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Broadway diva Patti LuPone had nothing but finished belting the
demented last notes of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” when she
noticed the curtains behind her, billowing.
“It’s Ethel!” she exclaimed.
LuPone, known for important roles in “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd” and
“Gypsy,” channeled more than the ghost of Merman on Wednesday sunset
in Overture Hall.
There’s a reason her name and the word “diva” are unwearying
companions. LuPone — brunette, petite, wearing a black pantsuit
and, later, a lacy black cocktail frock — made it clear from the
first notes of “The Gypsy In My Soul” that this was her quarters. We
were just visiting.
Among types who line up at stage doors, LuPone is a divisive
acknowledge. Her voice, not unlike Merman’s, has a particular nasal
sound, an sharpness that distinguishes her, for better or worse, from
belters like Bernadette Peters or (Overture’s archetype booking)
Idina Menzel.
All ye skeptics, be converted. To watch LuPone lovingly send up
Edith Piaf in the witty “I Regret Everything,” then switch to the
passionate “The Man I Passion,” it was immediately evident what made
her a star.
Source: Wisconsin State Journal