Review: Patti LuPone's MATTERS OF THE HEART at LA Opera

On the way to LA Opera’s Patti LuPone: Matters of the Heart, I mused over which songs she might sing. Would we hear anything from her Tony-Award-winning portrayal of Madame Rose? Perhaps a snippet of Anything Goes? Or what about the countless iconic roles she originated in her illustrious career?

I felt certain we would hear a bit of ‘Meadowlark’ and ‘Ladies Who Lunch’. To my delight and surprise, Ms. LuPone kept us on our toes, giving us renditions of songs sung by characters she would never be cast as and interpolating pop classics and standards. LuPone has woven an unexpected, eclectic musical collage that leads to two clear conclusions; she knows what sounds good in her voice and she knows how to sell a song.

A highlight of the evening for me was ‘Back to Before’ from Ragtime. LuPone’s image may overall be too brassy and self-assured to capture the initial slightness of Mother, but her rendition of the character’s climactic understanding of how she must move forward with her life was astounding. As with many other unexpected songs— ‘Easy to Be Hard’ from Hair or ‘A Wonderful Guy’ from South Pacific—initial trepidations melt away as LuPone affirms her versatility and range.

It would be hard to name a performer who could lend such specificity and authenticity to Forbush’s assertion, “I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love with a wonderful guy!” Audience favorites included her covers of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’, both of which she imbued with as much dignity and character as the more dramatic selections.

The evening is rife with elegant touches. During intermission, the sumptuous bouquet of white roses on the piano are replaced by an equally-sumptuous bouquet of red roses. Above all, LuPone seems to be playing a game.

Just when you think she can’t tug at your heartstrings with her next selection, she sticks the landing again. Name another performer who could turn ‘Hello, Young Lovers’ from The King and I into a show stopping finale. I certainly can’t. Matters of the Heart manages to be intimate and grand, capturing the range of emotions we quantify as ‘love’ and demonstrating the undeniable virtuosity of LuPone’s capabilities.