Patti LuPone is 65 years old today. LuPone is a singer and actress, known for her performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables. She is also known for her performance as Mama Rose in the 2008 revival of Gypsy: A Musical Fable. LuPone was born in Northport, New York, on Long Island, the daughter of Angela Louise (née Patti), a college library administrator, and Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator. Her great-grand-aunt was the celebrated nineteenth-century opera singer Adelina Patti. Her older brother Robert LuPone is an actor, dancer and director who originated the role of Zach the director in A Chorus Line. Her other brother William LuPone is a teacher. When they were young, they performed on Long Island as the LuPone Trio. She is of Italian/Abruzzese descent, and a graduate of Northport High School, where she studied under the musical direction of voice coach Esther Scott. LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliards Drama Division (1968-1972: Group 1), which also included actors Kevin Kline and David Ogden Stiers. She graduated from Juilliard in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1972, LuPone became one of the original members of The Acting Company, formed by John Houseman. The Acting Company is a nationally touring repertory theater company. LuPone’s stint with the company lasted from 1972 to 1976, and she appeared in many of their productions, including The Cradle Will Rock, the play that House had produced. The movie version was directed and written by Tim Robbins. I was executive producer of that film. In May 1983, founding alumni of The Acting Company reunited for an off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein’s landmark labor musical The Cradle Will Rock at the American Place Theater. It was narrated by John Houseman, with LuPone in the roles of Moll and Sister Mister. The production premiered at The Acting Companys summer residence at Chautauqua Institution, toured the United States, including an engagement at the Highland Park, Illinois Ravinia Festival in 1984 and played Londons West End. Since 1977, LuPone has been a frequent collaborator with David Mamet, appearing in his plays The Woods, All Men are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine (1978),[13] Edmond and The Old Neighborhood (1997). LuPone has performed in numerous New York concert productions of musicals including Pal Joey with Peter Gallagher and Bebe Neuwirth, Annie Get Your Gun with Peter Gallagher, Sweeney Todd with George Hearn in both New York and San Francisco, Anything Goes with Howard McGillin, Can-Can with Michael Nouri for City Center Encores!, Candide with Kristin Chenoweth, Passion with Michael Cerveris and Audra McDonald and Gypsy with Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti for City Center Encores!. Since 2001, LuPone has been a regular performer at the Chicago Ravinia Festival. She starred in a six-year-long series of concert presentations of Stephen Sondheim musicals, which began in honor of his seventieth birthday. Her roles here have included Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Fosca in Passion, Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, Rose in Gypsy and two different roles in Sunday in the Park with George. Here, LuPone performs “Nickel Under the Foot” from “The Cradle Will Rock.”
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 06:23:39 +0000
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