I'm sick of the sarcasm and I'm in a fairly good mood, so I'll tell the entire story, though comically.
The very mean Arthur Laurents' life partner died. The very mean Arthur Laurents realized that life is short upon the death of his loved one, so he decided not to be very mean anymore, just mean. With a little cajoling from Steve Sondheim and some pent up anger regarding the Sam Mendes revival (which he hated, minus Bernadette), he realized he should forgive Patti for doing something that only Arthur Laurents would have gotten mad about some ten years ago and let her do Gypsy. Another stroke of brilliance from now mean, not very mean, Arthur Laurents- he would direct the show.