Patti LuPone

August 9, 2010
Broadway legend LuPone, a five-time Tony nominee and two-time Tony winner, raises the curtain on her life and career in this engaging memoir. Detailing both her travails and her triumphs, she takes the reader on a guided tour recalling some memorable moments in musical theater. She began in her teens when she and her twin brothers performed on Long Island as the LuPone Trio. On a 1968 scholarship at John Houseman's Juilliard Drama Division, she was "overwhelmed with fear," but then toured with Houseman's Acting Company from 1972 to 1976. After her 1973 Broadway debut in Three Sisters came a parade of awards and acclaimed performances (Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy), solo concerts, films (Driving Miss Daisy), TV (Oz, 30 Rock), recordings, and her one-woman show, Patti LuPone on Broadway . LuPone is the ultimate backstage gossip, and she never pulls her punches: During the ill-fated Baker's Wife, she despised actor Chaim Topol ("an asshole") and had little enthusiasm for his replacement, Paul Sorvino (‘'like having Howdy Doody at Auschwitz"). With razor-sharp memories and hundreds of colorful anecdotes, LuPone knows how to capture an audience. She makes an easy transition from stage to page, writing with wit, flamboyant energy, and a theatrical flair.

August 1, 2010

Though LuPone originated the role of Evita on Broadway and has starred in countless shows (e.g., Les Miserables; Sunset Boulevard) and won many awards (she swept the theater awards in 2008 for her version of Mama Rose in Gypsy), she is probably better known to general audiences for her television role as the mother in Life Goes On during the 1990s. She is a household name in theater circles, but major stardom has eluded her. She candidly recounts her life (she had a long-term relationship with actor Kevin Kline) and career and the struggles she endured as she was passed over for many lead roles. She comes across as feisty and opinionated, and she admits that playing Evita "gave me a reputation and a shadow of controversy that has followed me to this day." VERDICT This honest look at the trials and tribulations of making it as a Broadway star will be of interest to aspiring actors and those who love musical theater.--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2010
Award-winning actress LuPone shares the story of her life in the theater in this intimate and frank memoir. LuPone bookends her tale with remembrances of two productions of Gypsy: her portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee in a junior-high production and her critically lauded portrayal of Rose in a 20089 Broadway production. In between, she candidly details her career highs and lows, examining how her offstage life often reflected and informed her onstage one. From the exciting days of traveling the country as a founding member of the Acting Company to her early triumphs on Broadway, her four-year stint on the television series Life Goes On, her loving marriage to Matt Johnston, her public firing from Sunset Boulevard, and her heralded return to Broadway, Patti chronicles her professional and personal life with relish. LuPones many fans will appreciate the insightful look at her career-defining roles in Evita, Les Mis'rables, and more. In these sections, LuPone chronicles her process for achieving these iconic performances in great depth and offers a frank perspective on the often unseemly business side of the theatrical world. Conversational and even gossipy at times, the book contains both casual name-dropping and sensational anecdotes drawn from the life of a working actor. Providing a quick, enjoyable read, LuPone ultimately reveals her deeply felt passion for theater and music. Theater aficionados especially will relish the insider details.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)