LuPone to Star in David Mamet Musical 'Yellowstone?'

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Patti LuPone may be returning to the boards in a new musical.

The article states that "in May 2008 she plans to star in a new David Mamet musical, A Waitress in Yellowstone, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles."

LuPone, who most recently appeared as Rose in the Encores! Summer Stars staged concert of Gypsy, directed by Arthur Laurents, previously appeared in Mamet's The Old Neighborhood on Broadway, in 1997-98.

According to previous Center Theatre Group press notes, A Waitress in Yellowstone will be "the world premiere of the first ever musical by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet, A Waitress in Yellowstone follows a waitress who catches a Congressman stealing her tips, with unexpected consequences when she reports him to the police."  It will be presented May 11 – June 8, 2008.

LuPone, who recently received a Tony nomination for appearing in Sweeney Todd, has been one of Broadway's foremost leading ladies since her star-making turn in 1979's Evita, for which she won a Tony Award. The star, who graduated from Julliard and was a member of John Houseman's famed Acting Company in the '70s.  Broadway credits include Noises Off, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class, Anything Goes (Tony nomination), Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Oliver!, Working, The Three Sisters, The Robber Bridegroom (Tony nomination) and The Beggar's Opera; she has also starred in Pal Joey and Can-Can at Encores! Additionally, she originated the role of Fantine in the London production of Les Miserables, starred as Norma Desmond in the 1993 West End production of Sunset Boulevard (her last appearance in a fully-staged musical), and played Genevieve in the original production of The Baker's Wife.

David Mamet's other works as a playwright includes Oleanna, American Buffalo, A Life in the Theatre, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Speed-the-Plow and Romance.  His films, as a writer, include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, House of Games, Oleanna, The Spanish Prisoner, State and Main and Heist and as writer/director The Untouchables and The Winslow Boy. LuPone will reunite with her former Tony Award-winning Ravinia Festival co-star Audra McDonald in "Patti and Audra Together!" on Sunday, August 26th at the Ravinia Festival, Lake-Cook and Green Bay, Highland Park, at 7 PM.

Visit www.ravinia.org for more on "Patti and Audra Together!"

Photo of Patti LuPone by Ben Strothmann