Review: Patti LuPone Still Wears A Hat & She Is Pulling A Show Out Of It To Make Magic With SONGS FROM A HAT At 54 Below

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you ALL the Tea!

Well, dear rainbow children, it has happened at long last. The stars (one in particular) FINALLY aligned and Bobby was swept up to the mountaintop to review the one, the only La Patti LuPone in her SONGS FROM A HAT on no less than her very opening night on Tuesday at 54 Below. Our favorite Diva in our favorite club, our first time seeing her in a club/concert performance (rather than on the Broadway), up close and very personal, to say the least, we were in heaven. Now, for the lead-up to Tuesday, we could not contain ourselves, and, so, would tell anyone who would stand still long enough that we were going to see Miss LuPone in 54's intimate setting, and, without fail, we would get responses along the lines of, "Make sure you sit well back! Her voice will peel your face off!" or "Oh, Patti! Don't let her see your phone... She will give you a slap!" or "That voice in that space. I hope they're insured!" (this one forgetting, we suppose, that the lady OPENED the club and has played there many times since). Taking all of those "cracks" in their stride, it seems that we should begin here with the 17th song she sang in a set list determined by pulling song titles from a very nice silk top hat... That song, YOU DON'T KNOW ME by Cindy Walker, sums up a lot of our feelings regarding the three-time Tony Winner and the assumptions made about her and her work by the unenlightened. The song is about being too shy to tell the one you love how you feel, but with the lady sitting on a stool, head bowed, eyes closed almost whispering...

You give your hand to me

And then you say hello

And I can hardly speak

My heart is beating so

... hearing her interpretation, her musicality, and her diction. as she quietly smashed preconceptions created by imitators, impressionists, critics (other critics), and detractors; those images of an overly brash, overly loud, wailing harpy whose mouth is incapable of forming consonants could not be farther from the truth, and with ...

And anyone could tell

You think you know me well

But you don′t know me

... we found ourselves wondering even more at the lady's talent and wondering where all that BS came from in the first place. Here she was, centerstage, beckoning all present to come to her, with music from her heart.

Did she belt out any of her well-known songs - the ghosts of musicals past - you bet your A$$ she did - from the very first slip of paper out of that top hat (one that elicited a loud, "OH F$%K ME!" from the L-A-D-Y before she parked & barked MEADOWLARK) to the 5th slip that made her humorously bemoan the two-week run of a HUGE Broadway revival - "I died on stage and the show died with me," she said, before launching into Nancy's AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME from Oliver, with all the power and drama the tune is famous for, but with beautifully controlled bell-like intonations to her belt. Then there was song #7, the uber haunting wail from the desert of Bagdad Cafe's CALLING YOU (which she sang as bathhouse matron Kathy Pizzaz for AMERICAN HORROR STORY). This song was where we also noticed the perfect support she was receiving from Joseph Thalken, her Music Director and lone musician at the piano. This support remained oh-so-subtly underneath Patti's voice as the song, like an echo dying away in that desert, dropped to a sigh-inducing whisper. One slip of paper brought about a treasure trove of 3 songs for the holidays. The lovely MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS, the hilarious SANTA LOST A HO (where she was suddenly and surprisingly joined by 54's staff on the floor), and then there was CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES - a ballad about the impromptu Christmas Armistice, December 24th, 1914 when WWI soldiers from opposing camps, who had been fighting and killing each other, just stopped, met across No-Man's-Land, and shared drinks and laughs from the Eve to the close of Christmas Day. This moment in history, this song, this singer all came together in a convergence not unlike the armistice itself, leaving this rainbow reporter a bit more than "misty". The last slip of paper for the night yielded the strange and wonderful song INVISIBLE from Women On The Verge... with its minor key and diminished chords offering dissonance juxtaposed with its bosa nova style rhythms.

Finally, there was her finale, which was not pulled from the hat but A SONG FOR YOU came from her soul, and she was singing it just for little Bobby. You see, my lambkins, someone is a star because that indefinable something shines from within. It has nothing much to do with the thousands of hours of rehearsal and performance leading to mastery, though that sure does help. To say that Patti LuPone was electrifying and uplifting at 54 Below Tuesday night is to sell her short because what she was went beyond words, and with A SONG FOR YOU she brought us all home... to her home... the stage. Her connection with everyone present during her performance was that of the best of hostesses, expertly entertaining her guests at a fabulous party. Her connection to us all on Leon Russell's song was palpable love and respect delivered with deepest feeling. We had a blast because she was having a blast, especially when she tributed her pal, playwright/musical librettist Doug Wright for his birthday. The kisses they blew each other across the house were genuinely affectionate.

And now, dear Bobby Readers, your rainbow boy has Good News & Bad News ... The Bad news comes from 54 Below's website...

All performances for Patti LuPone's SONGS FROM A HAT are sold out. In the event of cancellations, patrons can join the standby line starting 30 minutes before each performance. Tickets will be sold as they become available up until showtime. - So there's a little hope with that bad news.

THE GOOD NEWS - For the New Year - The January 1 performance is being streamed online. To purchase tickets for the Livestream, just click: HERE

So everyone far and wide can spend a bit of their 2023 opening celebrations with one of the best entertainers our business has to offer, and with what I am sure you all already gathered (since Bobby is anything but subtle) this was a rave rainbow review because... Patti.

She will always deserve...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

Keep Up With Composer, Pianist, Conductor, Arranger Joseph Thalkan On His Webbysite: HERE

Photo of Ms. Lupone By Rahav Iggy Segev

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