Mark Your Calendars - Patti LuPone: A Memoir Signing- Page 2

[bundy5000]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 3:59pm

I have a morning class that day and I live in Allentown PA so I am going try and get there around 4pm, so after I eat in the city, get to the city and meet Patti Lupone (again) it will be a well 80 some dollars well spent!

[Tamerlano]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 4:51pm

If this is why the preview of WOTVOANB has been cancelled she can stick the book where the sun dont shine.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 5:01pm

Huh?? Her book has nothing to do with Verge canceling their first preview.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 5:05pm

Oh yeah, a book signing three weeks prior to the start of the run is TOTALLY why the first preview was cancelled.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 9:52pm

Sounds like someone is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. :p

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 11:04pm

Sooo, who went? What did you think?

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 11:37pm

I was there. It was quite nice. I arrived at 7 and ended up being the last person to get a wristband for the standby room. We had to stand outside the room during the talk and watch everything either through the windows or on a tv. We also were not guaranteed to get our books signed.

Patti discussed many things from various stages of her career. I haven't read or listened to the memoir yet, but I got the sense that some of the things she discussed weren't in her memoir. She talked about her Julliard training, The Robber Bridegroom, Evita, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, etc. She also said that she wanted the next thing after Women on the Verge to be a play. She said she was trained as an actress at Julliard and she doesn't like being pigeonholed into musicals.

Overall, she seemed very candid, both about others and herself. She told a story about Evita (I think it was the final performance in LA) where her voice just stopped and she walked offstage (it sounded like before the end of Act One, but I'm assuming it would have to be at intermission), went and packed up her dressing room and left in 15 minutes, went home and smoked a joint in front of her mother. She also talked a bit about visitations from Eva Peron's ghost. Talked a bit about Sunset Boulevard and the drama there, but also acknowledged that she should have listened to all of the signs telling her to get out.

Songs she sang: Something from Robber Bridegroom, I believe was first, but I didn't recognize it. "I Get a Kick Out of You" from Anything Goes. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from Pal Joey. During the audience question segment (we couldn't hear the questions only the answers into the mic), someone must have requested that she sing "I Dreamed a Dream". Someone in the audience (probably the same person), "happened" to have the sheet music in the original key, so she sang it and it was awesome. She got a bit teary because it's such a sad song and she hasn't sung it in a very long time.

She ended up signing memoirs for all of us, even those standing by! No personalization or pictures, just a quick signature, but hey, I'm not gonna complain! It was wonderful to see this legend and I'm really looking forward to Women on the Verge!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 11:53pm

The first song she sang was "Sleepy Man" from The Robber Bridegroom. She got a little choked up, which was really sweet.

Something else that was a lovely surprise was that Zoe Caldwell was there. Although I doubt she was sitting on the floor waiting for three hours like the rest of us.

[logan0215]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 1:44pm

Was there a "no cameras" rule? I'm surprised there haven't been any videos popping up on YouTube from last night...

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 4:15pm

They made an announcement that we couldn't take pictures with a flash (although some people still did) and no videos were allowed.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 4:21pm

I hear givesmevoice ran up with a big roll of paper and some charcoal and did a rubbing.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 4:24pm

Reggie, now everyone is going to want one! That was supposed to be a special present just for you.

[phan24]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 10:48pm

I got there around 5:30 and was one of the last 10 people to get wristbands to be inside the room.
It was a very pleasant evening, she seemed so calm and collected, for some reason I expected a diva attitude or something to go wrong, but nothing. It went perfect.

She talked a lot about the emotional and physical damage that Sunset Boulevard caused her, and how it still affects her today, and how much she regrets getting involved. She called ALW a nutcase.

When the audience asked questions, one woman stood up, wearing a "LuPwned" Tshirt. Patti looked at it and laughed out loud, interrupting the question, which was "Why don't you ever sing 'I Dreamed a Dream' at any of your concerts?" and she replied just by saying because the song is too sad, and everytime anyone sings it you don't expect a cheer or loud applause, which pretty much was what she got after she sang it.
After her answer, she said "I'll sing it for you right now if you want!" and the audience went wild, another girl in the audience happened to have the sheet music, and gave it to the accompanist, and it all worked out perfectly.


Updated On: 9/17/10 at 10:48 PM

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 11:24pm

Thanks for the context, phan. From outside the room, it was strange hearing Patti's responses to questions we couldn't hear!