Help me love Patti Lupone! — Page 2

In my opinion, of course the director gets credit! However, ultimately, SHE is the one on the stage delivering. A director can only push a performer so far. At some point (in my opinion - when the curtain rises), the director becomes a spectator just like the rest of the audience (for lack of a better phrase).

This is not the first time the director/performer dichotomy has been argued in a discussion of Patti LuPone's ability (curiously, it seems to be largely unique to the discussion of this particular performer; though, if logic were to follow a linear path, it should be a line of thought applicable to every performer... everywhere), so let me pose this: Just how much credit would one want to give to a director for Patti's performace? At what point is she allowed to take credit for what she does?

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Why I love Patti:
Performance wise:
I love that she is always "on"..as others have said...it is hard NOT to watch her on a stage no matter what else is happening. I love that she takes chances with a character to make it her own (i.e. Anything Goes, Sweeney, Can-Can, Master Class). I love that she can play drama, comedy, and musicals just as well ( a REAL triple threat).
Voice:
Can give you shivers, great to cry over, and just as good to clean the house while listening.
Public service:
Contrary to some above posts...I remember Patti being one of the FIRST to support GMHC (from their original Circus fundraisers to donating all proceeds from her Carnegie Hall concert) and more recently her BC/EFA Lincoln Center concert.

Plus...the ramblings on her website are a riot

Updated On: 6/27/06 at 08:35 PM

For me the reason I adore Patti is epitomized by her actions during Harry Connick Jr's opening to the Tony awards two weeks ago. She was the only person on that dais (if you want to call it that) that seemed to be enjoyed herself and the music.

"Mugging" (to borrow your term) implies that she was carrying on "for the camera," and from what I remember, she wasn't even aware the camera had panned to her (at least not as far as this viewer could tell). She was conversing with whoever was beside her while she boogied down, never once glancing at the camera.

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Updated On: 6/27/06 at 10:02 PM

Updated On: 12/2/14 at 10:31 PM

SeptemberKel, it sounds like you think that mugging only has to do with what an actor might do when a camera is there. It does, of course, if the phrase "mugging for the camera" is used, but that phrase wasn't used by Tom14850. He just said that she was mugging, which an actor can do whether a camera's rolling or not.

Btw, Tom, Lonny Price also directed her in Can Can. So if he was at least partly responsible for her bad performance in Candide, he was perhaps partly responsible for her good performance in Can Can.

Personally, I didn't think she was all that great in either, though she was certainly better in Can Can. But what was up with the whole cast using French accents? Now that was a decision for which Lonny Price should be blamed.

After watching Anything Goes' title song Broadway: The Lost Treasures II, I got hooked!

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