Patti LuPone at Barnes & Noble

Broadway legend Patti LuPone appeared at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle store in NYC on September 16th to promote Patti LuPone- A Memoir, written with Digby Diehl.

The overflow audience was treated to not only a frank discussion of the book with Tom Santopietro, but Ms. LuPone also sang four songs for the delighted group. She started at the beginning, as a four-year-old child performing on stage and realizing that is where she belonged.

She moved through her Juliard years, then her first Broadway show, The Robber Bridegroom, which although it ran for only 14 performances, LuPone received her first Tony nomination.  She sang a lovely rendition of Sleepy Man from the show.

LuPone described the difficulty of singing in Evita, losing her voice frequently and missing several performances. She said "every night, I was scared out of my mind" before her performance, and mentioned that the actress who portrayed Evita in the Australian production gave up music altogether after her run.

She spotted the incomparable Zoe Caldwell in the back of the room, and Ms. Caldwell received a well deserved standing ovation from all.

The discussion of LuPone's run in Anything Goes led to her singing Cole Porter's I Get a Kick (Out of You).  Anything Goes is such a happy, fun show, LuPone said "it should be on Broadway always".

Calling her concert performance with the New York Philharmonic in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd a "great experience from start to finish" she moved into a discussion of her most recent Broadway show, Gypsy.


But everyone perked their ears up when Sunset Boulevard was mentioned. LuPone laughingly said "I didn't tell half the story!" Saying "I'm gonna say stuff, f*#k, I don't care", she went on to say about the creator Andrew Lloyd Webber, "everyone knows Andrew is a screw loose, a strange dude".

She said that the London production was a "juggernaut of bad energy" and "everyone recognized all the signs, but went forward anyway." She decried "the underhanded method they used to get me to crumble so they wouldn't have to pay my New York salary."

(LuPone found out that she would not be the lead in the Broadway production as she was contracted to when she read it in a gossip column. She successfully sued the producers.)

The next song was Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered from Pal Joey, a strong yet sweet version. After an audience member asked why she no longer sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables in her concerts, LuPone offered to sing it, but her accompanist did not have the sheet music. As if on cue, another audience member pulled the music out of her bag and it was in the right key for LuPone. She left everyone with tears in their eyes and I got goosebumps as she sang this moving song, now forever linked with Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle is good, but she's no Patti LuPone.

The evening was amazing, the chance to hear LuPone sing such iconic songs in such an intimate setting was worth waiting for three hours on the floor of Barnes & Noble. She was also very kind to each person who got a book signed, and I can't wait to read it.

Friday Five- Volume 11

This week's Friday Five is sadly dedicated to the closing of one of my favorite events venues, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle store in NYC. I've seen many terrific authors and Broadway performers there, and I will miss the store and its friendly staff.


Friday Five- Five Fantastic Events I've Seen at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle Store

• The Cast of Broadway's Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson- The cast, starring the charismatic Benjamin Walker as Andrew Jackson, gave a rollicking performance of songs from their emo-rock show. The guys who played John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and John Calhoun were hilarious. I bought tickets to the show the next day and it was so worth it. A fun, enthusiastic show.

• The Cast of Broadway's Promises, Promises- Sean Hayes, from TV's Will & Grace, proved himself to be one of the funniest men around as he asked questions of the cast of his show. He had everyone in the room rolling on the floor, including his castmates.

Patti LuPone

• Patti LuPone- The Broadway diva dished dirt on her career, including her famous firing from Sunset Boulevard, as she promoted her autobiography, Patti LuPone, A Memoir. She sang five songs for us and it was magical. She gave me goosebumps.

• Liza Minnelli- Another legend, Ms. Minnelli appeared to promote her new CD, and she sang four songs for the huge crowd of people. She was as great as you thought she would be, and she spoke to everyone who got a CD signed. A classy lady.

• Jennifer Weiner- I've seen her twice at B&N, and going to one of her signings is like going to a big luncheon with all your best girlfriends. Weiner uses inappropriate language, and if you are a relative or friend or work with her, watch out: she will be making fun of you and telling people things about you you do not want anyone to know. That's what makes her great- she's one of us. But she's one of us who can write fun, moving books. 

