New Out feature on Patti LuPone
New Out feature on Patti LuPone
#1New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 2:10pm
Some points in her upcoming memoir are briefly touched on and apparently she's on the outs with Arthur Laurents again.
http://www.out.com/detail.asp?page=1&id=27249
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#2New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 2:49pmWhat a fantastic article...makes me even more excited about Patti's memoirs...and hopefully the eventual transfer of Gypsy to London.
#3New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 2:57pmInteresting article and as always I love LuPone's candor. Though frankly I'm glad Nunn didn't call her back - despite what she or the reporter thinks, Desiree Armfeldt really is not an ideal role for LuPone...
#4New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 3:05pmWhat a fabulous article...on Patti's part and on the writer's. Really endearing and superbly written. I found myself getting emotional hearing about those roles that "could have been" for Patti. I always assumed there was probably a sort of rivalry between Patti and Bernadette and this article basically seals the deal.
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
#5New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 3:38pm
There definitely seems to be that vibe, though I don't know if it extends to any 'personal' animosity between them.
LuPone very much wanted to create the title role in the Weissler's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (even doing a one night concert version with Peter Gallagher as a sort of audition for it) and was of course passed over for Peters for that one too.
So odd that two entirely different women could be vying for so many of the same roles.
#6New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 3:43pmI also find it very strange that these two women have been up for the same roles. They are so incredibly different vocally, physically, and as performers. I guess Sondheim took a liking to both of them and they were in constant consideration for his shows. But then to add Annie Get Your Gun on top of that? I feel like comparing Peters and LuPone is like comparing Kelli O'Hara and Idina Menzel...we would never in a million years consider them for the same parts.
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
#7New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 4:00pmyou say that now, Barbie, but just wait twenty five years when both women are up for the 75th anniversary productions of MAME, DOLLY and SUNSET BOULEVARD...
#8New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 4:03pmHaha that's true, maybe when actresses reach a certain age their differences start to dissipate. And don't forget the umpteenth revival of GYPSY.
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
#9New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 4:13pm
Can't wait for the book. Since my budget these days does not call for buying new books, I just put it on hold at the library. I am number 1 on the list when it arrives.
MB, I agree with you. I don't think she is right for the part of Madame Armfeldt. It read as if he were kind of sucking up to her. And he had been drinking... :)
Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder
Updated On: 8/16/10 at 04:13 PM
moljul
Broadway Star Joined: 5/28/03
#10New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 4:38pmWhatever rivalry (professional or personal) with Bernadette Peters seems solely fueled from Ms. Lupone's end as I don't recall Bernadette ever mentioning any competiion or lost roles to Patti or quite simply ever mentioning Patti in any public forum. Patti's constant comments about all the roles she lost to Bernadette just continually seems like "sour grapes" to me.
#11New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:22pmI remember reading on this board from someone who saw one of the recent Sondheim birthday celebrations that they were holding hands at one point voluntarily. This doesn't necessaeily mean very much, but I remember thinking (or hoping) when I read it that perhaps the rivalry is not personal (if LuPone even thinks of it as one). I love them both, and I feel sorry for Patti to an extent, but I certainly don't think her career has been a lamentable one.
You look absolutely terrific, honestly.
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#12New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:27pm
I doubt it's too personal. Speaking for myself, there are many people of whom I at times get jealous or to whom I lose a job and while I may bitch about it, I don't hold it against them personally, at the end of the day.
That said, can you imagine someone continually getting the big, major roles for which you're perfect? The years between ANNIE and GYPSY must have been rough. It's amazing there isn't true animosity from Patti's end.
#13New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:32pmI read somewhere that LuPone also auditioned to replace Bernadette in SUNDAY, and didn't get it. I didn't realise there were so many other roles.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#14New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:35pmI don't really feel any animosity coming from Patti LuPone's side. Yes, some sour grapes maybe, but I think she and Bernadette Peters are both professional actresses who understand that these things do happen. Casting them as professional enemies just seems like fun for us more than fact.
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#15New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:41pmNo, I think she actually hates her. In fact, I'm kind of surprised she doesn't just refer to her as "That Peters woman."
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#16New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:45pm
theaterkid1015, I think you're absolutely right.
And yes, Patti was up for SUNDAY as Bernadette's replacement. As she tells it, she knew she was in trouble when Sondheim came walking down the aisle toward the stage, yelling, "I don't want any belting!"
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#17New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:45pm
Wow. People think I can't let things go. Patti seems like an injustice collector of the first order! Kevin Kline was what, almost 40 years ago? Maybe it's time to let it go.
And she makes people drive drunk. That was a really weird article.
Updated On: 8/16/10 at 05:45 PM
#18New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 5:49pmPRS, I usually feel that way about Mickey Rapkin. I appreciate him writing so much about theater and theater people recently, but something about his stories often feels...strange to me.
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#19New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 6:10pmTypical Patti LuPone to make the reporter drive behind her in a separate car!
#20New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 6:13pmIt makes me sad that she didn't get drunk enough to sing karaoke at the gas station.
And no one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were."
#21New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 7:20pm
Yeah, I don't think there's any real hostility between Patti and Bernadette. Both are professionals who have been in show business long enough to know the ins and outs and the ups and downs. I think some of the fans of both actresses like to pit them against each other.
It's interesting that she and Arthur Laurents aren't seeing eye to eye anymore.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Updated On: 8/16/10 at 07:20 PM
#22New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 9:22pmIt's a little sad to hear about Patti and Laurents not speaking again. But Arthur really does live up to his reputation.
#23New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 10:51pmI happen to think Arthur Laurents is a very nice, generous, bitchy, but funny, old fellow. But it's no surprise that he and LuPone had a falling out. Hopefully they can work things out.
#24New Out feature on Patti LuPone
Posted: 8/16/10 at 10:54pmI didn't realize there was such a firm timeline on getting Gypsy to London that Patti doing a pilot messed that up. I would ask if this meant he was also mad at Laura Benanti for doing the same pilot, but he did make that comment that "they" only want him and Patti to do the show in London.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
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