Well the line is "Mr. Eggroll"
Did she put it in the wrong place?
I don't know how you knew she was so nervous
Lenora has understudied Bigger names than Patti LaPone
I bet she was great and prepared, understudies rehearse at least once a week.
If the Diva was actually resting up for the recording I hope they offered every audience member a free CD to hear what they missed.
A lot of people who come from out of town will not ask for a refund because they are, well, from out of town.
Props to Lenora and get "well" soom Patti.
She said Mr. Eggroll before the actual Mr. Eggroll line comes.
It was pretty obvious that she was extremely nervous for most of the first act. I was in the front row, and she was visibly shaking, and she missed a few of her lines. Even if it wasn't obvious - who WOULDN'T have been nervous? She eased into the role, and by the second act the nerves were mostly gone.
There was a group of five people who flew in from California to see Patti in Gypsy and they did get a refund. At first they weren't aware that they could, so they sat down, but then they overheard other people talking and they all got up as the overture was starting. I'm glad they did though, because they wouldn't shut up about how much Patti owed them.
If the Diva was actually resting up for the recording I hope they offered every audience member a free CD to hear what they missed.
do you hope that everyone who was at South Pacific the day Kelli O'Hara was out resting her voice for the cast recording got a free CD, too?
yes, it totally sucks to go to a show specifically to see someone only to find out that they're out. but I doubt any actor ever is happy to call in sick, especially when they're headlining a show. no one ragged on Kelli for missing, so why should Patti get flack?
Swing Joined: 5/4/08
I saw Bernadette twice as Rose and never cared for her. I've never seen Patti in anything and everyone raved about her so that I decided to catch her in Gypsy even though it's not one of my favorite shows. Wasn't I surprised (and disappointed) when I got to the theatre this afternoon and saw that she wasn't performing. The line was VERY long for refunds, so long that my husband and I went to lunch and came back at 4:15 to get our refund.
I'm sorry, I love the arts and cheer for the understudies whenever they get the chance to go on stage, but at $117 per ticket I wanted to see the "star". I hope Lenora had a great performance, I'm sure she was well prepared for the opportunity.
I was told by a friend that the cast recording is tomorrow and that's why she wasn't there and that it was a planned absence. I was pleasantly surprised that our tickets were refunded. I didn't think they did that but I'm certain there would have been some problems otherwise. I heard plenty of people outside the theatre say that they were "here to see Patti" and that they felt sorry for the understudy because so many people were getting refunds. Hope the show went well.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/07
"I'm sorry, I love the arts and cheer for the understudies whenever they get the chance to go on stage, but at $117 per ticket I wanted to see the "star"."
I would have done the same exact thing.
Hm, I don't think it was planned. My friends went to buy tickets at around 1:25 and the box office guy said that Patti had JUST called out. I rushed, and when the box office opened at noon there were no signs nor did the box office mention that she'd be out - whereas they did when my friends bought tickets. (They even went as far as saying, "Do you really want tickets to this? Patti isn't here.")
And, really, the theatre wasn't THAT empty. The majority of people did not get refunds, I would say. The balcony even looked half full.
Updated On: 5/4/08 at 11:08 PM
Oh, Downer, Downer, Downer.
As Louise says in the strip number, "Don't you EVER go home?"
Do we know why Patti was out...?
I have tickets for Thursday... Patti doesn't seem the type who would miss... but... am I in trouble?
kmc
I'm sure she'll be back.
Most likely she just decided to take today off so that she would be fine to record tomorrow and Tuesday.
Updated On: 5/4/08 at 11:34 PM
LuPone did not just "take the day off" in preparation for the recording.
She was legitimately ill.
Oh, I'm sure it's that too.
But I'm sure the fact that they're recording tomorrow was more of an incentive for her to call out. Because a few weeks ago she performed when she was very sick - they even made an announcement saying that she was sick.
My God, DownPuller, it was one performance! SHE'S HUMAN.
If anyone knows of any... recordings of Lenora in the role, PLEASE PM me!
I know she is Human, but the way she is worshiped on this site, you would think otherwise.
I do hope she gets well soon and so do the Producers who had to refund today.
Leading Actor Joined: 4/29/06
I too wonder what Michael Reidel has to say about this.
Patti performed the role while was she WAS sick for a while. Mr. Riedel would never bash her for missing one performance.
Also, Kelli O'hara missed several performances before the recording. Not just one. She was ill.
Patti performed while sick, and I could not fault her if she wanted to save her voice for tomorrow.
ljay, I don't know if you were directing your comment at me, but I didn't mean for my comment to sound like I was saying Kelli O'Hara wasn't sick when she missed performances. I was just annoyed that for missing one performance, Patti is attacked.
and I realize there's a difference between the show being Patti LuPone Gypsy and South Pacific starring Kelli O'Hara. but both women have wonderful attendance records, and both are human [and Patti's 59 years old] and should be forgiven sick days.
Oh no! I wasn't directing that to you at all.
I was also annoyed Patti was being attacked for missing one performance. And I was stating while Kelli was stick she still missed multiple performances. Patti has only missed one so far.
haha, ok. I'm always a little defensive here because I'm not really used to being aggressive about my opinions and I hate stepping on toes or offending people (and performers).
Why would Michael Riedel get on Patti's case for missing a performance? He of course got on Bernadette's case for getting sick during previews, but that's because he had a personal vendetta against her (same reason why he went after Murphy when she missed two performances of LOVEMUSIK for being legitimately ill as well). Really, I doubt that LuPone merely decided to rest her voice for the recording. I trust Somethingwicked's sources, so I'm sure that she was genuinely ill and wasn't just being the diva Downer is making her out to be.
Either way, I do hope her voice is in full throttle tomorrow.
I am amazed that they offer to refund. That makes me feel better - I am going on May 16th and although I like Gypsy, I have seen it before and am really only going this time to see Patti LuPone. Nice to know I might have other options if she is out when I go.
Leading Actor Joined: 4/29/06
That's what I'm saying, Ray -- Reidel's vendetta against Bernadette was really uncalled-for, and I'm curious to see how he will handle it if Patti starts missing performances. I know it's only one so far, but if it ends up being more, especially before the Tonys, I'm curious to see if he mentions it. ...And continues to mention it in every piece he writes about every show for the duration of Gypsy's run. He's a jerk, and a lot of other things I don't think I'm allowed to say on these boards, and this is the perfect experiment to see him prove it.
Forgot to mention that there were a few Tony nominators there yesterday.....pretty sure they were in the line for refunds. Michael Mayer was there as well (is he a Tony voter? I have no idea).
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