Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 – November 23, 2006) was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green lasted for six decades, during which time they collaborated with other leading entertainment figures such as the famed "Freed Unit" at MGM, Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein.

Early life[link]

Betty Comden was born Basya Cohen in New York City,^[1] attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and studied drama at New York University.^[2] In 1938, mutual friends introduced her to Adolph Green, an aspiring actor. Along with the young Judy Holliday and Leonard Bernstein, Comden and Green formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at the Village Vanguard, a club in Greenwich Village. Due to the act's success, the Revuers appeared in the 1944 film Greenwich Village, but their roles were so small they barely were noticed, and they quickly returned to New York.

Comden and Green's first Broadway effort was On the Town, a musical romp about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a ballet entitled Fancy Free on which Bernstein had been working with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Comden and Green wrote the book and lyrics, which included sizable parts for themselves. Their next musical, 1945's Billion Dollar Baby (music by Morton Gould) was not a success, and their 1947 show Bonanza Bound closed out-of-town and never reached Broadway.

Broadway and film success[link]

Comden and Green headed back to California and soon found work at MGM. They wrote the screenplays for Good News and The Barkleys of Broadway (which reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), and then adapted On the Town for Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, scrapping most of Bernstein's music at the request of Arthur Freed, who did not care for the Bernstein score.

Comden and Green reunited with Gene Kelly for their most successful project, the classic Singin' in the Rain, about Hollywood in the final days of the silent film era. Comden and Green provided the story and screenplay; the songs were old 1920s hits by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.

They followed this with another hit, The Band Wagon, in which the characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife musical-writing team, were patterned after themselves. They were Oscar-nominated twice, for their screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather. They also earned three Screen Writers Guild Awards: for the two aforementioned movies as well as On the Town.

Their stage work of the 1950s included the revue Two on the Aisle, starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Gray, with music by Jule Styne; Wonderful Town, a musical adaptation of the play My Sister Eileen with music by Bernstein; and Bells Are Ringing, which reunited them with Judy Holliday and Jule Styne. The score, including the standards "Just in Time", "Long Before I Knew You", and "The Party's Over", proved to be one of their richest. Comden and Green contributed additional lyrics to the 1954 musical Peter Pan, translated and streamlined Die Fledermaus for the Metropolitan Opera, and collaborated with Styne on songs for the play-with-music Say, Darling.

In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977.

Comden and Green's Broadway work in the 1960s included four collaborations with Jule Styne. They wrote the lyrics for Do Re Mi, and the book and lyrics for Subways Are For Sleeping, Fade Out - Fade In, and Hallelujah, Baby! Their Hallelujah, Baby! score won a Tony Award.

Comden and Green wrote the libretto for the 1970 musical Applause, an adaptation of the film All About Eve, and wrote the book and lyrics for 1978's On the Twentieth Century, with music by Cy Coleman. Comden also played the role of Letitia Primrose in that musical when original star Imogene Coca left the show. Comden and Green's final musical hit was 1991's The Will Rogers Follies, providing lyrics to Cy Coleman's music.

In the early 1980s, Betty Comden appeared as an actress in Wendy Wasserstein's non-musical play Isn't It Romantic, portraying the heroine's mother.

Comden and Green's biggest failure was 1982's A Doll's Life, an attempt to figure out what Nora did after she abandoned her husband in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, which ran for only five performances, although they received Tony Award nominations for its book and score.

In 1980, Betty Comden was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[3] And, in 1981, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.^[4]

Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.

Betty Comden died of heart failure following an undisclosed illness of several months at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, aged 89.

Family[link]

Comden married Steven Kyle, a designer and businessman, in 1942. He died in 1979 and she never remarried. They had two children, a daughter, Susanna, and a son, Alan, who died in 1990 of complications of AIDS.

