Posted: 5/26/25 at 12:40pm
Audra is my favorite Rose and this is still kind of hilarious to me. We don't have many big Broadway personalities anymore, good or bad. What we do have is a crop of actors as narcissistic as any era's who nevertheless now feel compelled to convince us that they have a monopoly on the concept of empathy.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 12:55pm
DiscoCrows said: "“I washed my hands of a couple of people in the business.” One of them, I found out later, was a press agent who, after an offstage blowup, grabbed a bottle of champagne from his office and gave it to LuPone to make amends; he did not realize that the label read “Happy Opening, Sunset Boulevard.”
I mean this can’t possibly be ANYONE other than Rick Miramontez, right?"
Of course. He repped both shows. And as the principal of the firm is likely the only one who would have a "blowup" with a star.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 1:00pm
I thought this was quite a good profile and reminded me how much I want Patti to write a sequal to her memior. I've probably read the original close to 10 times.
I think most of us saw the Hell's Kitchen "controversy" when it happened and chalked it up to much ado about nothing. And symbolic of the weaponization of these callout posts - used more to attack people than to foster discussion.
In a certain way, Patti's unrelenting candor and openess has innoculated her from these types of attacks. There's a certain underhandedness in the way some people fight through likes and comments. As the song goes "Say that **** with your chest."
Posted: 5/26/25 at 1:44pm
I personally think all artists should be this publicly petty and b*tchy to each other. It's fun!
Posted: 5/26/25 at 1:52pm
Eh, I love Patti’s candor, but I guess when it feels validly directed at people who deserve it, or I could at least sympathize with her dislike.
But….Audra? Like…what’s not to like about Audra? She’s all grace and class. I have not yet seen this production of Gypsy, and the LuPone one is one of my favorite theater experiences ever & possibly the greatest performance I’ve seen on stage. But I can’t imagine beefing with Audra of all people. A rare instance where Patti kind of makes herself look jealous and small, imo.
Updated On: 5/26/25 at 01:52 PM
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:00pm
Sally Durant Plummer said: "I thought this was quite a good profile and reminded me how much I want Patti to write a sequal to her memior. I've probably read the original close to 10 times.”
The audiobook version is the greatest audiobook ever recorded. It’s the only way I’ve ever (and will ever) read this book
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:07pm
quizking101 said: "I wish there was a gift link so I could read the whole thing.
But judging by what I’m reading here, yeah, Patti is gonna Patti and you can take it or leave it.
I do think that her saying Kecia Lewis is not a Broadway veteran because she doesn’t have the same amount of credits as Pattiis harshly condescending at the very least, especially considering the opportunities for black performers and certainly black performers of a certain age.
She actually has 11 Broadway credits to her name going back to the original Dreamgirls in 1981, as well as a CVS receipt-length list of regional and off-B credits. Plus, the woman her first Tony at 59 in a category with an unprecedented SEVEN nominees."
Patti’s comment on Kecia displays her overwhelming ignorance and will do nothing to dispel the belief that she’s a cranky old racist b. She is nothing to be admired.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:10pm
EthelMae said: "Did Ms. LuPone see Ms. McDonald in Gypsy in order to make her “beautiful day” comment?I can’t believe she did because that would have made press. I have loved Ms. LuPone on stage, screen and TV for years but in this horrible climate we’re now living in, kindness would be a refreshing feeling towards others."
Oh, come on. This isn’t some politically charged, sensitively nuanced disagreement between two world leaders. It’s a legendarily camp Broadway diva keeping it real and expressing herself.
The “no comment” argument is one thing, but implying that she should lie and say she loved her performance to be “kind” is just ridiculous.
And, as mentioned above, she is a Tony voter so she would be required to see Gypsy in order to vote for any category in which it’s nominated.
The only “press” that came out about her attending Sunset was an illegally recorded video of her in the theater, apart from her voice note to Frank Dillella, so why would there be any “press” about her seeing Gypsy…?
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:10pm
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:11pm
smidge2 said: "quizking101 said: "I wish there was a gift link so I could read the whole thing.
But judging by what I’m reading here, yeah, Patti is gonna Patti and you can take it or leave it.
I do think that her saying Kecia Lewis is not a Broadway veteran because she doesn’t have the same amount of credits as Pattiis harshly condescending at the very least, especially considering the opportunities for black performers and certainly black performers of a certain age.
She actually has 11 Broadway credits to her name going back to the original Dreamgirls in 1981, as well as a CVS receipt-length list of regional and off-B credits. Plus, the woman her first Tony at 59 in a category with an unprecedented SEVEN nominees."
