LuPone on Sondheim, ALW, Laurents, Prince and more

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 9:53am

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/21/magazine/patti-lupone-broadway-company.html

Boy. She is not holding back. This interview is something.
I find it interesting that she experiences the same insecurity about Sondheim’s opinion of her like Elaine Stritch did.

Updated On: 10/21/19 at 09:53 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 10:24am

While I have great appreciation for Ms. LuPone as a performer, this interview reinforced for me what I've always suspected - that she's a terribly insecure person who is compelled to paint herself as a victim in virtually every story from her life. She asserts that everyone from her father on down has bullied her, and yet she herself is a bully. Her personality and demeanor are acerbic at best and downright rude at worst. She tells countless stories of unpleasant career experiences, and the unpleasantness is always someone else's fault. It's interesting to me that there is one common denominator in all of those experiences: Patti LuPone.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 10:36am

A lot of Patti's sob stories have had more performances than PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.  I wonder how the many fans of Mr. Prince will take her criticism of him so soon after his parting?

[DaveyG]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 10:56am

A close friend of mine was the subject of her bad behavior. She was a bully. So it’s awfully rich that she’s claiming she’s constantly the victim. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 11:28am

Lot666 said: "While I have great appreciation for Ms. LuPone as a performer, this interview reinforced for me what I've always suspected - that she's a terribly insecure person who is compelled to paintherself as a victim in virtually every story from her life. She asserts that everyone from her father on down has bullied her, and yet she herself is a bully. Her personality and demeanor are acerbic at best and downright rude at worst. She tells countless stories of unpleasant career experiences, and the unpleasantness is always someone else's fault. It's interesting to me that there is one common denominator in all of those experiences: Patti LuPone."

I agree. She plays the victim card to justify her own behavior. In an industry that is 100% egomaniacal, it's unsurprising that directors and writers may be unrelenting in their criticism as they realize their vision. But how much of this was actual targeted abuse, as opposed to the ego-driven nature of creating something new by people with equally out-sized egos? While I'm sure there were moments that may count as real abuse, most of her criticisms resort to name calling on her part. Have any other performers heaped as much "criticism" on Andrew Lloyd Webber as LuPone has? 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 11:40am

Fosse76 said: "Have any other performers heaped as much "criticism" on Andrew Lloyd Webber as LuPone has?"

I’m not bothered by that. He kind of deserves it after the way he handled Sunset Boulevard. And ultimately the judge agreed.

It’s a shame her experience with Hal Prince was not better but from her description of the event the best thing to do in that circumstance may have just been for her to note the blocking change and then maybe talk to Hal Prince about it privately afterwards. In my experience directors can change their minds and change blocking all the time and you just have to roll with it. There’s no reason to argue about it.

If he did tell the New York company the LA company was better than them it could have just been a misguided attempt to rally the troops so to speak and probably put the company, including Patti, perhaps a bit on edge and on the defense.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 12:06pm

I'm in agreement here. In fact, I always joke her book should have been subtitled "another time I was personally victimized and wronged." When every experience you have is a problem, there's a common denominator there. Webber being an outlier that there are quite a few stories and examples of his mistreatment of people and "misunderstandings." I often wonder about her stories of deals being unacceptable. I fully understand a lot of producers will low ball her with small salaries and other things not included and it's entirely normal for her to ask for a car service, vocal lessons with a certain person, an apartment in town, guarantee of any promotional recordings, etc etc. I understand her laundry list is all from things like Webber releasing Streisand tracks despite being told hers would be the first heard, etc etc etc, but sometimes I wonder if her demands might be too far. I say this not knowing what the always are exactly, obviously. 

I do wonder why no one else has ever said such stories about Prince. I've heard many wonderful stories about him and heard he was exacting but never such claims of bullying. Maybe he's worse when restaging and she hated being plugged into existing work and there was just a clash there, maybe he was always a bully but nobody dared go against him. Who knows?

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 12:14pm

Lot666 said: "While I have great appreciation for Ms. LuPone as a performer, this interview reinforced for me what I've always suspected - that she's a terribly insecure person who is compelled to paintherself as a victim in virtually every story from her life. She asserts that everyone from her father on down has bulliedher, and yet she herself is a bully. Her personality and demeanor are acerbic at best and downright rude at worst. She tells countlessstories of unpleasant career experiences, and the unpleasantness is always someone else's fault. It's interesting to me thatthere is one common denominator in all of those experiences: Patti LuPone."

Most tactful way to put it. 

