Does anyone know what songs they will be singing (together and separately)? Will the orchestra be on stage or in the pit? Will their be any additional singers (backup singers) in the show?
Edit: I found a partial answer to my questions. A review from Variety from their show in L.A.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940558.html?categoryid=33&cs=1 ==========
Set forth as a loosely structured love story, LuPone and Patinkin create endearing personalities who endure the rigors of courtship (opening with a rapid-fire take on Sondheim's "Another Hundred People"), then tentatively find each other through a hauntingly romantic medley from "South Pacific." As if jolting herself back to reality, LuPone's insecure damsel rips though a hilariously manic, "Getting Married Today" (from "Company") while Patinkin's courtier calmly soothes with "Loving You" (from "Passion").
As the performers wend their way through the complexities of romantic partnering, Patinkin and LuPone illuminate how revealing the structure of a song can be. LuPone embodies the calm self-assuredness within Jerome Kern's "I'm Old Fashioned" and projects the inner peace of a woman finally understanding she's in love in Kander & Ebb's "A Quiet Thing." Patinkin impresses as a nerve-jangled suitor, conveying the droll tension in Frank Loesser's "Baby It's Cold Outside" and Kern's "I Won't Dance."
The two also make viable the unlikely pairing of the comical "Somewhere That's Green" (Patinkin), from "Little Shop of Horrors," with Sondheim's deeply sensitive, "In Buddy's Eyes" (LuPone), from "Follies," revealing different aspects of romantic longing. A highlight of the first act is the uniting of the standard, "April in Paris" with Murray Grand's farcical, "April in Fairbanks," featuring Reinking's deliciously staged pas de deux on office swivel chairs.
Much of the second act is taken up with two extended tuner medleys, distilling the essences of the failed relationships of Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along," and the tragic plight of star-crossed Julie Jordon and Billy Bigelow in Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel." Patinkin offers a tour de force as a rage-filled lyricist who feels he has been betrayed by his partner ("Franklin Shepard, Inc."), while LuPone is captivating as Julie, who grows into herself during the course of "If I Loved You."
As the show's helmer, Patinkin knows to give the audience what it wants, which is a tantalizing sampling of his partner's diva power. LuPone steps out of the context of the show's dramatic throughline to deliver a searing first-act closer in "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," then belts her "Gypsy" showstopper, "Everything's Coming Up Roses," in the second act.
Not to be outdone, Patinkin puts his considerable commedia-esque physical and vocal skills on display in the scenery-chewing vaudeville of "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" from "Follies."
Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)
Updated On: 1/17/10 at 11:32 AM