Theatre awards and nominations[link]

• 1991 Tony Award for Best Original Score (The Will Rogers Follies, winner)
• 1986 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Singin' in the Rain, nominee)
• 1983 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (A Doll's Life, nominee)
• 1983 Tony Award for Best Original Score (A Doll's Life, nominee)
• 1978 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (On the Twentieth Century, winner)
• 1978 Tony Award for Best Original Score (On the Twentieth Century, winner)
• 1970 Tony Award for Best Musical (Applause, winner)
• 1968 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist (Hallelujah, Baby!, winner)
• 1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (Hallelujah, Baby!, winner)
• 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical (Do Re Mi, nominee)
• 1957 Tony Award for Best Musical (Bells Are Ringing, nominee)
• 1953 Tony Award for Best Musical (Wonderful Town, winner)

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Betty Comden at the Internet Movie Database
• Betty Comden at the Internet Broadway Database
• Betty Comden at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Betty Comden—writes about teaching
• Betty Comden at Find a Grave
• Comden and Green papers, 1933-2003. Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library
• Betty Comden Papers, 1929-2004. Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library
• New York Public Library Blog on Comden and Green's Unproduced Screenplay Wonderland

Further Reading[link]

• Off Stage, a memoir by Betty Comden published in 1995

Adolph Green (December 2, 1914  – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday. Many people thought the pair were married; they were not, but they shared a unique comic genius and sophisticated wit that enabled them to forge a six-decade-long partnership that produced some of Hollywood and Broadway's greatest hits.

Biography[link]

Green was born in The Bronx to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants Daniel and Helen Weiss Green. After high school, he worked as a runner on Wall Street while he tried to make it as an actor. He met Comden through mutual friends in 1938 while she was studying drama at New York University. They formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at the Village Vanguard, a club in Greenwich Village. Among the members of the company was a young comedian named Judy Tuvim, who later changed her name to Judy Holliday, and Green's good friend, a young musician named Leonard Bernstein, frequently accompanied them on the piano. The act's success earned them a movie offer and the Revuers traveled west in hopes of finding fame in Greenwich Village, a 1944 movie starring Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche, but their roles were so small they barely were noticed, and they quickly returned to New York.

Their first Broadway effort joined them with Bernstein for On the Town, a musical romp about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a ballet entitled Fancy Free on which Bernstein had been working with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Comden and Green wrote the lyrics and book, which included sizeable parts for themselves. Their next two musicals, Billion Dollar Baby (1945) and Bonanza Bound (1947) were not successful, and once again they headed to California, where they immediately found work at MGM.

They wrote the screenplay for Good News, starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford, The Barkleys of Broadway for Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and then adapted On the Town for Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, scrapping much of Bernstein's music at the request of Arthur Freed, who did not care for the Bernstein score.

They reunited with Kelly for their most successful project, the classic Singin' in the Rain, about Hollywood in the final days of the silent film era. Considered by many film historians to be the best movie musical of all time, it ranked #10 on the list of the 100 Best American Movies of the 20th Century, compiled by the American Film Institute in 1998. They followed this with another hit, The Band Wagon, in which the characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife team that writes the screenplay for the show-within-a-show, were patterned after themselves. They were Oscar-nominated twice, for their screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather, both of which earned them a Screen Writers Guild Award, as did On the Town.

Their stage work during the next few years included the revue Two on the Aisle, starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Gray, Wonderful Town, an adaptation of the comedy hit My Sister Eileen, with Rosalind Russell and Edie Adams as two sisters from Ohio trying to make it in the Big Apple, and Bells Are Ringing, which reunited them with Judy Holliday as an operator at a telephone answering service. The score, including the standards "Just in Time", "Long Before I Knew You," and "The Party’s Over," proved to be one of their richest.

In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977.

Among their other credits are the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan for both Broadway and television, a streamlined Die Fledermaus for the Metropolitan Opera, and stage musicals for Carol Burnett, Leslie Uggams, and Lauren Bacall, among others. Their many collaborators included Garson Kanin, Cy Coleman, Jule Styne, and André Previn.

The team was not without its failures. In 1982, A Doll's Life, an attempt to figure out what Nora did after she abandoned her husband in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, ran for only five performances, although they received Tony Award nominations for its book and score.

In 1980, Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[1] And, in 1981, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.^[2]

Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.

