An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin

Saturday evening I went to see Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin in concert at the McCallum Theatre. It was two hour show of Broadway musical classics. Now as far as I am concerned, I wouldn't necessarily think of myself as a big show tunes fan, but I must admit I recognized most of the shows they sang. They performed selections from Carousel, Anything Goes, Merrily We Roll Along, Little Shop of Horrors, Company, How to Succeed In Business Without really Trying, and Evita. When they sang songs from Evita, the audience was thrilled- she and Mandy had both done Evita on Broadway many years ago. It was a very simple production- just Patti, Mandy, a pianist, a Bass player and two white wicker chairs.

Patti LuPone recently concluded a run in the hit Broadway production of Sweeney Todd as the pie-maker Mrs. Lovett. She is about to go back to Broadway for the revival of Gypsy. It was a nice evening, although my other half was bored out of his mind, (as was one-half of the other couple we went with). Amazingly, they survived only after threatening to poke out their eyes with a sharp stick rather than sit through a night of show tunes.

As I sat in the theatre, I thought about my friend Stephen Rader who probably would have enjoyed the show. I'll keep you in mind next time we see Patti, Stephen. For your viewing pleasure, below is a YouTube clip from the Broadway production of Evita with Patti as Eva, and Mandy as Che. I've always liked Evita.

-Rick Rockhill