Patti LuPone: A Memoir (spoiler alert)

[backwoodsbarbie]

So I'm about 80 pages into the book and if you want to hear Patti rant, you are going to love the book. I'm up to the point in her career where she did The Baker's Wife and she certainly has a lot to say about that show, I believe she called it "a turkey." She leaves no stone unturned, especially the strained working relationship with David Merrick. She really rips Topol too.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

I didn't realize it had been released. Is it officially released or did you preorder?

[backwoodsbarbie]

It isn't released until September 14th officially but I work for a small newspaper and one of our writers got a pre-release copy.

[gotham girl]

maybe there's such a thing as too candid? i mean, she does intend to continue working, right?

[backwoodsbarbie]

Yeah I know what you are saying...but that's Patti for you

[BrodyFosse123]

maybe there's such a thing as too candid? i mean, she does intend to continue working, right?

She's at a point in her career that she has NOTHING to lose. Her name AND reputation have been pretty well known in the industry for decades and it hasn't kept her from working -- her work ethic is impeccable, which speaks for itself.

She can do and say as she pleases... she's Patti LuPone AND always will be.

[morosco]

maybe there's such a thing as too candid?

I thought the same thing during that BookExpo America interview where she flat out called Andrew Lloyd Webber an alcoholic.
Author Stages: From Stage to the Page: Patti LuPone

[StageManager2]

SHUT UP, PATTI LUPONE!!! Shut your brassy magnificent trap!

[gotham girl]

brodyfosse, don't get me wrong. i love Patti but even for a legend, a little tact never hurts. then again, tact does not sell books i suppose.

[Borstalboy]

Does she talk about brother Robert at all? I know they don't get along.

Whatever happened to Italian clan loyalty?

[backwoodsbarbie]

She really only mentions them being close growing up. Then she touches on Robert going to Julliard and convincing her to go to. And she mentions that in the first time in Tony history two siblings were nominated in the same year: Robert for A Chorus Line & Patti for the Robber Bridegroom. But then again I'm only about 1/4 through the book so I'm sure their falling out comes later.

[PalJoey]

i love Patti but even for a legend, a little tact never hurts

Oh pshaw! You can't be serious. You want a TACTFUL memoir, go read Rebecca Luker's. This is Patti Frigging LuPone--if the memoir were tactful, it would be a huge disappointment.

[Gothampc]

"She really rips Topol too."

What did Topol ever do to her?

[givesmevoice]

He was an asshole.

[wonderwaiter]

"You want a TACTFUL memoir, go read Rebecca Luker's. This is Patti Frigging LuPone--if the memoir were tactful, it would be a huge disappointment."

^EGGZACKATALY!!!

I CANNOT wait for this in both hardcover and audio. The sample clip from the other day puzzled me for a minute, but it served its purpose - I am definitely more excited than I was before to hear this book read by Patti herself.

In fact, I was serious when I said I cannot wait. backwoodsbarbie, you're just going to have to go to your webcam or microphone and READ IT OUT LOUD TO US (in your best Patti LuPone, of course!) to tide us over for the next couple of weeks.

Go on, get started. We'll wait.

[Gothampc]

"He was an asshole."

What did he do? Were they ever in a show together?

[wonderwaiter]

He was the original Baker in A Baker's Wife.

[givesmevoice]

"He was an asshole."

What did he do? Were they ever in a show together?

When they first met each other when she came in to replace Carole Demas in The Baker's Wife, he grabbed her breasts and said it was to see how much meat she had on her bones. And I think he was generally a horrible person to work with.

[Almira]

Whenever I hear Patti LuPone being "honest", I think of when author Caroline Myss said:

"There is an art to telling the truth."

[CurtainPullDowner]

And remember her truth is not always "the" truth.
You can't just say Topol was an asshole cause she says so.
(Though he may well be one, his "MEMOIR" could tell it differently.)

[backwoodsbarbie]

In terms of Topol...here we go (again, this is as Patti tells, I'm not judging, I'm just relaying what she says in the book).

The comment about him grabbing her breast to see how much meat was on her bones is true.

Also, apparently Topol hated the book so he ignored the script and played the character, The Baker, in a completely different way than the script called for. A minor character's dialogue actually called for him to provide exposition and Topol purposely played it differently in order to undermine the credibility of this actor/character.

Apparently Topol also hated the lyrics so at points during the out of town tryouts he would make up lyrics or just sing "bum ba dums" or "dee da dee" syllables in front of audiences.

He also (and again, this is according to Patti) sought to create animosity among the cast by choosing several chorus girls to favor and many of the cast members remember seeing chorus girls in dressing gowns leave Topol's dressing room half-dressed on a nightly basis.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Oh wait, Patti also had a beef with Barbra Streisand.

[Gothampc]

"He also (and again, this is according to Patti) sought to create animosity among the cast by choosing several chorus girls"

There's a chorus in The Baker's Wife? I thought it was just a small musical with four people in it?

[uncageg]

So does this book have the potential to create some controversy, at least in the theatre community do you think?

I can't wait to read it. I am number one on the list for it at the library. (Was going to buy it but I have no more space to store books!)

[backwoodsbarbie]

I mean I don't think she introduces any new controversial issues that she hasn't discussed before, she just delves more deeply into detail. As expected, there is a lot about the Sunset Boulevard debacle, not that we haven't heard of the Andrew Lloyd Webber memorial pool before. Other than Sunset, I would say that her discussion of her time in the Baker's Wife has the most potential to stir the stink a little bit, but then again that was so long ago. I'm almost finished with the book now (right around her time in Sweeney Todd on Broadway) where things seemed to calm down for Patti.