A member of the producing team for the revival of Gypsy confirmed internal discussions for the replacement of Patti Lupone and Sarah Palin is a leading choice.
"Look, we're being realistic here. We know she has to first lose the election, but if she does you know she'll be back in 2012 or 2016 and this could raise her visibility even more. Out-of-towners from all over the country come to New York and the publicity and advertising generated would be amazing, 'Sarah is Gypsy.' She can play the part a while and go right back into politics. Ronald Reagan made the leap from acting to the Presidency. She could go from politics to acting back to politics.
What we love about her for this are the parallels with who she is and the part of Rose. The way Sarah distorts her positions like on the Bridge to Nowhere and earmarks, that's the kind of tenaciousness of Rose's character. How Sarah is intellectually closed-off and operates out of a narrow conservative ideology is the intensely focused way Rose functions. If Rose had been in politics, this is the kind of political figure she would have been.
She has dramatic skills as she's demonstrated in her speeches. She can remember lines -- you saw the way they scripted the Charles Gibson interview for her, and she repeated key phrases no matter what he asked her. She's a natural."
As far as her singing ability is concerned, the producer said, "We're betting she can sing what with her church background. And if she has any difficulties, we know she has God to get her through."
Avery Corman's novels include "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Oh, God!"