Green's third wife was actress Phyllis Newman, who had understudied Holliday in Bells Are Ringing. They had two children, Adam and Amanda.^[3]

His Broadway memorial, with such luminaries as Lauren Bacall, Kevin Kline, Joel Grey, Kristin Chenoweth, Arthur Laurents, Peter Stone, and, of course, Betty Comden in attendance was held at the Shubert Theater on December 4, 2002.^[4]

Additional Broadway credits[link]

• The Will Rogers Follies (1991)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979)
• On the Twentieth Century (1978)
• Lorelei (1974)
• Applause (1970)
• Hallelujah, Baby! (1967)
• Fade Out - Fade In (1964)
• Subways Are For Sleeping (1961)
• Do Re Mi (1960)
• Say, Darling (1958)

Film credits (incomplete list)[link]

• Simon (1980)
• My Favorite Year (1982)
• I Want to Go Home (1989)

Theatre awards and nominations[link]

• 1991 Tony Award for Best Original Score (The Will Rogers Follies, winner)
• 1986 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Singin' in the Rain, nominee)
• 1983 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (A Doll's Life, nominee)
• 1983 Tony Award for Best Original Score (A Doll's Life, nominee)
• 1978 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (On the Twentieth Century, winner)
• 1978 Tony Award for Best Original Score (On the Twentieth Century, winner)
• 1970 Tony Award for Best Musical (Applause, winner)
• 1968 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist (Hallelujah, Baby!, winner)
• 1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (Hallelujah, Baby!, winner)
• 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical (Do Re Mi, nominee)
• 1957 Tony Award for Best Musical (Bells Are Ringing, nominee)
• 1953 Tony Award for Best Musical (Wonderful Town, winner)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Off Stage, a memoir by Betty Comden published in 1995

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Adolph Green at the Internet Broadway Database
• Adolph Green at the Internet Movie Database
• Adolph Green at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Adolph Green papers, 1944-2002. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library
• Comden and Green papers, 1933-2003. Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library
• New York Public Library Blog on Comden and Green's Unproduced Screenplay Wonderland

Patti LuPone
LuPone (left) with Chris Burke, February 2010
Born	Patti Ann LuPone (1949-04-21) April 21, 1949 (age 63) Northport, New York, U.S.
Education	Juilliard (BFA 1972)
Occupation	Singer, actress
Years active	1970s — Present
Spouse	Matthew Johnston (1988–present)
Children	Joshua Luke Johnston (b. 1990)
Website
PattiLuPone.net

Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performance as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables.

Early life and training[link]

LuPone was born in Northport, New York, on Long Island, the daughter of Angela Louise (née Patti), a college library administrator, and Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator.^[1] Her great-grand-aunt was the celebrated nineteenth-century opera singer Adelina Patti.^[2] Her brother Robert LuPone is an actor, dancer, and director who originated the role of Zach the choreographer in A Chorus Line. Her other brother William LuPone is a teacher. When they were young, they performed on Long Island as the LuPone Trio. She is of Italian/Abruzzese descent and a graduate of Northport High School, where she studied under the musical direction of voice coach Esther Scott.^[3]

LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division (1968-1972: Group 1),^[4] which also included actors Kevin Kline and David Ogden Stiers.^[5] She graduated from Juilliard in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[6]

Theatre[link]

In 1972, LuPone became one of the original members of The Acting Company, formed by John Houseman.^[7] The Acting Company is a nationally touring repertory theater company.^[8] LuPone’s stint with the company lasted from 1972 to 1976, and she appeared in many of their productions, such as The Cradle Will Rock, The School for Scandal, Women Beware Women, The Beggar’s Opera, The Time of Your Life, The Lower Depths, The Hostage, Next Time I’ll Sing to You, Measure for Measure, Scapin, Edward II, The Orchestra, Love’s Labours Lost, Arms and the Man, The Way of the World. She made her Broadway debut in the play The Three Sisters as Irina in 1973.^[9] For her work in The Robber Bridegroom (1975) she received her first Tony Award nomination, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.^[10] The Acting Company honored Patti LuPone on March 12, 2012 in an event called "Patti's Turn" at the Kaye Playhouse.^[11]

In 1976, producer David Merrick hired LuPone as a replacement to play Genevieve, the title role of the troubled pre-Broadway production of The Baker's Wife. The production toured at length but Merrick deemed it unworthy of Broadway and it closed out of town.^[12]

