Patti LuPone Reveals Why She Will Never Return to Broadway

After giving up her Actors' Equity membership in 2022, Patti LuPone has revealed why she no longer wants to be on Broadway.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about her new film, Beau Is Afraid, LuPone was asked if her resignation from Actors' Equity is permanent, which led her to reveal why she "doesn't think" she'll ever return to Broadway.

"I've been offered something and there's something I'm interested in doing, but I said to the producer, 'Don't do this on Broadway. I want to work on East Fourth Street. I don't want to work on Broadway anymore.' Broadway's now turning into a combination of Disney, Las Vegas and the circus. Plays are closing. The education of an audience is in grave danger.

Plus, Times Square is a nightmare. It's like the lowest common denominator of humanity hanging out in Times Square. They're not going to the theater. They make it difficult for people who are trying to get to the theater. And then when you go to the theater, it's way too expensive and it's compromised. So I'll never do eight shows a week again, ever. It's just over. I mean, I have had that [Actors Equity] card for 50 years, 1973 to 2023. And that's enough. I don't want to be on stage. I want to end my career on film," LuPone stated.

In October of 2022, LuPone revealed to BroadwayWorld that she had decided to resign from Equity after her run in the Broadway revival of Company had concluded.

"When the run of COMPANY ended this past July, I knew I wouldn't be on stage for a very long time. And at that point I made the decision to resign from Equity,​​​​​" the musical theatre legend shared at the time.

LuPone most recently won a Tony Award for her perormance as Joanne in Company. A two-time Tony Award winner for her performances in Evita and the most recent Broadway production of Gypsy, her New York stage credits include War Paint (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations); Shows for Days; The Seven Deadly Sins (New York City Ballet); Company (New York Philharmonic); Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Award nominations); Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations); Noises Off; The Old Neighborhood; Master Class; Anything Goes (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award); Oliver!; Accidental Death of An Anarchist; The Water Engine; and The Robber Bridegroom (Tony and Drama Desk nominations).

In addition to Company, her London stage credits include Master Class; Sunset Boulevard (Olivier Award nomination); The Cradle Will Rock, and Les Miserables, for which she won the Olivier Award, the first American artist to do so, for her performances in both musicals.

Opera credits include The Ghosts of Versailles (Los Angeles Opera), To Hell and Back (San Francisco Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Los Angeles Opera debut), Regina (Kennedy Center).

Her film credits include: The Comedian, Parker, Union Square, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, and Witness. LuPone's television credits include "Pose," "Mom," "The Simpsons," "Vampirina," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," "Penny Dreadful" (Critics Choice Award nomination), "Girls," "American Horror Story: Coven," "30 Rock," "Glee," "Frasier" (Emmy Award nomination), and three years as Libby Thatcher on the ABC series "Life Goes On."

She is a founding member of both the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and John Houseman's The Acting Company and the author of the New York Times best-seller Patti LuPone: A Memoir.

Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas