Patti LuPone has never been one to keep her opinions to herself, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The Broadway legend has dropped her latest truth bomb on… Broadway itself, and there’s a lot to unpack. So, let’s get started.
First things first, a bit of context…
Is Patti LuPone retiring?
The three-time Tony Award winner sent shockwaves through the theater district when she announced on Twitter that she’s giving up her Actor’s Equity card after 50 years of membership and 30 Broadway roles under her belt.
In related theater drama, Hadestown star Lillias White had a major “oops” moment last Wednesday when she twice chastised a theatergoer she believed was using a recording device during a performance. It turned out that the audience member was hard of hearing and actually using a theater-issued captioning device. Oops! Also, awkward!
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Many compared it to LuPone’s highly-publicized rebuke of an audience member who refused to follow masking requirements in May of this year.
Related: Nude leaks, ‘Funny Girl’ flop, and Patti melts: 5 biggest scandals of the Broadway season
Judging by LuPone’s tweet this week, she has not appreciated her name being brought up.
“Quite a week on Broadway, seeing my name being bandied about,” she wrote. “Gave up my Equity card; no longer part of that circus. Figure it out.”
Quite a week on Broadway, seeing my name being bandied about. Gave up my Equity card; no longer part of that circus. Figure it out.
— Patti LuPone (@PattiLuPone) October 17, 2022
That led many to naturally think she was exiting stage left for good, but as she recently explained to Variety, “I just gave up my equity card, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t perform on-stage. It’s 50 years that I’ve been a member of Actors Equity, and I think I need a break from the stage.”
Without union membership, she’s still allowed to take guest appearances, but not starring roles, on stage. And we imagine she’d be welcomed back in with open arms should she ever wish to rejoin.
But don’t expect it to happen any time soon
LuPone may have prompted folks to “figure it out” on their own, but she’s since made her position on the current state of Broadway quite clear.
“Broadway has also changed considerably,” she told Variety. “I think we’ve spent — not we, but whoever’s in charge of, whatever — has actively dumbed down the audience. And so the attention span of the majority of the audience, I think, is much less than it was in the past, and I don’t think plays are going to have long lives on Broadway — I feel as though it’s turning into Disneyland, a circus and Las Vegas.”
“There’s still very intelligent audiences that support the theater, but the ticket price is outrageous,” the star continued. “There’s so many obstacles that prevent theater from being the tool it should be in society, which is an education.”
In other words: While she’s taking a break from the stage, don’t expect to see her catching a matinee of Aladdin, either.
This isn’t her first gripe with with Broadway… or one composer, specifically
Reflecting on her luminous stage career with the New York Times in 2019, LuPone discussed her role as Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s monster hit Evita.
While she praised the show as “the best thing he and Tim Rice did,” it was only because, as she put it, “the rest of it is schmaltz.”
Related: 5 times Broadway diva Patti LuPone went off on fools who dared cross her
Speaking directly of Webber, she didn’t mince words calling him “a jerk,” adding, “He’s a sad sack. He is the definition of sad sack.”
She had some choice words for Madonna’s film interpretation of the role as well… while simultaneously admitting she never actually saw the picture.
And while she admittedly asked “What the hell is this song about?” after hearing the iconic “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” for the first time, LuPone proved she can still slay the track at the 2018 Grammy Awards in a performance that sent Gay Twitter™ spinning.
So where can you expect to see her?
Though she may be mostly known as a Broadway icon, LuPone has a dizzying list of film and television credits to her name. Just yesterday, Netflix released the fantasy film The School for Good and Evil, in which she plays “Mrs. Deauville,” a bookshop owner. And in 2023 she’ll appear in Disappointment Blvd., a comedy horror film written, directed, and produced by Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar).
And if you’re a fan of Ryan Murphy‘s American Horror Story, you’ll be seeing her very shortly. LuPone plays a character named “Kathy” in the newest installment of the series, American Horror Story: NYC. The show premiered on October 19 and promises to be the “gayest season yet.” Work!
Related: This season of ‘American Horror Story’ is going to be the gayest yet—here’s what we know so far
humble charlie
she’s 73 and she’s tired and cranky, but she’s still a great artist. she has to acknowledge her limitations: she should lower the keys of the songs that she used to easily sing (for example, her “don’t cry for me, argentina” video in the above article) for after a certain pitch level she can no longer reach those notes (though she makes many out-of-tune reaches for them and her breath control “ain’t what it used to be”). singing those notes is like madonna kissing (and you know she gave him some old leathery tongue) drake poor drake – yuck! despite all of her present infirmities, she has made a great contribution to the american/british musical.
Rugby8
DOES NOT give her the r9ght to be a Bitch!
dbmcvey
She’s amazing! Her Mama Rose was brilliant, as was Evita, Reno Sweeney and so many others. She’s amazing in concert as well.
garrulous
She is an amazing actor, to be sure, but all signs (and her own behavior) indicate that she is not so admirable as a human being.
Jbaltes
Never a favorite of mine! She tends to over sing and over act in many roles. I find her voice very strident at times, almost screeching! If she exercises restraint, she is much better, but she is not particularly prone to doing so! She has become, in my opinion, an obnoxious diva. Time for her to move on!