Since 1977, LuPone has been a frequent collaborator with David Mamet, appearing in his plays The Woods, All Men are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine (1978),^[13] Edmond and The Old Neighborhood (1997).^[14] The New York Times reviewer wrote of LuPone in The Old Neighborhood "Those who know Ms. LuPone only as a musical comedy star will be stunned by the naturalistic fire she delivers here. As Jolly, a part inspired by Mr. Mamet's real-life sister and his realized female character, Ms. LuPone finds conflicting layers of past and present selves in practically every line. She emerges as both loving matriarch and wounded adolescent, sentimental and devastatingly clear-eyed."^[15] In 1978, she appeared in the Broadway musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s Working, which ran for only 24 performances.^[16]

In 1979 LuPone starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, the musical based on the life of Eva Peron, composed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, and directed by Harold Prince.^[17] Although LuPone was hailed by critics, she has since said that her time in Evita was not an enjoyable one. In a 2007 interview, she stated " 'Evita' was the worst experience of my life," she said. "I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut, and I fought like a banshee."^[18] Despite the trouble, LuPone won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[19] LuPone and her co-star, Mandy Patinkin, remained close friends both on and off the stage.

In May 1983, founding alumni of The Acting Company reunited for an off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein’s landmark labor musical The Cradle Will Rock at the American Place Theatre. It was narrated by John Houseman, with LuPone in the roles of Moll and Sister Mister.^[20] The production premiered at The Acting Company's summer residence at Chautauqua Institution, toured the United States, including an engagement at the Highland Park, Illinois' Ravinia Festival in 1984, and played London's West End.

When the run ended, LuPone remained in London to create the role of Fantine in Cameron Mackintosh’s original London production of Les Misérables, in 1985, which premiered at the Barbican Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[21] LuPone had previously worked for Mackintosh in a short-lived Broadway revival of Oliver! in 1984, playing Nancy opposite Ron Moody as Fagin.^[22] For her work in both The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, LuPone received the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[23][24]

She returned to Broadway in 1987 to star as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. She starred opposite Howard McGillin, and they both received Tony Award nominations for their performances.^[25][26] The Lincoln Center cast reassembled for a one-night-only concert performance of Anything Goes in New York in 2002. ^[27]

In 1993, LuPone returned to London to create the role of Norma Desmond in the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at the Adelphi Theatre. There was much anticipation of LuPone appearing in another Lloyd Webber musical, the first since her performance in Evita. Her time in the show was difficult and she was abruptly fired by Lloyd Webber and replaced by Glenn Close who opened the show in Los Angeles and eventually on Broadway.^[28][29]

In November 1995 LuPone starred in her one-woman show, Patti LuPone on Broadway, at the Walter Kerr Theatre.^[30] For her work, she received an Outer Critics Circle Award. The following year, she was selected by producer Robert Whitehead to succeed his wife, Zoe Caldwell in the Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s play Master Class, based on the master classes given by operatic diva Maria Callas at Juilliard.^[28] LuPone received positive reviews, with Vincent Canby writing "Ms. LuPone really is vulnerable here in a way that wasn't anticipated: she's in the process of creating a role for which she isn't ideally suited, but she's working like a trouper to get it right."^[31] She appeared in the play in the West End. In November 2001, she starred in a Broadway revival of Noises Off, with Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince.^[32]

LuPone has performed in numerous New York concert productions of musicals including Pal Joey with Peter Gallagher and Bebe Neuwirth, Annie Get Your Gun with Peter Gallagher, Sweeney Todd with George Hearn in both New York and San Francisco, Anything Goes with Howard McGillin, Can-Can with Michael Nouri for City Center Encores!, Candide with Kristin Chenoweth, Passion with Michael Cerveris and Audra McDonald and Gypsy with Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti for City Center Encores!. Her performances in Sweeney Todd, and Candide were recorded and broadcast for PBSs Great Performances and were released on DVD. The concert staging of Passion was televised as part of Live from Lincoln Center.