Patti’s comment on Kecia displays her overwhelming ignorance and will do nothing to dispel the belief that she’s a cranky old racist b. She is nothing to be admired."
Her comments about Kecia are certainly harsh (especially after all this time), but calling her racist is a reach at best.
Some of yall need to touch grass.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:18pm
iluvtheatertrash said: "A woman who has tread the boards since the 80’s is a vet. Discrediting a woman of color’s career and calling her a “bitch” is repugnant behavior and does nothing to help LuPone dodge the racist claims. Garbage. "
What exactly are these racist “claims” you speak of…?
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:20pm
Patti does not come off very well in this profile.
While, of course, understanding that much of that is based on actual words that have come out of her actual mouth, all I will add is that Michael Schulman, in my experience, has made a career off of writing these profiles --- profiles of famous individuals where he creates a persona for them in his head and then writes a profile, as dishy as can be, where he does all he can to confirm that persona. I find it a little repugnant, and not good journalism on top of that.
Take that last paragraph: ""What a beautiful day." It was. In Central Park, New Yorkers were strolling among the apple blossoms. “Oh, people sitting by themselves, lonely as hell,” LuPone observed, peering from her window. “HA! Just lonely as hell out there.”"
With one inserted sentence in the middle, he's taken a random odd salty comment from an older woman and subtly used it as proof that she can't appreciate the park, the people outside, the nice day, etc. etc. etc.
Moments like this are littered through the profile ("like a tigress ready to pounce"? really?). Of course, that doesn't excuse many of these comments (especially the words on Kecia Lewis... as iluvtheatertrash has said, going for her vet status and calling her a "bitch" is really not the move).
Just my two cents on the amount that I discredit Schulman's byline.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:36pm
MB124 said: "iluvtheatertrash said: "A woman who has tread the boards since the 80’s is a vet. Discrediting a woman of color’s career and calling her a “bitch” is repugnant behavior and does nothing to help LuPone dodge the racist claims. Garbage. "
What exactly are these racist “claims” you speak of…?"
The implication was that her letter to Hell’s Kitchen was an act of micro aggression. I don’t know if I actually agree with Lewis’ take, but I don’t think discrediting Kecia’s long career does anything to help her squash the opinion of those who DO agree that it was a biased micro aggression.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:37pm
It's really not that hard to understand why a white woman responding to feelings that she's racially insensitive by calling the Black woman in question a bitch would be perceived as just a further example of her racism but of course it's hard to understand for the average BWW poster. Lol. Patti's gonna Patti and the white losers on this board gonna defend it every time. Oh well!
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:46pm
I think that boiling the section of the profile re: Hell's Kitchen as "Patti called Kecia Lewis a bitch," is reductive, cherry-picking, and deliberately removing all sense of nuance and specificity to the quote and topic. Funnily enough, this is a counterpoint to writing a profile: a lengthy, wide-ranging piece meant to give the reader a sense of understanding and insight into a person's psyche. Quotes add to the depth and contradictions of human beings. They are meant to be digested in the context of the piece, but of course posting a pithy paragraph or quote on twitter or a message board to invite discourse is much more in line with the 2025 mindset.
Part of the reason I love Patti so much is because I feel like I know her. She lets you in, exposing her virtues and flaws over and over again. How many discourses has she reigned over? How many people has she annoyed and made enemies of? She doesn't run away from it, she embraces it. And she opens herself up to examination in a way virtually unheard of in modern stardom, be it film, theatre, or television.
Some people don't have that relationship with the audience. People who are labeled either "classy and above it all" or "aloof and closed off," depending on who you ask. People who may be brilliant artists, but who are not exposing themselves to the outside in the way others do. That's not a slight or a compliment, merely an observation. And people can choose to be drawn to that or to gravitate towards those more accessible.
In any case, Patti has a right to say whatever she wants to say in this piece. Just as much of a right as Audra McDonald had to comment (and lend implicit support to) Kecia Lewis' social media post. Perhaps one comes off as more appropriate to some fans' sensibilities, but one is not inherently more correct than the other. And the belief that one is, and that the fact should be self-evident, is more revealing about your worldview than either LuPone or McDonald's.
Updated On: 5/26/25 at 02:46 PM
Posted: 5/26/25 at 2:47pm
Ke3 said: "It's really not that hard to understand why a white woman responding to feelings that she's racially insensitive by calling the Black woman in question a bitch would be perceived as just a further example of her racism but of course it's hard to understand for the average BWW poster. Lol. Patti's gonna Patti and the white losers on this board gonna defend it every time. Oh well!"