RIP B&N Lincoln Triangle. At least I still have 86th St. 

Friday 5ive- November 10, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  Manhattan has its first Wegmans grocery store  (there is a Wegmans in Brooklyn) and it is a stunner! The 6 train lets you out right across the street from the store so it is convienent for me to get there, although carrying groceries back can be a bit tricky. The layout is beautifully done, and they have so much product in the store. The prepared foods section has something for everyone in packaging for one, two, or more people. I picked up a chicken francese, potato au gratin, and broccoli for my dinner and it was delicious. They have a wing bar, a huge charcuterie section with packages of sliced meats of all kinds, and an amazing cheese section stocked with products from their own cheese cave, overseen by their own Cheese Cave Affineur (that is a new term for me). The edible Chocolate Tea Cup in the bakery is adorable. I will be making many more trips to Astor Place to visit Wegmans.

Chocolate Tea Cup

Charcuterie as far as the eye can see

2) The NYC Marathon was this past Sunday and it's always fun to go cheer on the runners. It's a real team building exercise for New Yorkers and something we sorely needed this year, everyone on the same side, encouraging the brave souls running through all five boroughs. I love all the clever signs, like this one below.

3) I went to a live taping of Hillary Clinton's podcast You and Me Both at Symphony Space. Her guest was Broadway legend Patti LuPone and the conversation between this two iconic women was enlightening and intelligent. Amber Ruffin- comedian, author, actress, Broadway creative (she wrote the book for Some Like It Hot and the upcoming revival of The Wiz)-hosted and joined the ladies for a funny and interesting Q&A at the end. (Who knew Amber Ruffin and Hillary Clinton were such good friends?  It makes sense though, they are both accomplished and funny people. They should auction off dinner with these two ladies for charity,) Once again it was great to be among a community of people joined together for an activity. We even got to hear Patti sing Make Someone Happy. They did. (And Patti's red shoes were to die for!)

Hillary Clinton, Patti LuPone, Amber Ruffin

4) I watched all four episodes of Netflix's All The Light We Cannot See, based on Anthony Doerr's novel of the same name. I read the book when it published in 2014, and I think they did a good job with the miniseries. It tells the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl in WWII who, along with her uncle and aunt, work for the French resistance using her uncle's radio to send secret coded messages to the Allies to help them defeat the Nazis. Even though I knew how the story ends, I was on the edge of my seat as director Shawn Levy rachets up the tension, especially as Marie is being stalked by a Nazi who wants something he believes she possesses. Aria Maria Loberti does a good job as Marie, as does Louis Hoffman as Werner, a reluctant Nazi soldier who has an unknowing connection to Marie. Hugh Laurie is fantastic as Uncle Etienne as well. 

5) I finally read Toni Morrison's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Beloved. I can't believe I never read this incredible novel. It was my October Banned Book read gifted to me by my daughter-in-law, and it is a novel that everyone should read. Taking place shortly after the Civil War, former slave Sethe and her daughter Denver live in Ohio and are haunted by spirit of Sethe's dead baby Beloved. No one in town will associate with them for reasons that become apparent. Another former slave Paul shows up to stay with Sethe and Denver, and soon a young woman appears who shakes up things in the household. Sethe is traumatized by her life as a slave, and Morrison shows the reader the horrors and dangers of treating people as less than human. It is brutal and eye-opening, and heartbreaking. This book should not be banned, it should be required reading. 

Stay safe and healthy all, and we wish all of our veterans who sacrificed for our country a Happy Vaterans' Day tomorrow.