Since 2001, LuPone has been a regular performer at the Chicago Ravinia Festival. She starred in a six-year-long series of concert presentations of Stephen Sondheim musicals, which began in honor of his seventieth birthday. Her roles here have included Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Fosca in Passion, Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, Rose in Gypsy and two different roles in Sunday in the Park with George.^[33]

She returned to Broadway in October 2005, to star as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s new Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. In this radically different interpretation of the musical, the ten actors on stage also served as the show’s orchestra, and LuPone played the tuba and the orchestra bells as well as vocally performing the score.^[34] For her performance, she received a Tony Award nomination as well as a Golden Icon Award for Best Female Musical Theater Performance.^[35] In August 2006, LuPone took a three week leave from Sweeney in order to play Rose in Lonny Price's production of Gypsy at Ravinia.^[33] Sweeney Todd closed in September 2006.

Following the Ravinia Festival production of Gypsy, LuPone and author Arthur Laurents mended a decade-long rift and she was cast in the City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of the show. Laurents directed LuPone in Gypsy for a 22 performance run (July 9, 2007 – July 29, 2007) at City Center.^[36] This production of Gypsy then transferred to Broadway, opening March 27, 2008 at the St. James Theatre.^[37] LuPone won the Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award for her performance in Gypsy.^[38][39] It closed on January 11, 2009.

In August 2010, LuPone appeared in a three-day run of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, in which she played the title role opposite Patrick Cassidy, at the Ravinia Festival, directed by Lonny Price.^[40]

In 2010, LuPone created the role of Lucia in the original Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which opened at the Belasco Theatre on November 4, 2010, and closed on January 2, 2011, after 23 previews and 69 regular performances. LuPone was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance (but did not win).

In 2011, LuPone played the role of Joanne in a four-night limited engagement concert production of Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company at the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Sondheim expert Paul Gemignani. The production starred Neil Patrick Harris as Bobby. Harris had previously worked with LuPone in the 2000 and 2001 concert productions of Sweeney Todd. The cast of Company performed the song "Side by Side by Side" at the 65th Tony Awards on June 12, 2011.

LuPone made her New York City Ballet debut in May 2011 in a production of The Seven Deadly Sins, directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett. A piece she had previously performed, LuPone sang the role of Anna in the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht score.^[41]

Patti LuPone on January 13, 2012, outside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

LuPone recently concluded a 63-performance Broadway engagement of her concert with former Evita co-star Mandy Patinkin, entitled An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. The run started on November 21, 2011 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, and ended on January 13, 2012.^[42]

Solo concerts and tours[link]

LuPone performs regularly across the country in her solo shows Matters of the Heart; Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda; and The Lady With the Torch^[43] which sold out at Carnegie Hall. For example, she performs her one-woman show The Gypsy In My Soul at the Caramoor Fall Festival, New York, in September 2010.^[44]

She also appears at venues across North America in concerts with Mandy Patinkin, at such venues as the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in September 2010.^[45][46]

Film and television work[link]

Among LuPone’s film credits are Fighting Back, Witness, Just Looking, The Victim, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, King of the Gypsies, 1941, Wise Guys, Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman and Savoca's Union Square (in post-production, late 2010), Family Prayers, Bad Faith, and City by the Sea. She has also worked with playwright David Mamet on The Water Engine, the critically acclaimed State and Main, and Heist.^[47]

In 2011, the feature film Union Square, co-written and directed by the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Award Winner, Nancy Savoca, is being premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In it, Patti co-stars with Mira Sorvino, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, Michael Rispoli and Daphne Rubin-Vega.^[48]

She played Lady Bird Johnson in the TV movie, LBJ: The Early Years (1987).^[49][50]

LuPone played Libby Thatcher on the television drama Life Goes On, which ran on ABC from 1989 to 1993.^[51][52][53]

In the 1990s she had a recurring role as defense attorney Ruth Miller on Law & Order.^[54] She has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award: for the TV movie The Song Spinner (1995, Daytime Emmy Award nominee),^[55] and for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series on Frasier in 1998.^[56] She had a cameo as herself on a 1998 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Kelsey Grammer.

