MUSIC REVIEW: Patti LuPone at the Mahaiwe

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Great Barrington, Mass.
PATTI LUPONE IN "COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA"
July 11, 2010

 

Reviewed by Clarence Fanto

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., July 12, 2010) — Make no mistake. Patti LuPone is a certified Broadway Diva in the best sense of the word. At 61, she may be edging toward the twilight of a storied career with leading roles in Evita, Anything Goes, Sweeney Todd,  Sunset Boulevard (London only), and the recent, acclaimed Gypsy revival.

She remains a feisty, on-the-edge, push-the-envelope performer with a trace of self-deprecation mingled with defensiveness as evidenced in her sold-out Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center concert on July 11. One of several touring one-woman shows, "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" is a cleverly constructed musical autobiography that not only gives her an opportunity to perform roles she chose to skip or roles which passed over her  but also to give the audience several of her greatest hits.

Early on, she took a couple of swipes at the New York Times for unspecified critical pans and at Andrew Lloyd Webber, though not by name, for throwing her overboard for the Broadway run of Sunset Boulevard in favor of Glenn Close, a fine actress but not a professional singer, and then Betty Buckley. "It took two of them to replace me," LuPone observed with a trace of bitterness; she's well-entitled, given the circumstances.

But as she launched into the chronicle of her entry into show business via the Juilliard School's drama division and John Houseman's legendary Acting Company, her consummate musical taste, artistry and professional acumen quickly became apparent. Interspersed with anecdotes and witty asides, she performed well-chosen selections from Bye Bye Birdie, South Pacific, Gypsy, Hair, West Side Story (doubling up on the roles of Anita and Maria in a hilarious send-up of "A Boy Like That" and "I Have a Love"), Funny Girl,  Peter Pan and a sensitive cover of Liza Minnelli's "A Quiet Thing" from Flora the Red Menace.

The highlight of the first 50-minute set, the quasi-operatic "Meadowlark" (by Stephen Schwartz), is from one of the biggest flops of the era, The Baker's Wife. LuPone always jokes about it, on this occasion pointing out that it filled only 25 seats out of 2,500 at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center. But the song, often covered by Liz Callaway, Alice RIpley, Betty Buckley, Sarah Brightman and other top artists, is a tear-inducing gem, performed by LuPone with intense urgency, power and poignancy.

Inevitably, by popular demand, she included her ultimate show-stopper from Evita, but for me, the past glories of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" have faded through repetition resulting in over-familiarity.

LuPone's sampler of songs she couldn't have sung (pants roles) included a scintillating version of " 'Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man  that compared favorably to Robert Preston's Broadway original, and a sweet "How to Handle a Woman" from Camelot. A quadruple-play without narration offered more musical-theater golden oldies — including "Sleepy Man" from Robber Bridegroom and a haunting "As Long As He Needs Me" from OIiver! — followed by a Sondheim segue led off by a new one to me, "I Never Do Anything Twice," a-k-a "The Madam's Song" from the 1976 film The Seven Percent Solution, "Anyone Can Whistle," a gorgeous "Send in the Clowns" and a heartfelt "Feeling Alive."

 

The encore set summed up LuPone's approach to life and show biz — "My Way," "Ladies Who Lunch" and "September Song" and then a most-ironic curtain-dropper, "The Way You Look Tonight" as the star snapped photos of the audience. She's well known for berating audience members who take her photo during performances or otherwise disrupt the proceedings via electronic intrusions. Obviously, she was making a point.

Musical director Joseph Thalken deserves major kudos not only for his pianism but his occasional vocal backup work. While LuPone's voice is marred by a raspy, nasal, rapid-vibrato tendency that has crept into her singing in recent years, this drawback — most apparent in the high-intensity songs where she pushed her instrument to the limit — paled in comparison to the evocative impact of her artistry. A genuine trouper and a treasure of the Broadway and cabaret stage, LuPone's appearance (she's a resident of nearby northwest Connecticut) was an illustrious booking for the Mahaiwe and a memorable evening for the 700-member audience.

Clarence Fanto reviews music for Berkshireliving.com and is a contributing editor of Berkshire Living.