Drama queen Patti LuPone isn’t actually quitting Broadway, even if it has been “dumbed down”
The The School For Good And Evil actor gave up her equity card earlier this week, with a vague call for other dramaturgs to "figure it out"
Aux News Patti LuPone
If anyone has earned the term “diva,” it’s Patti LuPone. Looking at the only real metric that matters—Wikipedia pages, of course—the School For Good And Evil actor has earned not only her own “List of awards and nominations received by Patti LuPone” article (the most recent being a Tony for 2022's Company revival), but also an entire section on her own page detailing the many incidents surrounding her “views on theater conduct” that have cropped up over the years.
Well, it looks like the Wikipedia gods are going to have to add a new section because the diva is back, baby—and she wants us all to know that the rumors of her retirement have been greatly exaggerated.
This all started earlier this week when the actor tweeted that she had given up her Equity card, which many took to mean that she had decided to quit the stage entirely. “No longer part of that circus. Figure it out,” the Tweet declared.
While LuPone never called out the incident by name, this was likely in response to a story from earlier this week, in which Hadestown actor Lillias White reprimanded an audience member from stage after mistaking her closed captioning device for a camera. LuPone’s name was “bandied about” in conjunction because the Hadestown incident reminded people of LuPone’s most recent “views on theater conduct” entry, in which she yelled at a Company audience member for not masking properly.
But don’t worry, drama fans—LuPone isn’t gone for good. “I just gave up my equity card, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t perform on-stage,” the actor said in an interview with Variety, before clarifying that provisions in her contract still allow her to make guest appearances during her resignation; she just won’t be taking on any leading roles.
LuPone also lamented Broadway’s current dive towards commercialization and the inaccessibility that goes hand-in-hand with that change:
Broadway has also changed considerably. I think we’ve spent—not we, but whoever’s in charge of, whatever—has actively dumbed down the audience. And so the attention span of the majority of the audience, I think, is much less than it was in the past, and I don’t think plays are going to have long lives on Broadway—I feel as though it’s turning into Disneyland, a circus and Las Vegas… There’s still very intelligent audiences that support the theater, but the ticket price is outrageous… There’s so many obstacles that prevent theater from being the tool it should be in society, which is an education.
What is working on Broadway right now, according to the legendary performer? A hypothetical future musical adaptation of her own movie, The School For Good And Evil, which would be “fantastic,” and… Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, which is apparently going to “run forever.” We’re inclined to point out that there’s already a full Disneyland-adjacent theme park dedicated to the Harry Potter series which kind of undermines her point, but we’ll save that retort for the talk-back whenever she decides to grace the stage once again.
13 Comments
Can someone draw me a straight line between either LuPone’s or Lillias White’s interaction with audience member and LuPone giving up her Equity card? Did Equity reprimand or censure either performer in some way? I’m just not following.
Patti made it all about her (although her name did come up)
“…it’s turning into Disneyland, a circus and Las Vegas…”
You mean “fun”?
I don’t follow her argument – attention spans have been shortening ever since TV sets became common. It’s certainly not something the theater ‘did’. Americans are overstimulated, and have been for years. That the fact affects pretty much everything is just something we have to learn to deal with. Going on a ‘kids today’ rant is both untrue and counterproductive.
Well, inasmuch as the two tourists in front of us for Wicked were so drunk that they passed out and slept through the entire first act, then left at intermission, we did have our view of the stage improved. The two drunk people next to us singing along with Chicago, however, did not improve our auditory pleasure.
Someone who became famous for her role in an Andew Lloyd Webber show maybe shouldn’t be the one bemoaning the commercialization of Broadway. Regardless, much love for Ms. LuPone, but this is really just “back in my day…” theater edition.
Evita was only Andrew Lloyd Webber’s second Broadway show and came out well before his big commercial successes such as Cats and Phantom of the Opera. I don’t think I’d lump it in with those shows or any of his (mostly terrible) work since he became a big name. LuPone also declined to join the Broadway production of that other big 80s musical – Les Miserables – after originating the role of Fantine in London mostly because she didn’t want to be a part of the commercial transfer. I think she’s absolutely allowed to bemoan the commercialization of Broadway having lived through the worst of it and making a career that’s largely avoided being a part of it.Now as for Sunset Boulevard…well there’s a reason she now has the “Andrew Lloyd Weber Memorial Pool” at her home in Connecticut.
