Patti LuPone didn't like 90th Birthday 'Ladies who lunch'

[binau]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 5:37pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-knkF-Yu5E

She treads a bit more carefully than usual and doesn't give detail saying simply that 'she has a lot of thoughts' about it because she sings it every night - and that's all she will say about it. But I think it's clear she didn't like the performance, for some reason.

Updated On: 5/2/20 at 05:37 PM

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 5:51pm

Love her to death, but the "what crap does Patti have to say about ________" is getting old. She knows ripping on stuff both outwardly and in a more shady way gets her attention... She doesn't have to like everything, but disliking SO much is tiresome. 

[Gorlois]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 6:29pm

She *is* a *diva.* Her matter-of-fact speaking her mind attitude coupled with her incredible talent is why we’ll still be talking about her 50+ years in the future. She’ll never bore me.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 6:32pm

You say what you want, Patti.  If for nothing else, this is why I love you!

WARNING:  Naughty word ahead!

 

 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 6:41pm

The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 6:49pm

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

It wouldn't matter who did it. Patti likely feels it's "her" song now and "her" way is he only way to sing it. Likely also upset she wasn't asked to be in that number. Was it the most definitive vocal performance of the song we're all going to listen to constantly? No. It wasn't trying to be. It was a fun number with three wonderful performers. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 7:03pm

I thought each singer/actor chose which sondheim piece he/she would sing. Lupone picked “anyone can whistle” and was great!

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 7:20pm

I respect that Patti is always so candid. It’s not as though she goes out of her way to shade anything. She gets asked questions and she answers them honestly. I think people tend to clutch their pearls and overblow her statements a bit too much.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 7:28pm

as the ghost of Elaine Stritch snickers...

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 7:29pm

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

I agree, it was loads of fun, but a bit of a waste of both song and performers. Baranski could have tackled the song on her own, with Meryl singing I'm Still Here and Audra doing Losing My Mind. Still very grateful it happened tho, what a night!

Updated On: 5/2/20 at 07:29 PM

[romain2]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 9:26pm

Since this ambitious event was a thrown together quickly fundraiser for an excellent cause, Patti should have focused on the positive and praised their efforts instead of throwing shade.

Read the room Patti. And by the way you were excellent. As were all of the performers who gave so graciously of their time and talent.

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 9:32pm

I think people tend to clutch their pearls and overblow her statements a bit too much."

No pearl clutching or anything being overblown... just tiresome. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 10:16pm

nasty_khakis said: "CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

It wouldn't matter who did it. Patti likely feels it's "her" song now and "her" way is he only way to sing it. Likely also upset she wasn't asked to be in that number. Was it the most definitive vocal performance of the song we're all going to listen to constantly? No. It wasn't trying to be. It was a fun number with three wonderful performers."

Ding ding ding. Love Patti to death but this is the truth. Digging on something for being bad isn't the right argument for something that was never trying to be good in the first place. It was just trying to have some fun.

Updated On: 5/2/20 at 10:16 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 10:34pm

The performance was total fun and a great surprise. Considering the circumstances it was very well done and creative. I love Patti but she needs to stop being so caustic. She was just on WWHL and apparently she was replaced in the Mendes Gypsy revival the same way she was replaced in Sunset. Pretty telling. Maybe it’s you Patti.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 11:03pm

It’s Patti, she’s obviously territorial of the song right now, she even said It’s the song she currently has to sing. I’m sure it was a little weird for her to see the three of them sing it at this moment. Sure, she didn’t have to be that shady, but she basically is the first performer since Stritch to really make a mark with the song. Most Joannes since Stritch were underwhelming, and what Patti does in the theater with this number is truly something special.
In a way Stritch passed the torch to her at the 80th Birthday concert and I bet Patti will do the same to another performer years from now. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I understand her being territorial of the song.

[latitudex1]

Posted: 5/2/20 at 11:50pm

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

From a Broadway.com video podcast, they were going for recreating a lunch all three had with Sondheim together. Hence, "The Ladies Who Lunch."

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 12:39am

latitudex1 said: "CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

From a Broadway.com video podcast, they were going for recreating a lunch all three had with Sondheim together. Hence, "The Ladies Who Lunch."

I didn't realize. Thanks for shedding some light on that.

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/199197/heres-how-the-boozy-ladies-who-lunch-with-christine-baranski-meryl-streep-and-audra-mcdonald-happened/

Updated On: 5/3/20 at 12:39 AM

[binau]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 2:46am

What surprised me is that it would have been easy for her to dismiss the performance as a 'bit of fun' and then move on rather but I guess this is obviously coming from a more emotional place...I mean just a couple days earlier on WWHL she spoke about how she smashed her dressing room up after she was fired from Sunset so clearly she can be emotional hehe. However, I personally love it. She is so entertaining and with her talent/career success I don't find it cringeworthy like when a certain actor decided to complain that 'musicality' was gone from the Donna Murphy Into the Woods.

"apparently she was replaced in the Mendes Gypsy revival the same way she was replaced in Sunset. "

Well with Sunset she had a signed contract and was in the middle of performances in London though, whereas Gypsy was just an idea. And with Gypsy it might have been more personal* (Arthur held a grudge) while Sunset was likely purely professional (Glenn Close was a much more sure way to get business).

