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| BROADWAY LEGENDS: (left to right) Mandy Patinkin & Patti LuPone in their new Broadway show. Photo: Joan Marcus |
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Theater
Review
Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin:
Uneven 'evening' by two Broadway icons
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By David NouNou
It is fair to say that Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are theatrical legends. Their voices are musical instruments that are finely tuned. However, once they appear on an almost bare stage (with the exception of some ghost stage lights of various sizes), clad in black and gray, and the orchestra consists of piano (Paul Ford) and bass (John Beal), you begin to realize that this is not going to be a fun fest, but a serious, somber, and sobering evening.
Between Ms. LuPone and Mr. Patinkin together, they have a combined theatrical body of work that leaves a reader breathless, so it comes as an utter surprise (not necessarily a great one) that the song selections for this show are so all over the place, with no cohesion, and so few of them are from shows in which they actually appeared in. Considering they have appeared in such shows as Evita together and separately, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Sunday In The Park With George, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, The Secret Garden, and The Wild Party, to name a few, the bulk of the songs they sing come from South Pacific, Merrily We Roll Along, and Carousel.
Things takeoff with a bang, starting with "Another Hundred People," sung in perfect harmony from Sondheim's Company and eventually drifts into songs and monologues from Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific. Why monologues? Interspersed between the South Pacific songs .For some reason, such songs as "Getting Married Today" from Company and "Loving You" from Passion are inserted, and both are Sondheim tunes. This is odd indeed. From there until the end of Act I, pastiche songs from Jerome Kern's You Were Never Lovelier and Roberta, Kander and Ebb's Flora The Red Menace, Frank Loesser's Neptune's Daughter and more Sondheim songs from Into The Woods and Anyone Can Whistle. For the life of me, I could not find a remote thread here. To make matters worse, there is no repartee with the audience, and no setting up of songs or their relevance. I reiterate: serious, somber, and sobering.
Thank God in Act II, song two, finally a song from Ms. LuPone's portfolio, "Everything's Coming Up Roses," from Gypsy, belted strongly by Ms. LuPone. Mr. Patinkin comes back with vigor in "Buddy's Blues" from Follies, complete with the famous Patinkin falsettos, and then to an unimpressive set from Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. Hallelujah, we finally get to what everyone has been waiting for: the songs from Evita. Mr. Patinkin does a brilliant rendition "Oh, What A Circus," and Ms. LuPone does a chilling "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," and needless to say, these two songs bring down the house.
Next, the most bizarre part of the evening takes place. For a closing, a mini version of Carousel is performed. LuPone portrays Julie Jordan and Patinkin, playing Billy Bigelow, do actual scenes and songs from Rodger's and Hammerstein's Carousel; interspersed between the scenes. They sing "You're A Queer One, Julie Jordan," "If I Loved You," "What's The Use of Wond'rin" and "You'll Never Walk Alone Again." This portion was way too long and self-indulgent. Amazingly, they never share anecdotes about their careers, except the one time that Mr. Patinkin introduces Evita, and there we see genuine affection and admiration for each other. I will say it yet again: serious, somber. sobering.
Seeing Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway was like celebrating New Year's Eve, and everyone was having the grandest of times. Seeing Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin is like going to the office Christmas party where you expect to have a great time or at least a good time with co-workers/friends, but the only people who show up are the CEO, top brass of the company, and you.
Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 22, 2011
Reviewed on opening night on November 21, 2011
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