Just finished reading Patti LuPone's autobiography...
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's autobiography...
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's autobiography...#1
Posted: 7/29/11 at 10:17pm
..And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I learned a lot about not just her, but the ins and outs of the theatre community. And I literally laughed out loud a lot more than I ever thought I would. A few of my random thoughts...
-I was never a huge Patti fan, but how can you not respect this woman for the decades of struggles, sacrifices and hard work she has put in to get where she is.
-Let's cut to the chase. She can sound like a 'diva' and a 'bitch'.. but in the end, what she wants is a top-notch product and demands the best from all those around her.
-She's confident yet also, at times, very insecure
-She still gets nervous performing
-She has an incredible memory (I guess no shocker since she is an actress but still). I loved her little stories about meeting this person or that person. She does care and appreciate the 'little' people.
-She's not obsessed with fame and has never forgotten where she came from. She repeatedly thanked and/or mentioned her dresser, makeup and hair person. To me, little things like that speak volumes.
-She really, REALLY hates Andrew Lloyd Webber.
-She took shots at Glenn Close (and deservingly so).
-She despises Tevye
-She was kind and gracious to Ethel Merman.
-Bernadette was the only previous Rose she didn't mention by name (don't know if there's anything more to that, just something I noticed).
-Loved her story about catching the Concord back to London from a funeral and trying to make it back in time to perform in Sunset that night.. getting called to the cockpit and warming up in the back of the plane.
All in all, a great read.. a MUST read for thespians. Like her or not, this woman is indeed a living legend who has given us some of the most incredible theatrical performances of our time. Thoughts from anyone else?
Updated On: 7/30/11 at 10:17 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#2
Posted: 7/29/11 at 10:24pm
And she thought I was a prettier woman than her!
Gotta love that.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#2
Posted: 7/29/11 at 11:01pmThere's a biography of Patti LuPone available? I know there's an AUTObiography (actually a memoir), but didn't know of any other book.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#4
Posted: 7/29/11 at 11:07pmDidn't she make half that stuff up?
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#5
Posted: 7/29/11 at 11:39pmBut, I AM a prettier woman than her.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#6
Posted: 7/30/11 at 12:24amWell, that's nuttin' to brag about.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#7
Posted: 7/30/11 at 10:27amReading it is one thing, hearing her read it (via audiobook) is really an experience. One of my all time favorite audiobooks.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#8
Posted: 7/30/11 at 10:44am
Didn't she make half that stuff up?
I dare you to ask her that question to her face.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#9
Posted: 7/30/11 at 11:11amThe audiobook is wonderful. Patti, while having the reputation of a being a bitch, is actually viewed that way if only for being so committed to the craft. She is an actress first, and has a hard time with all the mythology surrounding her. I truly o-preciated her willingness to show herself as incredibly insecure and to express her voracity for actors feeling safe and supported by other actors, directors, producers and crew. I think the only time Patti is a "bitch" is when there is an emotionally unsafe work environment for actors. She knows that actors are being incredibly vulnerable on stage and she wants the best for herself and others.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#10
Posted: 7/30/11 at 12:44pm
bettyboy, I could give you a long list of actors, crew and especially Stage Managers who would disagree with you about your bitch comment.
But believe what you wish.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#11
Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:00pmOr you can believe first hand information from someone who has actually worked with her. I believe Patti LuPone gets a bad rap. Sure, she's demanding, but I found her a joy to work with, very respectful and appreciative of her co-workers, particularly those many would consider "beneath" her. I have only seen her go off when something's avoidably gone wrong, or when people are behaving less than professionally. I've never seen her go into diva mode without reason.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#12
Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:58pmAnd I second ghostlight2.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/06
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#13
Posted: 7/30/11 at 2:25pmWhy is Glen Close deserving of shots to be fired?
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#14
Posted: 7/30/11 at 2:59pm
I have the text in front of me, and the "shots" she fires are directed more towards the way Lloyd Webber handled the Close situation. LuPone had wanted to do the production in LA and New York only, so as not to move her young son to another country (they were living in LA at the time, as LIFE GOES ON had just ended), but she was told it was London and NY or nothing. She writes that she found it hurtful that ALW called a press conference to announce Close as the London Norma almost a year in advance of the production, before the London production had even opened. She also writes that, in her estimation, ALW was behind the rumor mill that was started before the official announcement that Close was going to Broadway was made. She also writes, with reasonable anger, about finding out that Close was going to Broadway in Liz Smith's column--while she was preparing for a performance, no less. And then ALW suggesting that she take over for Close in LA when she left to open the Broadway production. Can you imagine what that must have been like?
All of the anger is directed at ALW, and rightly so.