LuPone’s TV work also includes a recurring role on the last season of HBO’s series Oz (2003).^[57] She appeared as herself on a February 2005 episode of Will & Grace.^[58] She also appeared on the series Ugly Betty in March 2007 as the mother of Marc St. James (played by Michael Urie).^[59] Lupone guest-starred as Frank Rossitano's mother on an episode of 30 Rock which aired on March 6, 2009,^[60][61] and again on May 6, 2010 and in March 2012. LuPone appeared as herself in the season two finale of the television series Glee.

LuPone has been announced as joining the cast of the upcoming 2012 film Parker, an action-thriller.^[62]

Stance on distractions from audience members[link]

LuPone opposes recording, photographs, and other electronic distractions in live theatre. "Where's the elegance?", she asked in a blog post on her official site. "I mean, I'm glad they show up because God knows it's a dying art form and I guess I'm glad they're all comfortable, sleeping, eating and drinking, things they should be doing at home and in a restaurant. But it's just not done in the theatre or shouldn't be." LuPone has been the subject of some controversy due to the bluntness of her statements regarding this matter.^[63]

A related incident occurred at the second to last performance of Gypsy on January 10, 2009. Agitated at a man taking pictures with the use of flash, she stopped in the middle of "Rose's Turn" and loudly demanded that he be removed from the theatre. "You heard the announcement in the beginning, you heard the announcement at intermission! Who do you think you are?" she yelled at him. After he was removed, LuPone restarted her number. The audience applauded her stance.^[64][65] The event was recorded by another audience member, who released it on YouTube.^[66] She later claimed that such distractions drive "people in the audience nuts. They can't concentrate on the stage if, in their peripheral vision, they're seeing texting, they're seeing cameras, they're listening to phone calls. How can we do our job if the audience is distracted?", and also mentioned that "the interesting thing is I'm not the first one that's done it".^[67]

Memoir[link]

Ms. LuPone wrote a memoir, recounting her life and career from childhood to the present, which was released in September 2010. It was simply titled Patti LuPone: A Memoir, which was, according to LuPone, the winner of the competition she held to name the book.^[68][69]

Personal life[link]

LuPone is married to Matthew Johnston, whom she married on December 12, 1988. The couple were wed on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center after filming the TV movie LBJ; Johnston was a cameraman.^[70] They have one child, Joshua Luke Johnston (b. November 21, 1990).^[52] The family resides in Connecticut^[71] and South Carolina.^[72]

Awards and nominations[link]

The Robber Bridegroom, 1976

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Evita, 1980

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Les Misérables & The Cradle Will Rock, 1985

• Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Anything Goes, 1988

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Sunset Boulevard, 1993

• Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2006

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Gypsy, 2008

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 2011

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

The Gypsy In My Soul, 2011

• United Solo Theatre Festival - uAward (WINNER)^[73]

Recordings[link]

LuPone recorded a duet with Seth MacFarlane (who was in character as Glenn Quagmire) on the 2005 album Family Guy: Live In Vegas. A new CD of one of her shows, The Lady with the Torch, was released in 2006 on Sh-K-Boom Records. In December she released bonus tracks for that CD only available on iTunes and the Sh-K-Boom website.^[74]

Selected recordings include:

• The Baker’s Wife (Original cast recording)
• Evita (Original Broadway cast recording)
• The Cradle Will Rock (The Acting Company recording)
• Les Misérables (Original London Cast recording)
• Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording)
• Heat Wave (John Mauceri conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra)
• Patti LuPone Live (Solo Album)
• Sunset Boulevard (World Premiere/Original London Cast Recording)
• Matters of the Heart (Solo Album)
• Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic recording)
• Sweeney Todd (2005 Broadway Cast recording)
• The Lady with the Torch (Solo Album)
• The Lady With the Torch...Still Burning (Solo Album)
• To Hell and Back (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra World Premier recording)
• Gypsy (2008 Broadway Revival Cast Recording)
• Patti LuPone At Les Mouches (Live Solo Recording of 1980 club act)^[75]
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Her live performance of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" at the Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume IV.^[76]

In 2009 LuPone's 1985 recording of "I Dreamed a Dream" reached the UK Singles Chart^[77] as well as the Billboard magazine Hot Digital Songs and Hot Singles Recurrents charts in the US.

References[link]