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COVER STORY
 Over
this upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, most of us will sitting
somewhere at dinner gobbling up holiday leftovers and continuing
to give thanks for what we have.
However, there will be one voice in the night
that will be heard above all others singing out “coulda,
woulda, shoulda.” No, it’s not sour grapes or
even a case of eating too much stuffing – it’s
just Broadway star Patti Lupone’s way of “talking
turkey” about her concert show – “Coulda,
Woulda, Shoulda…Played That Part” -- that she’s
bringing to the Suncoast November 23-25 in which she will
perform songs from musicals she could have played, should
have played, did play and will play..
But don’t cry for her, Argentina --
Lupone, who achieved international acclaim in 1979 playing
the lead role of Eva Perone in “Evita,” for which
she won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award, will be serving up
selections from such shows as Hair, Bye, Bye Birdie, Funny
Girl, West Side Story, Peter Pan and, of course from her award
winning performances in Evita and Anything Goes. When it comes
to musicals, few artists have a fuller plate.
“This show is a chronological history
of musical theater,” says Lupone. “Scott Wittman,
who was the lyricist for ‘Hairspray,’ has been
the director of my one-woman shows for the last eight years.
The show changes constantly because there are so many tunes
to sing. It’s show tunes, show tunes, nothing but show
tunes, and I’ve been singing them for a long time.”
“I don’t have a favorite song,”
she adds. “Each one supplies different information and
a different emotional impact. I’m in awe of everything
– of life, of the earth. Nothing is my favorite –
not in colors, food or anything else. It’s too limiting.”
Besides Evita. Lupone is best known for her
role as Nancy in the 1984 revival of Oliver; as Fantine in
the London production of Les Miserable and as Reno Sweeney
in the 1987 Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes. Her musical
career also includes Pal Joey, Annie Get Your Gun, Sweeney
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Can-Can. For her
performance in Sweeney Todd, Lupone was nominated for a Tony
Award.
Lupone first fell in love with an audience
when she was four years old. She quips that she started tap
dancing in elementary school and never looked back. By the
time she was 13, she was performing in “Bye Bye Birdie”
with The Patio Players on her friend Kathy Sheldon’s
patio. Lupone subsequently became a product of Juilliard and
John Houseman’s Acting Company and it was when producer
David Merrick hired her in 1976 as a replacement to play Genevieve,
the title role of the troubled pre-Broadway original production
of The Baker’s Wife, that Lupone’s professional
career was born. That, of course, led to her being chosen
three years later to star in “Evita.”
“’Evita’ taught me that
nothing was impossible,” Lupon admits. “I accomplished
a role that was a very difficult role but it was not a good
experience. It was an incredibly difficult experience that
came with a lot of baggage and a lot of hype about the unknown
who wasn’t cutting it – me. To do this role, I
had to be what Eva was, an orator. It was written in a very
high pitch that was uncomfortable for me. I had a year’s
contract and I HAD to succeed. I ended up being on Broadway
for two years in the show and then went to Australia to perform
it for two months because the lead there was knocked out of
the role.”
Lupone says that when she takes on a role,
she has to identify with that character, which is why she
has no favorite. She explains that an actress has to be an
empty vessel that can let everything in. She says that learning
a part takes memorization, drilling it into her head, and
technique.”
I’ve developed my own technique,”
she acknowledges. “For me, it’s drill, drill,
drill every day – it’s as simple as that. When
I’m performing in a show every night, I keep it fresh
by looking at the audience because that audience has never
seen it before. Plus, each night, you get deeper into the
part and play it with a little more knowledge. Hopefully,
you can grow in it in the right way so that bubbles burst
and all sorts of interesting things happen.”
Physical preparation for a show, which Lupone
claims is all day long, includes eating properly and working
out. She tries not to do anything but take care of herself
and then perform at night, in the interest of safeguarding
her voice. Long runs take a lot of discipline and she does
vocalize during the day. However, she will go out after the
show and get a bite to eat.
“I’m getting fatter and fatter,”
she cajoles. “I’m turning into an opera singer.”
Lupone laughs that her challenges now are
remembering lines because she’s getting older but says
that she wants to keep working and likes the feeling of knowing
that she has a job. She plays stages all over the world and
even performs at prisons and mental institutions. On the personal
front, she has been married nearly 20 years and has a 17-year-old
son, Joshua, in school and relates that her husband, Matt
Johnston, who worked on a film crew but is now retired, is
Mr. Mom and more.
“He manages our property,” Lupone,
who lives in New York City, notes. “We have two houses
and we’re downsizing everything. We’re in our
Quaker phase – less is more. I just want a Passport,
a suitcase, a little cap and I want to travel the world. I’ll
work as long as I can have an audience and get paid.”
Where Lupone is concerned, anything goes.
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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