* I do suspect that Arthur thought Bernadette was an inspired choice at the time - especially because her 'audition' of "Some People" at Carniege Hall showed her in significantly stronger vocal health than approx. 6 years later during the actual run. According to Bernadette, Arthur approached her about doing the role and said that she 'actually looked' like the real Rose.

Updated On: 5/3/20 at 02:46 AM

[Passaggio]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 4:12am

LOL. I'm pretty sure Patti doesn't express her opinions strategically in order to garner press and I'm even more certain she doesn't speak her mind so that she could entertain you.

I appreciate her openness (because that's what it is). Like someone else said, "Ladies Who Lunch" is close to her and she does not so much own it, it owns her. Because she sang it every night, her understanding of it has evolved beyond what others might get from it so it's only natural to express how she felt about it. True. Others might withhold their true feelings and say something neutral about it for the sake of avoiding drama or coming off as petty. That's their choice. You can call it crass, tactless, ungraceful, or caustic. In the end, it is the truth and not a truth that will cause anyone great pain or suffering. So GO PATTI! LOL.

 

Updated On: 5/3/20 at 04:12 AM

[binau]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 4:21am

"Excuse me Meryl, Patti LuPone said she didn't like your performance of Laides Who Lunch. Do you have any comments?"

Meryl: "Patti who"?

[bryan2]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 9:01am

Christine Baranski  2 Tonys and an emmy

Meryl Streep 3 Emmys 3 academy awards  

Audra Mcdonald 1000 tony awards

Do you really think they care about what this bitter woman has to say. 

I used to love Patti but how high of an opinion of herself does she need...she is a star on Broadway and pretty much the rest of the country doesn't have a clue who she is ....She cannot praise any other performer , it is pathetic and sad...I get more and more disappointed in this woman....not that she should care....

[BJR]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 12:50pm

The second she said it I knew all the pearl-clutchers here would go off.

Agree it seemed unnecessary, as she could've easily dismissed it as "fun." But it's clear at this age, and she hasn't always been in this way, she isn't interested in giving the answer the publicist wants. Was happy she knew not to actually vocalize it, though.

Do I wish she took things less personally? Sure, but for her own sake. But it's her life, not ours.

And ALSO, to try to understand what made her feel insecure, I imagined: what if Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johanson, and Audra sang Being Alive? I imagine we all would've raised an eyebrow in the first couple bars - and I imagine Katrina would've, too. Likely, though, no one would've asked her about it and she probably would've have let it on.

[BJR]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 12:57pm

bryan2 said: "I used to love Patti but how high of an opinion of herself does she need...she is a star on Broadway and pretty much the rest of the country doesn't have a clue who she is ...."

The point you're making by listing their greater accomplishments is likely what upset her.

What y'all don't know about actors could clearly fill this board several times over even without shows running.

She doesn't think she's better. Like most actors, she likely feels a little vulnerable going on each night. She leans on the work and her technique, but is easily swayed by the approval of, say, Sondheim. So, while the part is still technically hers to navigate each night, to watch more famous women take on the part, and have to follow them repeatedly, likely felt like they shouldn't have put her in that spot.

[Stephen75]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 2:04pm

I'm mixed on a lot of Patti's behavior. On the one hand, I can't help but love a good bit of juicy Broadway gossip and the idea of a Broadway diva, but I also think some of her behavior is kind of rude and unprofessional. Like, why did she need to say that about that performance? Whether she likes it or not, those are her peers, especially Audra and Christine. Clearly it was performed out of good fun and we all know Patti is performing it "for real" on stage. Also like, it's a song with depth for sure, but it's also a hell of comedic number. It's not like they laughed their way through Send in the Clowns or something...

As for the trashing the dressing room, I get that was a horrible experience, but I also don't know if that is behavior she should necessarily be proud of. I'm not that broken up that she did it, but the way she just casually mentioned how she didn't perform that night as if she didn't have an entire cast relying on her and her performance kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I get it, it was a bad experience, maybe her cast mates understood and we don't know all the details, but it struck me as kind of in poor taste. She also has been trashing the idea of these fundraisers and concerts for COVID-19, yet she performed in Rosie's and did the Sondheim concert which benefited a cause as well. 

Don't get me wrong, I love Patti, she is one of the best of the best, and I do appreciate refreshing honesty (her comments about Madonna were absolutely on point, and I am sorry how Mendes treated her), but I really was put off by her Ladies who Lunch comments. This is a woman who goes on and on about being a trained ensemble actress, yet she threw three exemplary actresses under the bus for performing a song in good fun, as if she owns it (and honestly, nobody "owns" a song, but if anyone does own Ladies Who Lunch, it's Elaine.)

[Zion24]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 2:25pm

when i frst saw this headline, i thought it referred to Sondheim's 80th birthday celebration, at which Patti herself sang Ladies Who Lunch- in other words, I thought Patti was introspectively criticizing her prior version of the song. 

silly me! she's as rude as she is talented.