Patti LuPone, A Life in Notes: The Broadway queen still reigns, but where were the anecdotes?
There was no small irony, then, in her taking to the stage of the Coliseum on Sunday with a one-off rendition of A Life in Notes, a musical survey of her life, as seen in New York last year. Close triumphed here - ouch! - in a semi-staging of Sunset in 2016 that saw her lay claim to Norma anew.
Had LuPone wanted to settle scores all over again, the capacity crowd of fans would no doubt have been all ears but she left that bitter chapter alone. While it might seem beside the point to wish the evening fully showcased her legendary capacity to speak her mind, the main 'note' I would presumptuously give A Life in Notes (directed by Scott Wittman) is that it could do with more patter.
She has a rapport with every number in her eclectic two-hour selection, but aside from anthems she has made her own, to award-laden effect (Don't Cry for Me Argentina, I Dreamed a Dream, and Sondheim's The Ladies Who Lunch, each delivered with elan), I wanted her to join the dots more, explain how they changed her and so on; the script is pat.
'Hi London, I'm Patti LuPone!' was her succinct, smiling self-introduction, having launched – after wild applause – into a rendition of Leon Russell's A Song For You, which glances at the pressures of the spotlight. The risk was that this might seem like an over-exposed cabaret night; the mise en scene was minimal apart from a large backscreen shifting in colour, with the talented Joseph Thalken (the musical arranger) on grand piano and Brad Phillips fielding an impressive array of instruments. But there's a singular assurance about LuPone, 75 - her defined hauteur and glamour in a black trouser-suit, later a fairytale silvery evening-dress - that transfixes.
Having sketched her musical awakening as a child in the 50s with innocent tunes from that era, it wasn't until she gave us the blistering Some People from Gypsy that her grip was fully exerted. Thereafter she gave melting renditions of Lilac Wine and The Man That Got Away, and introduced a rare snarling force to the Mary Hopkins hit Those Were the Days – she's so good at the downward glance, the unexpected emphasis and tone. Exuding class throughout, the evening moved towards a dulcet, graceful note of gazing forwards, and implied handing on, with Dylan's Forever Young. Even so, given the huge demand to see her, it's highly likely she'll be back. A bit more acid, next time? I'll drink to that.
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The Herald Scotland
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Telegraph
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