Phew, so that whole paragraph from LuPone is going to require some unpacking, because it’s got about equal measures of rot and somewhat decent points. “I think we’ve spent—not we, but whoever’s in charge of, whatever—has actively dumbed down the audience. And so the attention span of the majority of the audience, I think, is much less than it was in the past…”I don’t necessarily think she’s saying that the audiences have gotten dumber or less sophisticated, but that the producers have acted as though they are. I don’t think it’s a brilliant argument altogether, but she’s got a point: There’s some real dumb stuff on Broadway and a lot of it has to do with the Disney-ification of musical theater and the rise of the jukebox musical. The Disney musicals are for the most part blatant cash grabs with little consideration of whether they actually needed to be staged or whether they improve upon the source material (even The Lion King, there I said it). The mediocrity that is Mamma Mia begat a whole bunch of even worse jukebox musicals, very few of which justify their existence artistically speaking (Jagged Little Pill and and The Girl From the North Country come to mind as examples of good jukebox musicals, while examples of bad jukebox musicals are legion: The Cher Show, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, MJ, We will Rock You, Ain’t too Proud, etc.) “…the attention span of the majority of the audience, I think, is much less than it was in the past, and I don’t think plays are going to have long lives on Broadway…”I don’t know what she’s saying about attention spans, perhaps that audiences are getting ruder (which I would believe). But the second point is pertinent: the window of opportunity for a play to take hold on Broadway is now vanishingly short. If you don’t kill from the get-go, it is very difficult to get a foothold. Fresh new shows that don’t have a tie-in to a popular movie or a musical artist, or that aren’t supported by the full financial weight of the Disney corporation, really struggle to get made or stay afloat. And it’s a shame because there are a lot of interesting shows and voices that don’t get heard (or don’t get heard for that long). I feel as though it’s turning into Disneyland, a circus and Las VegasI can see where you would say that when you look to see what’s playing on Broadway and off-Broadway and you’ve got KPOP, Blue Man Group, and Stomp. But I would argue these are a relatively small percentage of the shows on offer, and that if you want to avoid them, it’s easily done. So this strand of her argument is tenuous at best. There’s still very intelligent audiences that support the theater, but the ticket price is outrageous… No argument here. And the TKTS booths used to be a way to make the shows more affordable, but the deals haven’t been as good/plentiful lately and the line on a recent trip to NY was more than two hours long. Maybe the recent reopening of the Lincoln Center location has alleviated some of that. But the fact remains that seeing a Broadway show is very expensive, and staying in New York is very expensive. It’s out of reach for a lot of people. I know that if the plays were more affordable, I would see more stuff—I usually take a long weekend in NY twice a year to see shows. If the tickets were overall more affordable, I would be likely to stretch my trips by a day or two to see more. There’s so many obstacles that prevent theater from being the tool it should be in society, which is an education.This is a good final thought, and it’s a shame the thoughts before it weren’t better organized to make that point. There are a whole confluence of factors that have changed the shape of the current Broadway landscape, not necessarily for the better. But I suppose that’s what happens when you’re speaking extemporaneously. It doesn’t always come out organized like a cogent, carefully considered essay.
She’s absolutely right about ticket prices. I go to a lot of shows and even sitting in the nosebleeds can get pricey and it’s only been getting worse. I worry that these shows are going to price themselves out of existence at the current pace. There’s a new musical that’s in previews called Kimberly Akimbo that had an acclaimed off-Broadway run and when I first went to look at tickets the cheapest were over $100! Your average NYC theatergoer or tourist is never going to pay that for an unknown entity without a huge name attached.
Yep. Unless it’s something I really really want to see, I don’t buy tickets straight from the shows anymore. I wait to see what’s at the TKTS booth at a discount. We may buy tickets in advance for one show before a trip to New York, and I’ve sadly grown accustomed to paying $180+ for that ticket if you want a good seat. That’s a lot to pay for two hours of your time (and don’t even get me started on the price of a glass of wine in the theater itself!)
Last show I went to I ordered a double Tito’s soda and it was $36! But I do love collecting the commemorative cups.
I mean yes there are bio-musicals and jukebox musicals but there’s also groundbreaking shows like A Strange Loop. K-Pop will be pretty groundbreaking itself even if it’s pop as is Six.
But if the show is terrible should it really stick around? Did Diana deserve a long run? How about
It seems like there just isn’t the need for musicals to sit on Broadway for years. There are more touring productions and pro-shots allowing those out of the tristate to see a bigger variety of shows.
Life Goes On.