Patti Lupone- Page 2

[AnotherDay46]

Posted: 2/13/06 at 12:54am

REALLY disliked her in Evita, but loved her in Sweeney...hmm...

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/13/06 at 12:54am

I actually think Patti sounded a lot healthier vocally. I think what she is doing is called acting. She made a choice and she's sticking it out and playing. It's not that she CAN'T sing bigger anymore, she totally can. She hasn't lost anything. She made a choice. I think you need to watch her when she's not being Mrs. Lovett. She accompanies the other actors with the same intensity she sings worst pies in london. Her character is subdued.


A thing that's annoying to me is people saying "ohhh Angela Lansbury is it for me. Patti isn't as good as her. It's all about Angela for me. " I don't see how someone can logically say that. They're Mrs. Lovetts are 2 different people. PEople are fogetting that Patti is playing a mental patient playing Mrs. Lovett. It's going to be VERY different. If you told Angela Lansbury to play it as a mental patient putting on a show, I think you would have gotten a MUCH different performance.



As for Donna, she annoys the hell out of me. Firstly, Pirelli is great comic tenor writing. TO have a woman play Pirelli where she's singing all through her passaggio flipping all over the place makes no sense to me. There wasn't anything added to Pirelli being cast as a woman. Honestly I don't think she's the best singer in the world, but I'm still trying to figure out why she was cast.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/13/06 at 6:03pm

Pirelli was cast as a female for one reason, and a very valid reason.

If Pirelli was a male. There would only be 3 female voices for the ensemble parts. The cast is mostly male. It would've been too overpowering with all the males. Having the 4th female voice adds a nice balance.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 2/13/06 at 10:48pm

Well said Jazzy. Two completely different interpertations but both equally valid considering the nwe direction.

BUT, Dare I say I prefer Patti's preformance all-around to Angela's?
:ucks::

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 1:15am

Actually Ljay889 that's not necessarily the reason. They hired a musician to play Bass. He's not a singing actor but a professional musician. If they wanted to have a female to male balance, you find a female bassist. They are around. No I think because that Pirelli's actually a role and Donna did a lot of the steering of the production, it was done on purpose for a more dramatic reason. I can't figure out why. It makes no sense to me.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 1:36am

ljay889 is right. According to Donna Lynn herself, it WAS because they needed another female voice.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 2:21am

well then that really makes me loose a bit of respect for whoever made that decision. I thought there'd be a real dramatic reason.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 2:39am

You can still find dramatic reasons for her character being a female. For example, notice that when Pirelli "unmasks", she drops the fake Italian accent, and adopts a very feminine tone. (in the original staging, "Pirelli" is revealed to be an Irish lad) There is, I believe, a strong suggestion of some kind of sexual past between Sweeney and "Pirelli" (Due to Donna Lynn's fantastic portrayal- notice the subtleties in her gesture as she says: "Why should you remember me?") This is interesting, as it renders Sweeney as less of a victim- he, too, was a victimizer, who may or many not have taken advantage of this young apprentice. "Pirelli's" blackmail of Sweeney gains some depth in this context (another form of revenge, perhaps)

It's also very noteworthy that the person that serves as orchestra conductor (who's also one of the "wards") is a female; she takes Toby's hand in the end, in a maternal gesture. More could be said on this subject, but I leave that to my fellow posters (if they wish to contribute)

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 3:00am

See I didn't see any of that the night I saw it. Personally I thought the "You don't remember me do ya?" line WAS a because Sweeney treated Pirelli like crap years ago. That's one reason why he blackmails him (other than the fact that he's greedy). I certainly didn't see a sexual thing between them. I'm not sure that would work anyway. I think if he raped the "female Pirelli", that makes his love for his wife less pure. I think for the vengance to be palpable then you need to feel that he's being driven by his intense love and devotion to his wife. I always thought that Donna was playing a ward playing a man. Which would mean that the sexual tension would then turn to homosexual tension, which is odd for this. I don't think a male barber would take on a female apprentice in the 19th century. i dunno. It's an interesting thought though. I never really considered it.

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 6:52am

Well, it's better than a girl-Anthony. :p

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 8:32am

There are many ways to interpret the show, and you're certainly entitled to your opinion. But as for Sweeney having taken advantage of "Pirelli", and thus making his love for his wife less pure- YES. That's precisely the point. This is a darker, danker Sweeney Todd. And this revelation, that Sweeney may have abused someone who worked for him(whether sexually or not)makes him less of a victim, and implicates him in the horrors of society - I like this revelation. For Sweeney to have been driven to so much darkness, one would HAVE to think he had some to begin with.

I think there are many subtleties to Donna Lynn's portrayal that you're missing out on. Whether she plays a ward playing a man, or a woman dressed as a man, however you want to interpret it, she does a laudable job.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 4:46pm

Patti LuPone is a goddess who deserves to have sacrifices each year in Times Square.

At the end of the Broadway season, after the Tony Awards, they should choose the most untalented leading lady and hang her in Times Square for Patti's sake.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 5:07pm

Arbo is a classically trained vocalist. Along with being a professional bass player. He makes use of his vocals in Sweeney. He's not there JUST for bass.

I think we should just use common sense, think of this logically. If it was Diana, Lauren, and Patti for the female parts, it wouldn't work. There are times where Patti is singing with the ensemble behind her (God! That's Good) and there would only be 2 females to sing the parts. Having 3 strong female voices and at times 4 (with Patti) adds a GREAT balance to the parts.

There would simply be too many male voices without Donna. Not to mention she acts as the conductor (something she has also stated HERSELF.) And she is Toby's warden.
Updated On: 2/14/06 at 05:07 PM

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 2/14/06 at 5:21pm

I'm also going to go ahead and say it. While I haven't seen Lupone in person yet (in May!), in comparing the cast recording performances of the two wonderful ladies Lansbury and Lupone, I prefer Lupone. Her delivery is much scarier than Lansbury's and I think that's because it's a much scarier production. Lansbury played it goofily sinister, which made sense in the production, while Lupone is straight-up sinister, which makes sense for her production. I think Lupone is an amazing Nellie Lovett and I can't wait to see her perform!

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 1:34am

Ljay889 you're missing what I'm saying. I know Arbo is a musician. I know he sings. I simply said that you can find a female bassist who can sing. It's really not as hard as it seems. Then you're free to cast a male Pirelli who can conduct and play and do everything, but have the lovely writing that Sondheim did and wouldn't have someone flipping all over their passaggio. It really would solve the problem. So I still don't see a really great reason to cast a female Pirelli.

I suppose if Audra or Kristin played Pirelli I wouldn't complain. I just haven't really liked Donna in a lot.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 5:26am

Patti LuPone, I adore you in everything and in Sweeney you are the BEST - I cannot wait to see you get the Tony this year Girlfriend, You deserve it! You Go Miss Patti!! xxooo, Jimmy