Conceived and Directed by Scott Wittman
Musical Direction by Joseph ThalkenCanberra Theatre Centre Playhouse – 25th June, 2018
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Having experienced Patti Lupone’s unforgettable
performance as a fiery Eva Peron in the original Australian production of the
Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Evita” at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney in 1981,
the moment in her show, when she sang “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” proved
particularly nostalgic. Since creating that role in the original 1979 Broadway
production, Lupone has gone on to become one of Broadway’s most celebrated
leading ladies, winning multiple Tony and Grammy awards along the way.
However, her show “Don’t Monkey with Broadway” is much
more than a stroll through her greatest hits. In fact, many of her most famous
roles are ignored in favour of songs from roles she would never be asked to
play on Broadway. Hence, she includes “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” from
“Guys and Dolls” and “River City” from
“The Music Man” and “Something’s Coming” from “West Side Story” over songs from
“Sunset Boulevard” and “Les Miserables” in which she originated the leading
roles.
Her impeccably constructed show is packed with magic
moments guaranteed to satisfy the most avid Broadway musical buff, with some
lovely surprises including the little-known but beautiful, “Sleepy Man” from
“The Robber Bridegroom”, the musical which garnered Lupone her first Tony Award
nomination.
Lupone’s ability to completely immerse herself in a song;
to hold the moment and draw the audience to her incredibly nuanced
interpretation of the lyrics, is a joy to experience. Eschewing
an orchestra in favour of a grand piano, bedecked with a bowl of red roses, and
the exquisite piano settings of Joseph Thalken, himself a celebrated composer,
Lupone wastes not a word as she deftly set up each song. Only some related to
her career, but each one displayed her remarkable technical mastery and
idiosyncratic phrasing.
Lupone knows about stillness, which she demonstrated in
her hilarious interpretation of Cy
Coleman’s ,“Hey Big Spender”, during which, without moving anything other than her
eyes and lips, she created the funniest
taxi-dance hostess you’re ever likely to encounter. There was fire too, in her
interpretation of Sondheim’s “Some People” from “Gypsy”.
Her peerless diction dazzled in her virtuosic performances
of Jule Styne’s tongue-twister, “If You Hadn’t, But You Did” from “Two in the
Aisle”, and Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People” from “Company”.
Her voice soared in the glorious “Meadowlark” from the Stephen
Schwartz musical “The Baker’s Wife”, the show which was meant to make her a
Broadway star, but which was cancelled before its Broadway opening, and there was
surprising tenderness in her gentle interpretation of “Easy to be Hard” from
“Hair”.
Her admiration for Stephen Sondheim was referenced in
exquisite performances of “A Place For Us” from “West Side Story”, “Anyone Can
Whistle” from the show of the same name, and the dramatic “Being Alive” from
“Company”. But it was her brilliant duet with herself, as both Maria and Anita
singing “A Boy Like That” from “West Side Story” that had the audience in
stitches.
If all these treasures were not enough, her
masterstroke came after interval with the surprise inclusion of an ensemble of
sixteen of Canberra’s finest young music theatre performers. Specially
rehearsed by local musical director, Nicholas Griffin, the ensemble provided exquisitely
sung vocal backings for several of her songs. Her pleasure in their performance
was patently obvious, and they were
rewarded when she called them back on stage after her final song, to join her
in a haunting acapella performance of Bernstein’s “Some Other Time”.
This review first published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW . www.artsreview.com.au
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| Patti Lupone and Nick Griffih (Centre) with Joseph Thalken (back) and the Canberra Chorus Sammy Marceddo, Pip Murphy, Laura Dawson, Skye Butcher, Kelly Roberts, Kirrah Amosa, Louiza Blomfield, Jo Burns, Alexander Clubb, Hayden Baum Will Huang, Liam Jackson, Joel Hutchings , Grant Pegg, Tom White, Joel Mallett |