Here's what she wrote about Glenn:
"After SUNSET BOULEVARD opened in LA, the gossip really intensified. Glenn Close received rave reviews, but then again, she didn't have to sing the same high notes that I did. Andrew lowered the keys for Glenn. The score was extremely high, and again, only a few agile singers could sustain those songs eight times a week. Nevertheless, critics adored her." [This is a fact; ALW did lower the keys.]
And then:
"...Andrew's press man told the New York Times that Glenn Close was concerned that she "not be seen as some kind of Eve Harrington, the backstabbing opportunist from All About Eve. Well, if you don't want to be seen that way, pick up the phone and tell me how horrible you feel. Which she never did. Never.
"Do I think Glenn Close was complicit in what happened to me? Hard to say. But what I do know is that from the time she was announced in April, I never heard from her. No 'Good luck from one Norma to another,' no 'Congratulations on your opening,' no 'I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I had nothing to do with it.' Nothing. You might think it would have been common courtesy, if nothing else. When it was announced that Betty Buckley was replacing me in London, I called her to wish her well. After I'd been dropped from the New York cast, Betty went public right away with her opinion that I was badly treated."
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#15
Posted: 7/30/11 at 11:06pm
Didn't she make half that stuff up?
Well she is telling everyone she invented Post-its.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#16
Posted: 7/30/11 at 11:26pm
I agree with everyone's assessment of the audiobook version of Patti's memoirs (heck... that IS the title, isn't it?).
Just hearing those stories directly from her lips is an experience. The way she quotes people by emulating their 'voices' instead of just simply reading the quotes in HER own voice.
I had the audiobook on my iTunes and my ex-bf used to love listening to the chapters in shuffle mode just to hear her rants mesh from one story to another without any connection to one each other. Oh my.
Reading it is one thing. Hearing Patti reading it... that's mind-blowing.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#17
Posted: 7/30/11 at 11:41pm
I love LuPone, but this passage always bothered me:
But what I do know is that from the time she was announced in April, I never heard from her. No 'Good luck from one Norma to another,' no 'Congratulations on your opening,' no 'I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I had nothing to do with it.' Nothing. You might think it would have been common courtesy, if nothing else.
Did LuPone call Carole Demas after she was hired to replace her in The Baker's Wife? If she did, she makes no mention of it, and it comes across like there's a double-standard.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#18
Posted: 7/31/11 at 1:00pm
Patti lives in her own world, and it's your choice to buy into her delusion or not.
She one time made the comment that ALW hated women because of the notes that he put into Evita. Yes it's a hard score to sing, but that doesn't mean ALW hated women.
When they put the pedestrian walkways up around the theater district, Patti made the comment about how she would have to ask the tourists to move out of the way as she had a matinee to get to. We all know she puts limo service into her contract, so why make such a silly comment.
There are other weird comments she has made indicating that it's always about her and not really seeing the whole situation.
Broadway Star Joined: 9/21/03
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#19
Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:24pmHow many of ALW's female leads need an alternate? 2 of his biggest hits Evita and POTO, have needed to have an alternate. Does that mean that his female parts are very difficult? They have to be harder than other roles right?
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#20
Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:32pm
ALW's female writing is famously difficult. In fact, his writing in general is famously difficult and challenging for singer.
Another (kind of) ALW female role with an alternate is Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Another difficult female role is The Narrator in Joseph.
I'd say EVITA is the most difficult. Christine needing an alternate comes from the tradition of Sarah Brightman needing one, but it is a difficult part all the same (mainly for the duration)
Broadway Star Joined: 5/3/11
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#21
Posted: 7/31/11 at 5:25pmI'm listening to it right now, and it is quite awesome indeed.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#22
Posted: 7/31/11 at 5:35pm
Christine is extremely difficult to sing. The title song cadenza alone is ridiculous, I'm not surprised that they use an audio track during productions.
Evita has a crazy range and a lot of dancing. I think the issue with most of ALW's female roles is that they have to be able to sing low notes, belt high, and in some cases sing in their upper register as well.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#23
Posted: 8/1/11 at 1:48am
Oh who cares if it's true or not! It's a pee your pants funny book. I think a large majority of what she says is true (why would she need to lie?). She's truthful enough about her own faults that its hard to believe she'd just make crap up. I have the audio book too, and it's quite the experience! I wish every autobiography was as ballsy as La LuPone's! The Sunset Boulevard section is epic!
I think what bothers some people so much about Patti is that she is so honest. That's what I love most about her. Show Biz needs more people who aren't afraid to take crap and stand up for themselves. She's not a bull****ter and that pisses off the people who have bull****ted their way through life, I think.
Just finished reading Patti LuPone's biography...#24
Posted: 8/1/11 at 1:53amIs the audiobook worth 21 dollars? Also sorry I'm cheap. Updated On: 8/1/11 at 01:53 AM
Videos
