Patterless LuPone & Patinkin Still Wow 'em

A mini review for A Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin's mini Chicago run.

Finishing the hat / How you have to finish the hat / How you watch the rest of the world from a window / While you finish a hat.

It won't be easy / You'll think it's strange / When I try to explain how I feel / That I still need your love / After all that I've done

Read up, folks, 'cause those typed-out lyrics are the only fix of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and EVITA you're gonna get this week if you see the magnetic LuPone & Patinkin's show at the Palace Theatre.  Their touring cabaplet (not quite a cabaret, not quite a fully realized play) features not one note from arguably their two biggest hits.  Slightly annoying (Tuesday night's audience couldn't help but see "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" listed -but omitted- from the set list), but an immensely enjoyable evening unfolds nonetheless as the two Tony Award winners romp through a showcase of musical theatre standards and well-acted scenes.

Patinkin (who serves as the show's director), musical director Paul Ford, and choreographer Ann Reinking have crafted an evening around a loose man-meets-woman, woman-plays-hard-to-get, man-and-woman-disagree, man-becomes-Billy-Bigelow-and-dies narrative. You know, that old schtick. With the thrilling "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and a stirring rendition of "In Buddy's Eyes," LuPone's highlights her one of a kind vocals and brilliant acting choices, while Patinkin's manic "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" and "Franklin Shepard, Inc." showcase his ingenious timing and skilled understanding of complex lyrics. As a team, you see two old friends having the time of their lives, feeding off one another's energy and occasionally breaking one another to offer a smile. Oh yes, they sing "Old Friends."

I recommend not reading the set list before or during the show, as the spontaneity behind their song selection is what drives the show's playful chemistry.  I could have done with a little more reality behind their personas (not a Broadway anecdote or friendly, "Hello, Chicago!" in sight) and Reinking's Act 1 closer, "April in Paris/Fairbanks" is an oddly cheesy rolling office chair number. But with the help of the likes of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, E.Y. Harburg, and Kander & Ebb, An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin is a master class in staying on the top of one's game ... no matter the set list omission.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brigitte Lacombe

An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin runs now through Sunday, March 7, 2010 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. For tickets, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.