Meadowlark dispute?
Meadowlark dispute?
broadwayboy223
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/2/14
#1Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 7:13pmSo we all know and have heard the fight about who Meadowlark was written. Can someone explain it a little more detailed? Why does betty Buckley insist it was written for her when she wasn't even in the bakers wife?
#2Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 7:34pm
i heard Betty Buckley discuss the song at length on Seth Rudetsky's radio show and she said nothing about the song having been written for her.
She merely said that when she started singing it in her act, she got a complaining call from Patti Lupone. Lupone said it was the same as adding "Memory" to her own act.
Buckley said she decided Lupone had a point and stopped singing the song.
But at Seth's request, she decided enough time had passed and sang "Meadowlark" on that very program (beautifully, I should add).
It all sounded pretty civil, actually.
Frankly, I never thought of songs belonging to anyone but the songwriters. Of course sometimes a singer makes a song her own to the extent we don't WANT to hear anyone else sing it, but that's a different matter.
#2Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 8:59pm
It wasn't as civil as that.
Patti posted on her blog "A broken down diva has taken to claiming the song Meadowlark was written for her". And a whole rant to follow about how it was written for Carol Demas or whatever. The next day, the blog post was removed, and a blog saying "I took down yesterday's blog because I don't want to contribute to negativity" or something along those lines. THAT blog entry can still be found.
So Betty calls Patti to settle it. Betty had some reason for claiming the song, which he told Patti. Apparently they went so far as to contact Steven Schwartz, who claimed (VERY smartly) not to remember.
So they both agreed not to sing the song in concert anymore, but they both still do. But I think Betty stopped claiming it as her's.
I love Patti with all my being, but this was not her finest moment.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#3Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 9:06pm
At one point it was claimed that Stephen Schwartz preferred Betty's version of Meadowlark, which ticked Patti off to no end because she lays claim to it as one of her fifty signature songs.
Patti has Don't Cry For Me Argentina, I Dreamed A Dream and With One Look. I'm sure she could sacrifice Meadowlark.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#4Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 9:09pm
The thing that makes it really funny is that not only did Patti sing "Ladies Who Lunch", she did so right in front of Elaine Stritch who had not been informed that it was going to happen!
Again, I love Patti but for that whole thing about Meadowlark to be an issue at all is silly.
I admire how Betty handled it.
broadwayboy223
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/2/14
#5Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 9:21pmThis is all interesting. On a side note betty Buckley apparently rants in her concerts about how into the woods was partially written For her. I know she was involved in the workshop
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#6Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 9:53pm
"not only did Patti sing "Ladies Who Lunch", she did so right in front of Elaine Stritch"
I don't know what was wrong with Stritch. Why would she let someone else sing her signature song? And Stritch was screeching her way through I'm Still Here.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#7Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 10:39pmStephen Schwartz is pretty clear in Defying Gravity that the song was written for the show with Carol Demas in mind
#8Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 11:04pm
What exactly happened with the Stritch situation is unclear.
Elaine claimed she was not told Patti would be singing it. It seems unbelievable that, as a simple courtesy, she was not asked or at least told beforehand. I never heard Stritch complain about it, just say she was taken aback. And she does give Patti a sincere hug after Patti knocks it out of the park.
But then I have also heard that Elaine was very upset over it. Not sure what happened, and now that Elaine is gone it might be lost to history.
#9Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 11:04pm
Duplicate message
Updated On: 10/17/14 at 11:04 PM
#10Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/17/14 at 11:34pmThis was discussed at 54 Below Sings Stritch. Elaine was very aware.
#11Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 6:36pm
I still don't get this "I sang it so I own it" business.
As recently as the 1950s, a hit song might be recorded and released simultaneously by half-a-dozen singers. And more than one version might chart at the same time.
karen24
Broadway Star Joined: 2/27/06
#13Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 7:01pmThe first version of "Meadowlark" that I ever heard was the one done by Liz Callaway, and I have to say that I prefer it over either Patti's or Betty's. I'm glad Liz didn't get pulled into the fracas!
Maggie-the-schnoodle
#14Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 7:02pm
Can someone please clarify for me what time period this dispute took place? "Blog" suggests it was relatively recent?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#15Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 7:06pmPatti sang the song at the rehearsals in front of Elaine. She knew.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#16Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 8:12pm
Betty is singing so fast because someone told her Patti was in the parking lot and on her way in to rough Betty up for singing Patti's song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqI6-Lrvi68
If you look closely, you can see a bit of white powder on the tip of Patti's nose. She did this show at 11:00 pm after she had finished performing in Evita.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTV0TGELff8
I think that's PalJoey screaming "Right On" in the background.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Updated On: 10/18/14 at 08:12 PM
#17Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 8:17pm
“I just want to go on record that I have never claimed ‘Meadowlark’ was written for me. I know it wasn’t. I replaced Carole, who originated the role and the song. So I never have claimed that ‘Meadowlark’ was written for me.”
--Patti LuPone
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#18Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 8:19pmBut Patti does claim that Merrick wanted the song out of the show and she has led people to believe that it stayed in because of her.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#19Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 8:31pm
"Patti sang the song at the rehearsals in front of Elaine. She knew."
I'm sure Stritch knew even before rehearsals. You don't do a tribute to Sondheim with an all female cast and not sing "Ladies Who Lunch." I just wonder why Stritch allowed it. It would be like Angela Lansbury sitting there and watching Emma Thompson sing "Worst Pies In London" or Barbra Streisand sitting there and watching Lea Michele sing "People".
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#20Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 8:42pm
I was circa 2000. The first line here is Patti's explaination of why she took down her rant about Betty:
http://www.pattilupone.net/ramblings07.html
Here is a whole article about the dispute.
http://chitheatreaddict.com/2009/02/27/when-divas-fight/
See, Patti never claimed Meadowlark was written for her, but she was annoyed that Betty WAS claiming it had been written for Betty.
It's all very delicious, I must say.
Updated On: 10/18/14 at 08:42 PM
#21Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:43pm
"'As recently as the 1950s'
Um, Grandpa...
I have three, perfect-in-every-way grandchildren, thank you for asking, but most of what I know of the 1950s I read in books. In her autobiography, Margaret Whiting talks at length about "competing covers" of songs--all recorded by Capital Records.
Updated On: 10/18/14 at 09:43 PM
#22Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:46pmMy personal favorite rendition of "Meadowlark" was sung by Russ Thacker in his club act. I heard him sing it many times and he never failed to deliver.
#23Meadowlark dispute?
Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:54pm
Elaine claimed she didn't know.
"Stritch recently told me by phone that she had no idea Tony winner LuPone would be singing Stritch's signature tune from Company, "The Ladies Who Lunch." "I totally did not know!" Stritch exclaimed. "I had no idea, because when you only have one day rehearsal, and you've got a 9:30 AM run-through with the Philharmonic and you're working your tail off – you don't look at who's doin' what. I knew nothing about this . . . and my costume wasn't ready until the actual show, so [Patti] never saw the hat [that I would be wearing], and I never realized she was gonna sing my song"
Celebrating Sondheim with Tony Winner Elaine Stritch
