We went to the Civic Center on Tuesday night to see two Broadway legends perform. Both Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone won Tony's for Andrew Lloyd Webber's EVITA way back in 1980, and their performances in that musical could be said to have birthed their long and successful careers. I remember watching the TONY Awards back in 1980 and seeing Patti LuPone as Evita and Mandy Patinkin as Che Guevera. When I watched them 34 years ago, I remember thinking how absolutely wonderful these two powerful young talents were. Patti was 30 at the time, and Mandy was 27. I knew they were both going to be around and amazing for a long time.
I have to admit to a little trepidation when we arrived at the theater on Tuesday. These two shining stars were, after all, my true contemporaries; we are in our 60's together. Would their voices suffer from the inevitability of growing older? Well, I wish I could say that they sang as beautifully as they did in 1980, but I can't. Their voices have aged. They creak a bit like my knees. Mandy Patinkin, for me, was always at his best in the higher register. His voice soared and was almost impossibly pure. Patti LuPone's soprano was pure and monstrously powerful and awesome to hear. Now Mandy's high notes are not quite what they were, and he growls in the lower register. Patti is not the wall- shaking crystal-smasher she used to be. But it's all right. They still are a joy to watch and listen to, even if it's a bit like watching shadows and listening to echoes.
Here begin a few specific thoughts about the our evening with Mandy and Patti. I loved the SOUTH PACIFIC duet at the beginning of the show, but I'm not sure why it was sung so rapidly. Was it a comment on the fact that Emile DeBecque said that he needed to grab onto things quickly lest they get away? I don't know, but I know theatergoers were troubled by it. The same can be said about the rapid Sondheim lyrics. They were very hard to understand for me, and I know most of the words.
I was really impressed with Mandy Patinkin's staging of this two person piece. He gave me a lot of ideas for directing people of later middle age. The most important point being be sure there are chairs, because they'll want to sit down a lot. The show included a dance performed on rolling desk chairs. Choreographed by Anne Reinking, it was a highlight of the evening.
I really loved the anecdotes of life in the theater, especially the one about the early performance of EVITA in California. I wish there had been more.
Why was the show lit so. . .darkly? I mean, it was occasionally hard to make out the players from up in the mezzanine. All those beautiful lights in the Civic Center! Use them. . .or does too much light reveal too much. . .?
When the inevitable standing ovation came at show's end, it was, I think for most of the people watching, myself included, part standing "O" for lifetimes of achievement and part for the abilities that Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone still have to continue to perform at a high level after doing it for a good long time.
Some people may wonder why such established stars, certainly with plenty of things to do, still go on the road to perform for live audiences. After all, Patti LuPone wrote a best-selling memoir and Mandy Patinkin has his Showtime gig as Saul on HOMELAND. Of course, on HOMELAND he could get assassinated at any moment just as an interesting plot twist. I can only guess at the why of there need to stand behind the footlights still. I think it's because that's what they do. That's what they love to do. The classic "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," begins with Eva/Patti singing, "It won't be easy/You'll think it's strange/When I try to explain how I feel/That I still need your love after all that I've done. . ." It may be something like that, too. The love from the audience is a necessity, like food and water and music.
I found the TONY performance that I mentioned earlier in this post. You might enjoy it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QtZxxbStjs
I have to admit to a little trepidation when we arrived at the theater on Tuesday. These two shining stars were, after all, my true contemporaries; we are in our 60's together. Would their voices suffer from the inevitability of growing older? Well, I wish I could say that they sang as beautifully as they did in 1980, but I can't. Their voices have aged. They creak a bit like my knees. Mandy Patinkin, for me, was always at his best in the higher register. His voice soared and was almost impossibly pure. Patti LuPone's soprano was pure and monstrously powerful and awesome to hear. Now Mandy's high notes are not quite what they were, and he growls in the lower register. Patti is not the wall- shaking crystal-smasher she used to be. But it's all right. They still are a joy to watch and listen to, even if it's a bit like watching shadows and listening to echoes.
Here begin a few specific thoughts about the our evening with Mandy and Patti. I loved the SOUTH PACIFIC duet at the beginning of the show, but I'm not sure why it was sung so rapidly. Was it a comment on the fact that Emile DeBecque said that he needed to grab onto things quickly lest they get away? I don't know, but I know theatergoers were troubled by it. The same can be said about the rapid Sondheim lyrics. They were very hard to understand for me, and I know most of the words.
I was really impressed with Mandy Patinkin's staging of this two person piece. He gave me a lot of ideas for directing people of later middle age. The most important point being be sure there are chairs, because they'll want to sit down a lot. The show included a dance performed on rolling desk chairs. Choreographed by Anne Reinking, it was a highlight of the evening.
I really loved the anecdotes of life in the theater, especially the one about the early performance of EVITA in California. I wish there had been more.
Why was the show lit so. . .darkly? I mean, it was occasionally hard to make out the players from up in the mezzanine. All those beautiful lights in the Civic Center! Use them. . .or does too much light reveal too much. . .?
When the inevitable standing ovation came at show's end, it was, I think for most of the people watching, myself included, part standing "O" for lifetimes of achievement and part for the abilities that Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone still have to continue to perform at a high level after doing it for a good long time.
Some people may wonder why such established stars, certainly with plenty of things to do, still go on the road to perform for live audiences. After all, Patti LuPone wrote a best-selling memoir and Mandy Patinkin has his Showtime gig as Saul on HOMELAND. Of course, on HOMELAND he could get assassinated at any moment just as an interesting plot twist. I can only guess at the why of there need to stand behind the footlights still. I think it's because that's what they do. That's what they love to do. The classic "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," begins with Eva/Patti singing, "It won't be easy/You'll think it's strange/When I try to explain how I feel/That I still need your love after all that I've done. . ." It may be something like that, too. The love from the audience is a necessity, like food and water and music.
I found the TONY performance that I mentioned earlier in this post. You might enjoy it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QtZxxbStjs
No comments:
Post a Comment