Sondheim's note to Patti

Elaine Stritch and Patti were always seeking his approval and validation. Something I’d say their peers Lansbury and Peters didn’t have to work as hard for. 
Both ladies were outspoken about not being sure how he felt about them. 

Sondheim was always hard on Patti, this can be seen on the filmed rehearsals for the Sweeney Philharmonic concert, and Patti’s story about Passion rehearsals. I do believe he always liked her, as she wouldn’t have been offered the original Witch and original Fosca, two roles she shouldn’t have turned down. I also seem to remember a story that If Sweeney ever got revived on Broadway, he promised her Lovett, which obviously happened in Doyle’s revival. 

I’m glad she finally got her validation from him toward the end, and they actually built a friendship being that they lived near each other. 

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 12:26 PM

Nolan LuPone that is very fascinating! Thank you for sharing. I wonder what Patti said about Sweeney Todd. I know Sondheim quite liked the movie because it was really sort of unleashed from the stage version. I guess when you have two complex, outspoken people, things like that happen. I remember La LuPone not being shy about being critical of the Streep/Audra/Baranski Ladies Who Lunch last year. Haha.

The letter said that he thought Sweeney Todd was the best of a bad bunch. Kind of a veiled compliment. I can imagine Patti being quite shocked and appalled at the vocal performances especially after just playing the role on Broadway (personally I love the concept and aesthetics of the movie, I think it could be cringey if someone did it and made it look hyper-realistic rather than stylised..which is what I also think might have worked for Sondheim. But those vocals are sooo thin). 

He didn't have much luck at the movies, did he? I think he even disliked the original West Side Story. Whereas I think he liked the movie of Gypsy. Go figure.

I love that, after the release of South Park Bigger Longer Uncut, he wrote Trey Parker a note saying it was his favorite movie musical of the last 15 years. Parker's prized possession.

For Sondheim, I think South Park was an example of what a movie musical should be. Something made specifically for the screen having nothing to do with the stage.

My hope is that (and I may have said this before) with Sondheim gone, his estate will take more care with future film projects to limit “risks” on casting and cuts and all those things that Sondheim himself was always doing. There’s a reason film versions of his movies, for the most part, are pretty awful and I hope the estate will make it so they have to honor the original vision. If that makes sense. 

I must admit that Nytimes article was shockingly open and revealing about aspects of her personality - I mean it doesn’t sound like her behaviour can be jut hurtful but apparently has put her in physical danger! That’s pretty extreme. I worry that it might have cost her career a little in the past but clearly over the last 15 years she has managed to flourish because she is just so unusually talented especially at her age.
 

I will admit even though I’m sure it might be difficult to deal with on a personal basis I have to be guilty that I enjoy reading what she has to say as it always feels honest and is highly entertaining. It makes her Joanne all the more alluring because the gay diva fandom in me makes me like to believe I am seeing Patti play a caricature of herself on stage. Like Elaine Stritch, her personality has become as iconic as her performances.

What I find interesting/scary is I suspect that a lot of our favourite divas have personality quirks or insecurities that we just don’t know about because no one is as honest as Patti. On a podcast Richard Jay Alexander described Bernadette as a ‘complex person’ who cried at the thought of singing Some People at her Carnegie Hall concert afraid people would say she couldn’t play the role one day. This is almost the only human thing I’ve heard about Bernadette spoken publicly. 
 

On another podcast people described screaming matches between Donna Murphy and the director of The King and I. I suspect there is a lot going on behind the scenes we don’t know about because people dont like to be as honest as Patti. 

Updated On: 12/13/21 at 06:35 PM

Patti was on Seth Meyers tonight and spoke very honestly (maybe too honestly?) about her relationship with Sondheim. She talked about being intimidated by him and wanting his approval, so she never felt like she “knew” him outside of a working relationship. She talked about a note from him while she did Fosca where he basically said he couldn’t understand what she was singing that destroyed her. When Seth Meyers mentioned that Lorne Michaels’ notes at SNL could have a similar effect, Patti commented that perhaps people like them are very impressed by themselves. It was an interesting interview.

DramaTeach said: "Patti was on Seth Meyers tonight and spoke very honestly (maybe too honestly?) about her relationship with Sondheim. She talked about being intimidated by him and wanting his approval, so she never felt like she “knew” him outside of a working relationship. She talked about a note from him while she did Fosca where he basically said he couldn’t understand what she was singing that destroyed her. When Seth Meyers mentioned that Lorne Michaels’ notes at SNL could have a similar effect, Patti commented that perhaps people like them are very impressed by themselves. It was an interesting interview."

See, that's what I'm talking about. She leaves the interview with the statement that maybe Sondheim was impressed with himself. Actually, he wasn't. He was communicating feedback. Patti noted in her memoir that she was dubbed "flannel mouth" during school because of her diction. It shouldn't surprise her that Sondheim noted that. His songs require exceptional diction. But no, she throws it back on him as being mean. She knew she has diction issues. It wouldn't have been a surprise. People who don't worship at her altar are in for a rude awakening. She's very sensitive. 

 

She never said the note he gave her before Passion was wrong. And she owned up to having a problem. The statement more came out of a conversation of her not understanding how he felt about her, and him being a complex person.

She's talked about the Passion issue before. She said the sound designer told her "you blubber and drop diction when you get emotional". That was a note she understood and could use. She thought Sondheim went on for so long that she started to lose the point he was trying to make.

He did go backstage after the performance and say she fixed the problem for the day of the performance/recording.