When I saw Gypsy on broadway, I actually saw Benanti's understudy (it is Jessica Rush), and thought she did a fantastic job; I'd say she's easily the best that I've seen.

I really like Crista Moore's singing voice, and the way her speaking voice changes as her character changes; she develops a "stripper voice" lol
But I thought Natalie Wood was pretty good.

Not only that, but I don't think she understood the part very well. She ruined the dressing room scene preceding Rose's Turn by gutterally screaming at Rose. That turned me off completely, which is a shame because that's my favorite dialogue scene in the show. But then again, most aspects of the LuPone revival turned me off.

Thank you; I'm glad you liked it!

Actually, that was one of my favorite Benanti moments. Very refreshing. Usually, yelling is the "safe" choice in an argument, but in this case, given every other performance of the role before Benanti, it was not. That scene alone won her the TONY, I guarantee you.

Mind you, when I first saw the production, and saw her understudy, Jessica Rush, the "gutterally screamed" lines were done in a more pleading manner, and it was just as fabulous. I hate that almost every other Louise I've ever seen (including every actress listed in the beginning of the topic) just throws those lines away, like a goddamned robot. Benanti and Rush, under the direction of Laurents, were actually fighting for something. They got it right.

I think the brilliance of this clip speaks for itself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9O0hXNK ... re=related

I think it might if it really was brilliant. Yes, there are interesting proposals made here, but they aren't distilled into choices, leaving this reading of the scene feeling contrived and placed, when it should be spontaneous and explosive. Frankly, it looks very drama school to me: LuPone, Benanti and Laurents have made it all about 'the acting' instead of making it all about the character and the (dramatic) action.

And yet you act as though there's been a better staging of the scene on Broadway, or any other professional production for that matter. Everything I've seen of the scene, including the '93 movie, the 2003 revival, and clips from various productions in LA, have been extraordinarily weak in comparison.

Oh, and for the record, it isn't contrived in the least bit. I know, I saw it three times, separately, at different points in the run. It changed every single time. The only "staged" moment is when LuPone whips the make-up off of the desk. Besides that, and of course the actual blocking, it's very genuine.