
Patti LuPone
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Patti LuPone
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By:
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Patti LuPone
About this listen
The legendary Patti LuPone is one of the theatre’s most beloved leading ladies. Now she lays it all bare, sharing the intimate story of her life both onstage and off - through the dizzying highs and darkest lows - with the humor and outspokenness that have become her trademarks.
From inspired costars and demanding directors to her distinct perspective on how she developed and honed her Tony Award - winning performances, Patti LuPone: A Memoir is as inspirational as it is entertaining. And though the title might say “a memoir”, this is ultimately a love letter to the theatre by a unique American artist.
Raised on Long Island’s North Shore, Patti discovered her calling at the age of four and knew that she was destined for the stage. A prodigiously gifted child, she was one of only 36 young actors chosen for the inaugural class of The Juilliard School’s Drama Division, where she fought near-constant criticism from her instructors, and here describes those early years with disarming frankness. From the heady days of her early 20s - crisscrossing the country as a founding member of the classical repertory theatre ensemble, The Acting Company - to her early success on Broadway, her four-year stint as Libby Thacher on the television series Life Goes On, her loving marriage to Matt Johnston, and much, much more, Patti chronicles her professional and personal life with inimitable candor and wit.
With its insightful retrospective of her career-defining turns, both on Broadway and abroad, in Evita, Les Misérables, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy, Patti LuPone: A Memoir reveals the artist’s deeply felt passion for music and the theatre and is, in the end, the compelling and quintessential tale of an exceptional life well lived.
“I have been incredibly fortunate over the course of my career to have been associated with some extraordinary dramatic and musical productions, and also some rather spectacular disasters. Looking back, I can find gifts and life lessons in every one".
©2010 Patti Lupone (P)2010 Random House AudioCritic reviews
Where does Patti LuPone rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's a good listen – and essential if you work in, or have any passion for, theatre in general and musical theatre in particular.What other book might you compare Patti LuPone to, and why?
Seth Rudetsky's Broadway Nights – a novel which plays on the neuroses and obsessions of musical theatre actors for comedy, but which LuPone reveals aren't all that far from the truth.Which character – as performed by Patti LuPone – was your favourite?
Well, it's an autobiography, so I'd have to say "herself".Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Her recitation of her professional life starts out interesting, but a little dry. And then it gets to her involvement with Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Really Useful Group when she is cast as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Then the claws come out, the blood pressure raises and you won't believe that any company could act so cavalierly towards its star.Standard theatrical bio – until Sunset Boulevard…
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Couldn’t stop listening
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Wonderful
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A must listen
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This 'memoir' is a story of a truly amazing career on the stage told by Patti herself. In all honesty, I was only aware of Patti as a somewhat legendary diva, someone with a ferocious anger and that is difficult to work with; as Patti addresses herself, this is the pre-conception many have of her. BUT what this book does is give you is a real insight into what an amazing lady this is. Yes she has a temper, but what is clear is that this temper comes from nothing but utter passion for her craft - ACTING - not singing, but ACTING. The singing is something in which Patti has invested so much to master, and master she has, while is it the telling of story on the stage and her growth as a performer that has driven much of her career.
You get utterly wonderful, funny stories from her incredibly varied career, from plays to musicals to films and back to plays and musical again. What I found SO exciting was that Patti has chapters dedicated to her experiences in some of the most iconic musicals of all time, both on Broadway and in the West End (there are chapters on Evita, Les Mis, Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy to name a few).
What makes this book EXTRA special is that Patti really doesn't hold back! I had no idea of the controversies, difficulties, personal traumas, egos, back-stabbing, grudges and down-right disasters that went on in the world of musicals; Patti's discussion of her experiences with Sunset (and more specifically Andrew Lloyd Webber) are just so insightful, I had no idea...you must read this!
Patti reads this audiobook herself, which adds so much. She has a bit of an odd delivery, at first sounding peculiar and stuttery - but I suspect this is a product of trying to annunciate as clearly as possible - by Chapter 2 you are so engrossed you won't care! Seriously READ THIS!
Excellent, brilliant, marvelous!
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Absolutely OUTSTANDING!
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That said it’s a really good book and I’d highly recommend it. You just have to get into a cutthroat musical theatre mindspace.
Great but a bit errr
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A beautiful book for a beautiful career and life
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Rollercoaster of a story!
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As it is
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