In an era where the biggest story on Broadway is the abysmal failure of the accident-plagued Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the legendary Patti LuPone stands apart as (to borrow a line from composer Marvin Hamlisch) one singular sensation.
A Broadway veteran with nearly 40 years of experience; two Tony Awards (for 1979’s Evita and 2008’s Gypsy revival); and numerous Tony, Laurence Olivier and Drama Desk award nominations under her belt, LuPone remains one of musical theater’s most celebrated talents. And though she may venture into TV (“LBJ: The Early Years,” “Oz,” “30 Rock”) and film (City By The Sea, State and Main, Driving Miss Daisy) from time to time, her solo show Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda proves that the Long Island native remains most at home on the stage.
Born in 1949, LuPone came by her vocal talent honestly — her great-grand aunt was celebrated 19th-century opera singer Adelina Patti. She started out performing on Long Island in the LuPone Trio with older brothers William and Robert, the actor/dancer/director who later originated the role of Zach the choreographer in A Chorus Line. She went on to become part of the first graduating class of Julliard’s Drama Division, eventually following acting professor John Houseman when he formed the influential theatre company, The Acting Company, with whom she worked regularly from 1972 to 1976.
By 1973 she’d made her Broadway debut playing Irina in Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, and two years later she received her first Tony Award nomination — Best Featured Actress in a Musical — for her role as Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom. But it was her work as Argentinean first lady Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita that truly established LuPone as a star, earning her a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical and leading to major roles in The Cradle Will Rock, an Oliver! revival, the original London production of Les Misérables and Cole Porter’s Anything Goes (for which she earned another Tony nod).
LuPone’s latest solo show, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, offers Broadway’s greatest diva since Ethel Merman a chance to perform songs from musicals in which she could’ve played, would’ve played, did play or will play, including beloved favorites from Evita and Gypsy. The set list is filled with songs from classic musicals such as Hair; Bye, Bye Birdie; Funny Girl; West Side Story; and Peter Pan, all of them born anew thanks to LuPone’s depth of emotion, dramatic gestures and signature knack for the dynamic knockout punch.
While the Great White Way may be floundering, searching for new ways to “turn off the dark,” Patti LuPone reveals herself to be in peak form as Broadway’s reigning Grande Dame. And if Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda is any indication, she has no intention of relinquishing that crown anytime soon.
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Atlanta-based freelancer Bret Love has been covering arts, entertainment, restaurants and travel for 17 years and recently launched his own website, GreenGlobalTravel.com.