Brian
She’s right about the change in productions. Now we get the same formulaic content. Disney produces a movie, then they produce a straight-to-video sequel of that movie, then they do a “live” version of the first movie, then they create a touring production of the movie performed by ice skaters, and then finally they do a Broadway version. Nobody is asking for that! There’s too much of an obsession with reusing old I.P. We’re all tired of it.
abfab
Fun Home was the most. Circle In The Square. Amazing.
Here Lies Love. One big party…amazing.
Ave Q.
Let’s not poo-poo all of Bway.
abfab
Her in the series HOLLYWOOD! That was great TV. I miss Elaine Stritch…….a lot. And if I was Patti, I’d be ten times bitchier….having to put up the Great Unwashed every night. No.
Kangol2
Patti LuPone was excellent in Company and Anything Goes and so much else. She may be a bit of a diva but I cut her some slack, because I’m sure she’s had to deal with some doozies!
Rambeaux
The “great unwashed” made her the star that she is.
A bit more graciousness to her fans would suit her better.
Joshooeerr
No. Theatre audiences in Lupone’s heyday (and before) were better behaved. They did not attempt to record performances, talk loudly during scenes or generally treat the theatre as if it were just their living room. They even dressed more appropriately. Lupone is totally right to call it out – and she’s doing a service to other theatregoers. She’s also right about the Disneyfication of Broadway. There’s hardly any serious content anymore. And with maybe a handful of exceptions, musicals (not just Disney musicals) of the past two decades have been dreck. Ask anyone who was around for the era of Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, et al
jackscott
Patti has always been a dive (not in a good way). She is talented, however, she also acts like she is better than other people. Shame she puts down the hard working union representation that has helped so many actors over the years. It shows she only cares about herself. Hope she doesn’t come back to the stage as there are plenty of talented and grateful performers out there that need the spotlight.
bachy
Lupone has earned the right to say exactly what she thinks about Broadway.
kdhain12
Lupone has a face and a voice only Broadway could love, yet her need to trash other female entertainers (Streisand, Madonna) reeks of jealousy, not superiority.
abfab
Jealousy? The word would be envy, and Patti has none of that either.
Jim
She is right. There’s a dearth of creativity on the Great White Way. Most of it is banal rehash.
Where is the next Hammerstein, Loewe, Sondheim, Rice ?
Lost in cooperate America.
CNY1983
when she said madonna’s acting was “dead behind the eyes” madonna should have listened to her.
Ronbo
Seems even talented people can’t rise above their own ego and pettiness. Tarnishing your own image with jealousy is not the way to make your exit. It’s usually a sign that the vessel is now empty and ready for the bin.
But what a ride! A shame she is leaving a bitter trail whe she could have left the stage a star.
graphicjack
One: lupone didn’t even see the film and probably never even watched a Madonna film ever so she’s basically parroting what other lazy journalists and anonymous hacks have said. Madonna is not a ‘great’ actress but she was great in Evita, and has a Golden Globe and lots of critical praise to prove it.
Two: M was wearing dark contacts for the film, which could have affected a ‘dead in the eyes’ appearance
Three: Lupone is considered a great theatre musical actress, but is she listed among the best actresses of her generation? I wouldn’t say so, so maybe she shouldn’t be talking as if she is so superior.
Four: criticism on M’s vocal performance in Evita is usually ‘they had to lower the key in some songs because she couldn’t hit the notes’ as if singing high is somehow the measure of great singing. People have different vocal ranges. It doesn’t make them bad singers and it doesn’t mean Lupone is ‘better’ solely because she shrieks… errr… lands… a note or two higher than Madonna.
bakeembakeem
I was a wild sophisticated black 19yr old muscular young man hanging out in new York from Philly, shopping at all high end stores, with a crafted corporate credit card, now sitting in the orchestra section seeing “Evita” with Patti Lupone enjoying it from beginning to end ,,???????
Doug
Patti Lupone knows she’s a diva, and has let it go a little too much to her head. I thought her stopping her performance and coming out of character to yell at an audience member was out of line (and didn’t she do it twice?). It’s the responsibility of the theater staff to be monitoring the audience, not hers.
abfab
A true Diva pays no attention to such silly rules…..or you, Doug.
Rugby8
As someone who has been a Patti fan since the middle 1970s…..I’m SICK of her acting like shes some kind of “Queen” of the World.
Though I often agree with her, and believe she’s an Amazing talent – she needs to CLOSE her mouth – and stop acting like she represents Anyone other than herself.
You don’t like audiences? Fine – don’t do Broadway.
You don’t want to deal with people? Don’t.
Stop Acting Like You Are The Arbiter!!!!!!
You Don’t Make the Rules for the World!
You’re an Amazing performer- perhaps you should stick what you Actually have any knowledge of
abfab
Rugby. Look in your mirror and read what you just wrote. OUTLOUD!
Rugby8
I’ve loved her on Stage since the 1970s
But she needs to STOP acting like she is queen of tge world
Girl – YOU are embarrassing Yourself
STOP IT