Patti LuPone didn't like 90th Birthday 'Ladies who lunch'

Love her to death, but the "what crap does Patti have to say about ________" is getting old. She knows ripping on stuff both outwardly and in a more shady way gets her attention... She doesn't have to like everything, but disliking SO much is tiresome.

You say what you want, Patti. If for nothing else, this is why I love you!

WARNING: Naughty word ahead!

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

It wouldn't matter who did it. Patti likely feels it's "her" song now and "her" way is he only way to sing it. Likely also upset she wasn't asked to be in that number. Was it the most definitive vocal performance of the song we're all going to listen to constantly? No. It wasn't trying to be. It was a fun number with three wonderful performers.

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

I agree, it was loads of fun, but a bit of a waste of both song and performers. Baranski could have tackled the song on her own, with Meryl singing I'm Still Here and Audra doing Losing My Mind. Still very grateful it happened tho, what a night!

Updated On: 5/2/20 at 07:29 PM

I think people tend to clutch their pearls and overblow her statements a bit too much."

No pearl clutching or anything being overblown... just tiresome.

CT2NYC said: "The trio was fun, but underwhelming, and I think Audra was the wrong choice for the third. I would have preferred it if Meryl performed alone."

From a Broadway.com video podcast, they were going for recreating a lunch all three had with Sondheim together. Hence, "The Ladies Who Lunch."

What surprised me is that it would have been easy for her to dismiss the performance as a 'bit of fun' and then move on rather but I guess this is obviously coming from a more emotional place...I mean just a couple days earlier on WWHL she spoke about how she smashed her dressing room up after she was fired from Sunset so clearly she can be emotional hehe. However, I personally love it. She is so entertaining and with her talent/career success I don't find it cringeworthy like when a certain actor decided to complain that 'musicality' was gone from the Donna Murphy Into the Woods.

"apparently she was replaced in the Mendes Gypsy revival the same way she was replaced in Sunset. "

Well with Sunset she had a signed contract and was in the middle of performances in London though, whereas Gypsy was just an idea. And with Gypsy it might have been more personal* (Arthur held a grudge) while Sunset was likely purely professional (Glenn Close was a much more sure way to get business).

* I do suspect that Arthur thought Bernadette was an inspired choice at the time - especially because her 'audition' of "Some People" at Carniege Hall showed her in significantly stronger vocal health than approx. 6 years later during the actual run. According to Bernadette, Arthur approached her about doing the role and said that she 'actually looked' like the real Rose.

Updated On: 5/3/20 at 02:46 AM

"Excuse me Meryl, Patti LuPone said she didn't like your performance of Laides Who Lunch. Do you have any comments?"

Meryl: "Patti who"?

The second she said it I knew all the pearl-clutchers here would go off.

Agree it seemed unnecessary, as she could've easily dismissed it as "fun." But it's clear at this age, and she hasn't always been in this way, she isn't interested in giving the answer the publicist wants. Was happy she knew not to actually vocalize it, though.

Do I wish she took things less personally? Sure, but for her own sake. But it's her life, not ours.

And ALSO, to try to understand what made her feel insecure, I imagined: what if Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johanson, and Audra sang Being Alive? I imagine we all would've raised an eyebrow in the first couple bars - and I imagine Katrina would've, too. Likely, though, no one would've asked her about it and she probably would've have let it on.

I'm mixed on a lot of Patti's behavior. On the one hand, I can't help but love a good bit of juicy Broadway gossip and the idea of a Broadway diva, but I also think some of her behavior is kind of rude and unprofessional. Like, why did she need to say that about that performance? Whether she likes it or not, those are her peers, especially Audra and Christine. Clearly it was performed out of good fun and we all know Patti is performing it "for real" on stage. Also like, it's a song with depth for sure, but it's also a hell of comedic number. It's not like they laughed their way through Send in the Clowns or something...

As for the trashing the dressing room, I get that was a horrible experience, but I also don't know if that is behavior she should necessarily be proud of. I'm not that broken up that she did it, but the way she just casually mentioned how she didn't perform that night as if she didn't have an entire cast relying on her and her performance kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I get it, it was a bad experience, maybe her cast mates understood and we don't know all the details, but it struck me as kind of in poor taste. She also has been trashing the idea of these fundraisers and concerts for COVID-19, yet she performed in Rosie's and did the Sondheim concert which benefited a cause as well.

Don't get me wrong, I love Patti, she is one of the best of the best, and I do appreciate refreshing honesty (her comments about Madonna were absolutely on point, and I am sorry how Mendes treated her), but I really was put off by her Ladies who Lunch comments. This is a woman who goes on and on about being a trained ensemble actress, yet she threw three exemplary actresses under the bus for performing a song in good fun, as if she owns it (and honestly, nobody "owns" a song, but if anyone does own Ladies Who Lunch, it's Elaine.)