Your thoughts on something Patti said at the stage door...? — Page 2

It's true of course but also kinda bitchy.

Why couldn't she just say thank you and something like it's hard work but and then some words of inspiration.

I just love that if someone like Idina Menzel or a cast member from SPRING AWAKENING said this everyone would be attacking them and calling them rude but because it's Patti, it's ok. Granted they have less experience in the business but still. Whatever...

Anyway, I think it was a bit rude.

Show biz can be a very tough life. So can selling life insurance. You think getting only 2 out 45 jobs is some sort of unbearable burden? I was laid off from a job and sent out over 500 resumes to land ONE job. And when I got it, I got no groupies lining up to tell me how wonderful I was. If, somehow, a younger person took the time to compliment me and say I was his inspiration, I think I could be a little more gracious.

But, as someone pointed out, Ms LuPone isn't that sort of person. And somehow, people love that about her.

I don't blame her for saying that. She's been dealt quite a bit of crap in her career (Sunset Boulevard, anyone?)

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"I don't blame her for saying that. She's been dealt quite a bit of crap in her career (Sunset Boulevard, anyone?)"

Thank you! The woman knows what she's talking about. She's been in this biz for a while and knows the ups and downs. Yes, winning a Tony is one of the greatest accomplishments a theatre actor can recieve, but the crap you have to go through to get it... I've read in many articles, interviews etc. that she's always told aspiring theatre artists like it is. It sounds like the man was just overwhelmed and thats what brought on the tears, not her comment. :)

I think her message may have worked. You might call this an example of tough love. Many acting teachers and professors paint the nastiest picture imaginable about a life in the theatre. Why? Because if there is any earthly way a person can be talked out of it, then they don't belong there in the first place. Only those who are willing to put up with the worst of it can really be successful. This kid started crying? What does that tell you? He's way too sensitive to be an actor -- his dreams that it is all "pretty" and "glamorous" have been dashed. He should take the hint and find another profession. If he had responded, "OH, I'm well aware of that, but I HAVE to do it" -- that would have been a whole different matter. That Patti may be a tough cookie, but she's a smart one too.

She told it like it is. And she knows what she's talking about. Like someone said earlier, the business is tough and you've gotta be thick-skinned to survive. Anyone who thinks that it's just so glamorous and easy is just naive.

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Updated On: 8/17/08 at 11:14 AM

But, as someone pointed out, Ms LuPone isn't that sort of person. And somehow, people love that about her.

Do you think Ethel Merman would have been any sweeter? Her bitchiness is legendary and people still love her for it. You just take these performers as they are and try to separate their onstage work from their offstage persona.

Patti may not be the most warm and fuzzy person at the stage door, but the fact is that she still signs autographs for everyone waiting every night and signs and returns all her fanmail within a week or two.

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Tone goes a long way...without hearing her it's hard to have an opinion. (How many of us HERE have gotten slammed for something we've written because a reader inserts their own tone?)


Regardless: the kid cried? Oy.

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Honestly, he proablly teared up when she looked him in the eyes and if Patti was his inspraition that proablly hads a big impact on him. Also, it's not as if Patti was lying to him; she told him the truth. It's not as if after she said "Honey, it ain't pretty" she said "you're an idiot for wanting to be in show busniness run away now." That would have been bitchy. If he wants to be in show business he PROABLLY already knew that. Also, I agree with someone who said that Patti knows first hand that show business isn't pretty. I mean 29 years after winning her first Tony she finially wins a second one! She knows the ugly side of this business! So cut her some slack.

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you guys keep saying "he clearly can't tough it" and he has to develop "nerves of steel," etc. Someone having tough skin and being capable in the business, has NOTHING to do with having 3 seconds to say something to your idol, and them using those 3 seconds to knock down ur highest hopes.

And he wasn't asking to start a conversation, which is the only place her saying "it's tough," would fit perfectly. If she wanted to sit him and down and talk about how difficult the business is, thats different. But her spending two seconds to say that, and move on is clearly a distasteful thing to do.

You can love Patti Lupone and disagree with her, but its obvious that a lot of you simply want to support her in this BEACUSE she is Patti Lupone. I'd love to see you go up to your idol, tell them you admire them and hope to be them someday. And the only words they say to you are "Honey,It's tough," to move on to the next guy.

Maybe once you've actually met your idol, as I have mine, you will know what its like to have them speak to you. And if they say something purposesfully discouraging, I highly doubt you will be saying "Thats tough love."

AS always Miss P gets it right on the nose. I'd stand outside her stage door any time.

I don't know that the 2 things (meeting Patti & her advice) have anything to do with this person crying.

When my friend and I first met Patti, it was a huge moment for him. His mom had died when he was 13 and she was the one who had brought him to see Sunset Blvd. She was the one who really developed his love of Patti and her music. Meeting Patti had another level. All Patti said was hello and he (at 28 years old) started crying.

So, what I'm trying to say is that we don't know what was going on with this "kid" who met Patti. There may have been a lot of other things going on with him.

Anyone consider she was making a joke? That's classic LuPone humor.