to flag the part as a hard act to follow. But is it really? "Rose is easier for me than I want to admit, because I don't want to sound conceited," declares Patti LuPone, Broadway's Evita. Having reeled off one tough-mama role after another since she first implored Argentina not to cry for her, back in 1979—including that other Merman thunderclap, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes—LuPone comes across less as conceited than as justifiably self-assured. The main reason for her confidence is, of course, the still ferocious strength of her not-so-secret weapon— that sassy, brassy voice that fits the pushy Rose as closely as one of Gypsy's long satin striptease gloves. "Regina and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny were vocally demanding," LuPone explains. "This is not. This is vocally exhilarating." Point taken. Still another reason is the work ethic of the versatile 58-year-old pro, who, after more than three decades of steady show-biz work, now seems to pop up everywhere: A David Mamet movie or play one week. Spike Lee the next.

Ugly Betty after that. "She really loves to approach the work as an actress," says 89-year-old Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the original 1959 Gypsy—perhaps the greatest of American musicals—and is directing LuPone in this current revival, opening at the St. James Theatre, in New York City (previews begin March 3). Laurents enthuses about a quieter facet of his latest, vocally charged Mama Rose: "She loves examining every word—not only of the book, but of the lyrics—as no one has ever done before."

DAVID KAUFMAN