Feud: Patti and Hal — Page 2

And who is this Mandy I hear talk about? I understand he also acts?

In the summer of 1979, EVITA played the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles for a remarkable nine weeks. Besides matinee's Klausner, there were quite a few EVITA alternates at the time who performed the title role over the two month period. I had a friend who worked the box office and would let me know when Patti or Terri were out that day. It was great fun seeing what other actresses brought to the table (or didn't). Of the five Eva's I saw at the time, I recall being most impressed by Derin Altay and Florence Lacey (and Loni Ackerman was great shortly after in the 1st national tour in '81). But for some reason no one came close to Patti. Not only was her singing phenomenal but her timing was impeccable. She just seemed to get more out of the role than anyone else in both the comedic and dramatic scenes of the show. It was HER role.

blaxx said: "What happened to Loni Ackerman? She was great."

The last mention of her I can find is a regional production of Caroline or Change in Ohio this past summer.

https://www.10tv.com/article/local-theater-company-attracts-broadway-actors-cast

Musicaldudepeter said: "Is that so? First time I've ever heard Patti's acting referred to as 'naturalistic.'Listening and watching clips of her - especially her final few weeks - and everything I've read about her performance led me to believe that she played the role ferociously with a similar larger than life energy."

Honestly, I think LuPone is a rather naturalistic actress. While she knows how to be a star and really "sell some sparkle", if you will...after seeing her performances in War Paint, Women on the Verge, and Gypsy...she is very Stanislavski/Uta Hagen in her method. She picks an action, and she plays it through. Sometimes she plays it like a freight train through a hay bale, but she simply is playing actions. She can adorn things with a bit of pizazz, but she's not "method" - she plays actions as she herself would play them under given circumstances. Sometimes that works (Gypsy big time, War Paint it worked, but to a lesser degree), and sometimes that doesn't (Women on the Verge). And because she approaches things that way, she demands a director to work with her to discover what actions to play, specifically. And because she is such a "diva", she expects said director to mold things around that, particularly when she is in the central role. That's what Arthur Laurents did for her (and in equal parts for Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines) with Gypsy, and it worked gangbusters (and that's also probably why it took three staged production of it for her to find her groove). She doesn't get off on being told what to do without being able to justify what she's doing. And I'm sure recreating Prince's staging as it was in London was very trying for both her and Prince. He knew what he wanted and she knew what she needed. And like BJR said...their egos are both so big that I'm sure it led to plenty of tension.

I love the photos of the former marquee and Patti and Hal. I worked at the Broadway Theatre during the original run of Les Miserables. I believe the marquee was changed just prior to Miss Saigon opening.

I also had the opportunity to work with Hal Prince in NYC Opera's production of Don Giovanni (198. My experience was wonderful. That production was supposed to be televised until the orchestra went on strike.

Updated On: 1/4/18 at 10:08 AM

blaxx said: "I just hope that Randy Rainbow lip synched to her full memoirs one day. That stuff is the best."

Why did he stop doing those?