The OP said that her “bitch” comment didn’t “help dodge the racist claims,” indicating there were multiple claims of racism against LuPone prior to this profile being published.
I asked what they were. (And still didn’t get much more clarity there.)
So, what are you even saying?
And FWIW, I’m a POC. Not a “white loser.”
Take it down a few notches.
Updated On: 5/26/25 at 02:47 PM
Posted: 5/26/25 at 3:07pm
MB124 said: "Ke3 said: "It's really not that hard to understand why a white woman responding to feelings that she's racially insensitive by calling the Black woman in question a bitch would be perceived as just a further example of her racism but of course it's hard to understand for the average BWW poster. Lol. Patti's gonna Patti and the white losers on this board gonna defend it every time. Oh well!"
The OP said that her “bitch” comment didn’t “help dodge the racist claims,” indicatingthere were multiple claims of racism against LuPone prior to this profile being published.
I asked what they were. (And stilldidn’t get much more clarity there.)
So, what are you even saying?
And FWIW, I’m a POC. Not a “white loser.”
Take it down a few notches."
You’re right, I shouldn’t have said claims. I meant the multiple people who expressed they found it a micro aggression, not that there were multiple claims. (If there are others, I don’t know of them.) Apologies.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:17pm
It actually would have been fun if LuPone presented Best Actress: if Nicole or Audra wins it would be a passing-of-the-torch moment, if Jasmine wins it would be a legend anointing a newcomer. But that seems rather unlikely.
Maybe she can introduce the SUNSET performance.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:34pm
While LuPone’s cantankerous, outspoken shtick is sometimes amusing, most of that profile paints a picture of a miserable woman. Whether that misery is a product of the adversity she’s faced in her personal and professional life, or whether it’s a shield she puts up to deflect actual vulnerability, I don’t know. But she seems like she’s getting worse with age, not better. I just can’t imagine being as successful and respected as she is and walking through life with that much pent up rage.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:44pm
ColorTheHours048 said: "I just can’t imagine being as successful and respected as she is and walking through life with that much pent uprage."
Well, she puts her feelings out there, so that rage is certainly not pent up.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:49pm
Always interesting to see who gets celebrated and who grts chastised or dismissed for brashness and speaking their mind.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:51pm
ColorTheHours048 said: "While LuPone’s cantankerous, outspoken shtick is sometimes amusing, most of that profile paints a picture of a miserable woman. Whether that misery is a product of the adversity she’s faced in her personal and professional life, or whether it’s a shield she puts up to deflect actual vulnerability, I don’t know. But she seems like she’s getting worse with age, not better. I just can’t imagine being as successful and respected as she is and walking through life with that much pent uprage."
There is severe narcissism at play, and I'm sure deep, deep insecurity and vulnerability. (Perhaps a combo of conditions, whatever it is isn't in my wheelhouse to diagnose.)
Elaine Stritch never seemed this mean in her outspokenness.
Patti's statement in the wake of her brother's death was rather odd as well –– as though even that had to be about her: "My brother Bobby was a dancer unparalleled. And it all started when he saw me in a dance recital wearing a hula skirt. I was 4, he was 7. A life-sized picture of Bobby dancing in Jose Limon's modern ballet 'There Is a Time' hung in the photo gallery of the Juilliard School, where Bobby preceded me as a student in the dance division. A few years later, as a student in the theater division, I would walk by it proudly as well as in awe."
Posted: 5/26/25 at 4:57pm
I get the sense that Patti has leaned into this persona more and more as the years go on because it gets her press, jobs, and people talking. It works every time. Honestly, I wonder where her career and status in pop culture would be without the infamous Gypsy freak out, her comments on Trump and Madonna, the Glenn Close saga, etc. Like it or not, she really works her public image to her advantage and it has only contributed to her legendary status.
Posted: 5/26/25 at 5:01pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Patti's statement in the wake of her brother's death was rather odd as well –– as though even that had to be about her: "My brother Bobby was a dancer unparalleled. And it all started when he saw me in a dance recital wearing a hula skirt. I was 4, he was 7.A life-sized picture of Bobby dancing in Jose Limon's modern ballet 'There Is a Time' hung in the photo gallery of the Juilliard School, where Bobby preceded me as a student in the dance division. A few years later, as a student in the theater division, I would walk by it proudly as well as in awe.""
What a bizarre, callous, and unnecessary post (not to mention ill-reasoned and lacking emotional understanding).
