Patti LuPone bringing Broadway hits, "music that makes you cry" to town

Tony Award-winning Broadway star Patti LuPone offers a high-spirited tour of songs and roles that she “could have played, should have played, did play and will play” Friday night, Nov. 20, in Hill Auditorium.

“It’s basically my chronological history in musical theater,” she explained. “And of course there are songs that you wouldn’t associate me with — there’s a leading man part that I will never play. And then there’s roles as a kid growing up on Long Island that I did play or wanted to play.”

Prompted to be more specific about her program, presented by the University Musical Society, LuPone was playfully elusive. “You can guess, but I’m not telling,” she teased.

“I don’t want to tip the hat … but there’s a lot of Rodgers and Hammerstein, there’s a lot of Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne ... it’s that kind of stuff. Traditional, wonderful, the kind of music that makes you cry.”

She said the show grew out of a fundraiser she was asked to do 10 years ago for the New York-based Gay Mens’ Health Crisis, an HIV/AIDS service organization.

“We keep changing it because there are so many songs I’ve wanted to sing. We’re adding, if I’m lucky, four of five new songs to the repertoire that I have done, that I’ll never do, that I shouldn’t be doing — it’s that kind of a show,” she laughed.

LuPone is perhaps best known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 musical “Evita,” as Rose in “Gypsy,” and in her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of “Les Misérables.” She has also headlined solo Broadway concerts and received a Tony nomination for her role in the 2006 hit revival of the musical “Sweeney Todd.”

Her credits aren’t limited to the stage. On television, she played Libby Thatcher on the ABC drama “Life Goes On” (1989-1993), has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award for the TV movie “The Song Spinner” and also appeared on the series “Ugly Betty” in 2007. She played Lady Bird Johnson in the TV movie “LBJ” and guest-starred on an episode of “30 Rock” in March.

Her film credits include “King of the Gypsies,” “1941” and “Bad Faith.”

Besides “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda,” LuPone also tours with singer/actor Mandy Patinkin, sometimes performing her solo show one night and the program with Patinkin the next. LuPone admitted it can be confusing.

“I’m waiting for the day when I break down and stage and say ‘Who are you, where am I, what am I doing here?’ she laughed. “Anything can happen. My concentration is so fragile, I get totally distracted then all of a sudden the lyric is gone and then how do you get it back?”

She said she’d be delighted to do another Broadway show should she be asked. “Who knows what that will be — they’re not knocking down my door. I guess I am waiting for them to come calling,” she said. “I’d like to do more TV. It’s been a hard time for everybody. I’m lucky that I can sing because I’m working. There’s a lot of people not working.”

LuPone also admitted to yet another project — she’s writing her biography. “(It’s) my life in the theater … I don’t have a title yet,” she said.

Meanwhile, LuPone said she is looking forward to her visit to Ann Arbor, which includes “tea” (she trills the word dramatically) with U-M Musical Theater students and a Cabaret Prelude Dinner before the show.

“I can’t wait to see the campus again,” she said.

PREVIEW
Patti LuPone
Who: Tony Award-winning Broadway star, presented by the University Musical Society.
What: Solo performance (with piano accompaniment) is titled “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda,” a retrospective of her career in musical theater.
Where: Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave.
When: Friday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m.
How much: $10-$54.
Info: UMS web site; 734-764-2538.
Related Event: There will be a Cabaret Prelude Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the Hill Auditorium Mezzanine Lobby. Cost is $50 per person; call 734-764-8489 for reservations.

Patti LuPone performs "Buenos Aires" from "Evita" at the 1981 Tony Awards:

Roger LeLievre is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com