Patti LuPone: High Flying Adored

Patti LuPone in "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda"
Musical direction by Chris Fenwick
Conceived and directed by Scott Wittman
Dialogue by Jeffrey Richman and Patti LuPone

Near the end of the first of two 45-minute sets at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH last Friday night, the inimitable Patti LuPone stood center stage in a pool of white light shining down from above, lifted her chin to the sky, and formed a 45-degree angle with her raised and outstretched arms, assuming what has become an iconic theatrical pose. The audience roared before they even heard a single note. "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" was promised, and Ms. LuPone, recreating the magic of her Tony Award-winning performance in "Evita," delivered. Fans showed their approval with an extended standing ovation.

This was but one of many highlights in a program designed to elicit oohs and ahs from theater savvy concert goers. Giving herself license to sing anything she darn well pleased by adding to her own extensive repertoire notable show tunes she coulda, woulda, and shoulda sung had she just been cast, LuPone moved comfortably between the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cy Coleman, Ahrens and Flaherty, Stephen Schwartz, Jule Styne, and Stephen Sondheim. In between she sharply but affectionately mocked herself and the industry with tales of early auditions and early show closings.

As a pure singer, Patti LuPone has her adorers and detractors. Her trademark slides and sometimes forced flourishes are music to some but irritations to others. Her sheer force as an actress and personality, however, can not be denied. Gerard Alessandrini's mumbled spoof of her version of "Anything Goes" in "Forbidden Broadway" aside, she is a complete performer, and her "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" concert showcases her many strengths perfectly.

LuPone's comic skills were evident as she coyly recreated her audition for the Julliard School Drama Division in 1968. Young but undaunted when creator John Houseman critiqued her classical reading by saying, "I don't think that's what Shakespeare had in mind," she proceeded to sing "You Mustn't Be Discouraged" from "Fade Out/Fade In." The twist is, she sang it as the show's original star Carol Burnett sang it, mimicking the uber plucky Shirley Temple. She scored comically again when she sang both Anita's and Maria's parts in "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" from "West Side Story." With these songs LuPone had a marvelous way of bringing the audience in on her jokes. She'd arch her brow and fix her gaze as if to say, "Come on, we all know this is shtick, but we're loving it."

The oft unseen gentle side of Ms. LuPone was expressed, too, in a slower, almost crooned version of "A Wonderful Guy" from "South Pacific," a soulful "Easy to Be Hard" from "Hair," a lovely, wistful rendition of "Never Never Land" from "Peter Pan," a torchy "So in Love" from "Kiss Me, Kate," and a passionate "Meadowlark" from "The Baker's Wife." Challenging "boy songs" included the back-to-back showstoppers "Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man" and "Soliloquy" from "Carousel." The latter was made even more difficult when a cell phone went off right at the transition point in Billy Bigelow's reverie. With admirable grace and instinctual timing, Ms. LuPone and her music director Chris Fenwick stopped, looked, waited till silence was assured, and then picked up right where they left off, never losing focus or intensity. The end of the number brought chills and a huge round of applause.

For fans who like their belting strong, LuPone made sure there were enough anthems in the program to keep them happy, as well. She scored with a driving staccato rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from "Funny Girl" and with the thrilling Act I closer "I Was Here" from the new Ahrens and Flaherty musical, "The Glorious Ones." She saved her Sondheim tribute till the end, following the heartbreak and anguish of "Losing My Mind" from "Follies" with the wry, self-deprecating wit of "The Ladies Who Lunch" from "Company."

LuPone closed the show with the Frank Sinatra-Paul Anka classic "My Way" but then treated the thunderous sell-out crowd to three encores: Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic," a doo wop version of "The Way You Look Tonight" with Chris Fenwick joining in on  back-up, and an a capella, unmiked, in-front-of-the-curtain love letter to the audience, "A Hundred Years from Today."

With "To Hell and Back" scheduled at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois on June 5-6, the Encores! Summer Stars presentation of "Gypsy" set for July 9-29 at the New York City Center, and a concert with Audra McDonald scheduled again at Ravinia on August 26, Patti LuPone fans will have no shortage of opportunities to catch this divine diva in action. She also continues to tour with all three of her concert programs, "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda," "The Lady with the Torch," and "Matters of the Heart," in repertory.

For a complete schedule of appearances from now through October 5, visit her website at http://pattilupone.net/tour.html.

 

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