[BJR]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 12:19pm

To disagree a bit, I think she also has some nice self awareness and self criticism in the interview, like around the diction issue.

Many performers are this insecure. Many. She’s just at an age where she is saying whatever she pleases.

Doesn’t mean she can’t ever be in the wrong, but folks judging her for how she sees her own life seems silly at best and possibly even hypocritical at worst. Don’t want her opinions on her life, don’t read them. But it’s her life she’s talking about.

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 12:20pm

I have to add "You don't know when you're not enunciating." Dear God, this from a woman who calls herself an "old-line musical theater" woman. This is your job. You pronounce your final syllables clearly. Articulate your "t"s and "d"s clearly. You over emphasize your pronunciation so it reaches clearly across the footlights (or through the speakers, as is now the case). You do exercises. You also, ahem, listen to your director (or stage manager after the show opens) about how your diction is going. 

Lord, this woman...who is, yes, talented and--whether she likes the show or not--is a major factor in the success of Evita. Admire her talent. Her personality? I'll reserve my judgement. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 1:41pm

Ok even in the worst possible interpretation of the events doesn't sound like Prince was bullying her. He was "treating her like a chorus girl instead of a leading lady," as she said, and that's not bullying, that's just conveying high expectations. Telling the NY company that the LA company was better isn't all that nice, but a lot of supervisors use that kind of old-school motivation, and Prince was definitely an old-school director. 

It's a good thing Patti never worked with Bob Fosse or Jerome Robbins ...

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 1:47pm

This interview made me roll my eyes. I find it very childish that every single time she tells a story, she is never in the wrong. I say childish because to me, it comes across as a very immature move. I wonder if it would actually kill her to own up to a mistake she's made in the past rather than pass the buck and blame her negative actions onto someone else. 

[east side story]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 1:48pm

Yikes.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 1:53pm

poisonivy2 said: "Telling the NY company that the LA company was better isn't all that nice, but a lot of supervisors use that kind of old-school motivation, and Prince was definitely an old-school director."

Can I just point out that this kind of thinking is exactly why there are cultures of bullying or otherwise toxic treatment in a lot of industries? Saying that something is "old-school" doesn't mean that it wasn't bullying or could otherwise be damaging to a performer's psyche.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:02pm

"He treated me like a stupid chorus girl."

Ouch!

[castlestreet]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:21pm

If ALW writes nothing but shmoltz, then why oh why did she want to sing his score for Sunset so damn bad when practically every major singing actress wanted the part?

I love her, and have enjoyed some pretty damn incredible performances of hers - but for the love of God she has got to get over herself.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:23pm

givesmevoice said: "poisonivy2 said: "Telling the NY company that the LA company was better isn't all that nice, but a lot of supervisors use that kind of old-school motivation, and Prince was definitely an old-school director."

Can I just point out that this kind of thinking is exactly why there are cultures of bullying or otherwise toxic treatment in a lot of industries? Saying that something is "old-school" doesn't mean that it wasn't bullying or could otherwise be damaging to a performer's psyche."

Can I just point out that for a performer who gives off the “I’m tough as nails and can’t get through anything” attitude comes off as a bit weak if this was bullying to her.  I realize she was young at the time, but the culture of Juilliard isn’t a charm school - so she had gone through some bumps already.

Updated On: 10/21/19 at 02:23 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:23pm

LuPone's performance during EVITA was apparently hugely inconsistent and erratic. Some perhaps could even argue undisciplined.  The fact that this woman would  continually argue with her director, who was clearly not happy with what he saw when he came back to check on the show, and then take umbrage when he criticized her in front of the company speaks way more about her issues than Hal Prince exhibiting untoward behavior. 

I really hope someday some of LuPone's former cast mates call her out. She truly is always the victim never to blame in the story of her life she tells herself.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:29pm

Ive never seen her live but if I haven't heard she's one of the most talented actresses to ever grace Broadway id never go see Company. Just a plain old, mean, and rotten women. I have no respect for people who take their insecurities and push it onto others as deflection. I believe thats the exact definition of a bully, too! 

[binau]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:38pm

I find it interesting that despite achieving success in Sweeney, Gypsy and Company she still isn’t really sure if Sondheim likes her work. Maybe there is more that goes on behind the scenes in ‘the room where it happened’ but gurl, it’s time to Move On.

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:50pm

Call me a diva-worshiper, but I kind of have to side with Patti on a lot of the Hal Prince stuff. Yes, the behavior she describes here was common in those days, but that doesn't make it acceptable. There are a lot of directors with big egos who like to flaunt their power. Yelling at an actress for changing the blocking instead of checking with stage management to see if he had changed the blocking in previews, telling the New York company that the LA company was better, all of this behavior just speaks volumes about one man's ego and refusal to understand the vulnerability every actor experiences. Sure, Patti's memoir puts her as the victim in most of her stories (honestly, if you wrote a memoir, I'm sure most of you would do the same), but Hal Prince's book Sense of Occasion from a year or two ago is one of the most self-congratulatory things I've read in my life. 

I find it curious that so many people are taking from this article that Patti is a miserable, mean, unduly nasty person. The focus of this piece seemed to me to be on how Patti developed this toughness as a result of the toughness that was thrust against her early in her career. I mean, the woman worked with David Merrick--I'm sure that would do a number on anyone. Dare I say... I wonder if some of her words would be received differently if they were coming from a man?

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 2:58pm

I don't see how Hal Prince telling the Broadway company that the Los Angeles company is better is abuse in any way or even a show of ego.  Clearly it was intended to motivate the NY company  to clean up their act. and perform the show better. There were a also lot of issues on Broadway in the 1980s with drug abuse etc. There have been others on these boards who have posted those stories. but suffice to say that Prince wasn't the only director who had to be called back in to clean up messy shows (and I'm not insinuating that LuPone was on drugs).  But Sometimes a director needs to crack a whip to pull a company together.  LuPone no doubt was also fragile throughout the entire EVITA run because she felt like everyone in the company was already out to get her, per her book. 

Updated On: 10/21/19 at 02:58 PM

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 3:12pm

Maintenance rehearsals can (and should be) common in any long run--and, in fact, Hal Prince's frequent visits to his long running shows is one of the things I respect and admire most about him in his career. However, starting a rehearsal by comparing a group of actors to another group of actors is pretty insulting. The way you make a show better is by giving specific notes, not general shaming. 

And yes, Patti felt isolated from the rest of her company and said so in her book. I can't speak to whether or not the rest of the company was out to get her. What I can speak to is that she was singing the hardest role ever written for the musical theatre and getting through it by sheer force of will without much technical training in singing. She was living in a state of terror about whether or not her voice would get her through each performance and was totally reaching in the dark. In her book she talks about being out of town for the show and singing her voice entirely raw while recording the cast album (before you say anything, you try singing that score all day long!). While she was on doctor-ordered vocal rest, she asked if she could walk the blocking during technical rehearsals while someone else sang or read her lines (pretty reasonable as marking is extremely common during tech rehearsals because they are so long and draining, and the focus is not on the actors). She wanted to be prepared and know the backstage track of her character and do as much as she could while recovering from vocal injury, and her director refused her that opportunity. Perhaps she lashed out (she probably did), but she was changing Broadway history by singing in a range nobody had ever really done before and without the vocal training she required. I think a lot of people are quick to judge the star for performing "diva behavior" without looking at all the surrounding circumstances.

[BJR]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 3:20pm

Ravenclaw said: "The way you make a show better is by giving specific notes, not general shaming.

Correct.

Either none of you are directors, or would make very sh***y ones.

This is not how you speak to a company, and certainly not to a leading lady who need the confidence to carry the show every night.

For those bringing up Robbins or Fosse, spare me. The article interview explicitly discusses how things were then and may be different now. Just because the behavior was common doesn’t mean it wasn’t abusive.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/21/19 at 3:24pm

Strange article that feels like Patti was assuming the full-on Patti LuPone persona just for the sake of a juicy interview. I can't argue with any of the above posters who find her rantings self-serving and victim-pleading.

It baffles me when I think back to the only time I actually met the woman in person, 3 years ago on a gay cruise in Tahiti. Any showqueen who wanted to sing back-up on 3 numbers of her show were invited to come to a rehearsal 2 days earlier. There was Patti herself, no makeup or wig, in a humble housecoat and slippers, completely unassuming and nurturing as any caring mom who wanted her charges to do the best they could. None of us were pros, but we all waded through our chorus parts on "Trouble", "Blow Gabriel Blow", and "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" as best we could on first viewing. She patiently explained the context and motivation for each song with a lovely light touch, warm humor, and a pure love for the guys and girls amassed on the stage behind her. If someone suggested some improv choreography for the chorus, she was all for it. The night of the show (2 shows actually), we belted out our parts for all we were worth, to Patti's apparent delight and approval. She was way more than a diva throwing around her weight compelled by a crippling insecurity. She was a woman doing what she loved, and spreading that love to fill the room.

 

Updated On: 10/21/19 at 03:24 PM