Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
#0Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:28pm
http://www.playbill.com/features/article/99298.html
She was in Les Mis?
--Aristotle
#1re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:30pm
wasn't she Fantine?
she'd be a great THernardier, no?
tz0o
Leading Actor Joined: 11/10/05
#2re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:31pmYes, she was Fantine in the Original Londoun Cast Recording.
#3re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:31pm
Are you serious?
She originated the role of Fantine at the Barbican (RSCo.) in London. She did not come with it to the US because she felt that the production was perfection and couldn't be topped.
#4re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:31pmShe won an Olivier Award for it, right?
#5re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:33pm
Yes. She was in the original London cast and can be heard on the OLCR.
Loved the article. Thanks!
#6re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:34pmYes, she did indeed.
#7re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:36pmAm I the only one who thought this was a huge "Duh!"?
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#8re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:37pmShe tells a funny story in one of her shows about missing her cue as Fantine when she enters for Valjean's death. She was in her dressing room reading an interview with Madonna, and the guy that played Javert comes in and says "LuPone, you're on". She says she grabbed her wig and costume and ran down three flights of stairs, and had to enter with Eponine. Funny story when LuPone tells it.
#9re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:41pmSome people just have never been over exposed to Patti and her lips.
#10re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:44pm
Saw her in it, back with the show wasn't yet a "megamusical", at the Barbicon. She was most effective, since in England she wasn't a star, and she melded in with the company.
And: in the initial staging, Fantine had to double as other roles. It was RSC policy, there were no stars. I think -- someone, correct me -- that Fantine stopped doubling when the show left the Barbicon and went to th Palace. Did Randy Graff and followers double in roles??
#11re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:49pmSomebody posted the story the other day. Fantine was supposed to double in roles throughout the show, but Patti managed to duck out during most of the blocking. But one actress pointed her out when she was slipping into the theatre during the rehearsal for the barricade scene. So since then, Fantine has always appeared only in that scene as double. Or something like that.
#12re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:51pmFantine only doubles as a "Barracade Boy" now.
maybethistime
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/3/04
#13re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 5:34pm
"Am I the only one who thought this was a huge "Duh!"?"
NO!!
#14re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 5:53pm
She did indeed win her Olivier Award for Les Miserables. But it was also a "shared win" with her performance in Cradle Will Rock. I thought everyone knew that Patti was Fantine! Check out the OLC if you can. Its rather different from what the show is like now. Plus if you are like me you need to hear that 80s synthesized sound rather than the Tenth Anniversary Full Orchestra (as amazing as that is!)
You guys all know that she created Norma Desmond in London right? :-P
#15re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 5:58pmShe also bared her boobies in Summer of Sam.
#16re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 6:40pmAnd she was in EVITA! And she lives in CONNECTICUT!
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#17re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 7:10pm
Did anyone know that Patti LuPone was in ANYTHING GOES at Lincoln Center? She was really good.
#18re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 7:11pmShe's the only Fantine who had horrible Jheri Curls, I believe.
#19re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 8:39pmWOW!
#20re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 9:00pmPatti who? I don't know whom you're talking about.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#21re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 10:31pmYhe lady with the tuba. Duh!
jo
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#22re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 10:53pm
I bought the OLC after the seeing Les Miserables on Broadway in 1988. And discovered Michael Ball as Marius and learned that Patti Lupone created the role of Fantine.
About doubling in other roles - I think that is true, because I recall Michael saying that he was also cast as part of the convict chain gang singing at the beginning of the show.
Can't believe that is almost 21 years ago. Maybe Michael and Patti can be part of the 21st Anniversary celebrations?
#23re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 10:58pmMany principle roles double in the show, as many of them are not seen until about 1/2 way or more through Act One. Cosette and Eponine, for example, double as prostitutes in "Lovely Ladies" and other stuff. And yes, Fantine DOES double as a barricade boy.
#24re: Patti LuPone was in Les Mis?? (Lady With The Tuba)
Posted: 4/25/06 at 11:05pm
I missed seeing her in it in London by just a few weeks. It still pisses me off.
I've always thought that it is unfair to the actress playing that role that at the end, when she comes back to guide Jean Valjean to heaven, that she has to have the ugly hacked-up hairdo.
You would think that a loving God would let you have nice hair in Heaven....
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