‘The Artist’ Blends Degas and Dollars, Murder and Mandy Patinkin

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 12/2/25 at 4:10pm

From the NYT:

“Can I sing with him?” Patinkin, who is 73, said last month. He was recalling what he asked himself when he met Aram Rappaport, the 38-year-old writer and director who was sitting next to him in the drawing room of the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Conn., an art-filled 1901 Colonial Revival mansion. “Meaning, can he be my piano player? Meaning, can we make music together?”

Patinkin decided they could, and the resulting series, while not a musical, could easily be described as operatic in its passions and power plays. Created by Rappaport, that show is “The Artist,” a six-part historical drama that premiered last week on the Network, a free ad-supported streaming service Rappaport founded last year. Its cast includes not only Patinkin but also Hank Azaria, Danny Huston, Janet McTeer, Patti LuPone and other stage and screen luminaries.