BEA Roundup- The Celebrities- Part III

Celebrities are always a big draw at BEA, garnering long lines of eager fans. I stood in line with many 40-something women to get a photo with 80's rocker and General Hospital star Rick Springfield. We were all 20-somethings again. He popped his gum, put his arm around each woman, smiled, took a photo, signed a CD and off to the next woman. (first photo)

If you can sing, you can draw a crowd. Neil Sedaka also had a huge line, albeit with an older crowd than Rick Springfield's. Broadway diva Patti LuPone drew a large line of theatre aficionados for an autograph on an excerpt from her upcoming autobiography. (FYI- I am not a fan of standing on line for an excerpt of a book. It bums me out when I don't get an entire book as a reward for standing in line.) LuPone was very kind to all of us, not exhibiting the diva behavior we have all heard about. I did enjoy sharing favorite Broadway experiences with friendly fellow fans in line. (second photo)

Political junkies got to see Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough from MSNBC's Morning Joe show. They are exactly as they seem on screen, and very friendly. She is lovely, with fabulous legs. But the funny thing to me was that Joe signed copies of Mika's book! Mika's book is All Things At Once, her story of being a wife, mom and TV anchor. It was fun to meet both of them and hear their banter in person but odd that he autographed her book. (third photo)

Tim Gunn from TV's Project Runway took so much time with his fans, taking photos, chatting, that they had to move his signing line when he went over his one-hour time limit. After all, the guy that wrote the book about growing marijuana has his fans too. (But I'm betting they didn't even realize that his signing was behind schedule.)

If you wanted to find Sarah Ferguson's signing line, just look for the paparazzi flashing away. The day after the story broke about Sarah taking money for access to her ex-husband the Duke of York, she was scheduled to MC the Children's Breakfast and sign copies of her book. All of us in line gave her credit for not canceling her appearance. (fourth photo)

Sports were big too. You couldn't get near Tony Hawk, the skateboarder and there was melee at soccer star Pele's signing table.

While it is interesting to see celebs at BEA, for most of us, it is the literary stars who gets us all excited. That post follows.

Sutton Foster at Barnes & Noble

Broadway fans know how talented Tony winner Sutton Foster is. She has appeared in Shrek: The Musical, Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she won the Tony for Best Actress.

She is currently starring in the frequently sold-out revival Anything Goes, playing the iconic role of Reno Sweeney, made famous by such legends as Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone. Once again, she is nominated for a Tony award.

Last year she had a sold-out week of shows at the Cafe Carlyle, and that performance was captured on a CD titled appropriately, An Evening With Sutton Foster Live at the Cafe Carlyle. To promote it, she made an appearance at Barnes & Noble 86th St. store in NYC.

She was scheduled to appear at 5pm, but had to push it back to 6:15, explaining that she was taping an episode of Sesame Street with Elmo. She was very excited to be asked to be on Sesame Street, and honestly, who wouldn't be?

To make it up to the crowd, she did an extended Q&A session.  She  said that Reno Sweeney is her most challenging role yet and that when she was asked to do it, she immediately said yes, then thought, "wait" and was on the fence, but she said that her fear of the role is why she must do it.

She watched lots of '30s movies with Barbara Stanwyck and Betty Hutton to get into the speech patterns of the role. She cited Carol Burnett as someone whose career she admired, and she struck me as very much like Burnett. She's quirky funny, can sing, act- she can do it all, and she has Burnett's down-to-earth charm. She's pretty, but naturally pretty, like the girl-next-door, not glamorous movie-star beautiful. And she has an All-American girl smile that lights up her face.

I saw her last year in 2nd Stage Theatre's drama Trust, where she played a completely different dramatic role as a dominatrix. She told us that she did do some research for that role, and it was crazy. She was very good in the role, proving that she can do just about anything.

When asked what roles she'd like to play, she said Mama Rose from Gypsy, and the Baker's Wife from Into the Woods.  She'd also like to play a Disney princess, and she'd be a terrific one.

Last year was a big year for Foster, playing in Trust, performing at the Carlyle and on tour, and in the Encores five show performance of Anyone Can Whistle. She said that the experience of singing There Won't Be Trumpets with Stephen Sondheim sitting in the front row was unforgettable for her.

She sang two songs from the CD- John Denver's Sunshine On My Shoulders (one of my husband's favorites and a perfect song for the glorious weather we had that day in NYC) and a funny Down With Love. I regret not seeing her last year at the Carlyle, and when she performs there again, I will get tickets. She is one of the most talented performers on Broadway, and she will have a career like the great Bernadette Peters. Her CD is wonderful, perfectly capturing her sense of humor and crystal clear, lovely voice. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys good music.