Patti LuPone: A Memoir [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Patti LuPone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2010

“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.”

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.

With nearly 100 photographs, including an 8-page four-color insert, and illuminating details about the life of a working actor, 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 twenties—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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Carol Burnett Reviews Patti LuPone: A Memoir

Carol Burnett is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and writer. Read her review of Patti LuPone: A Memoir:

Patti's story had me from the moment I turned to page one of the prologue until the absolutely triumphant final chapter. The passion with which she writes about the theatre and her love of it found me, at various times, crying and laughing. I thoroughly enjoyed her backstage tales that were both victorious and horror-filled. The lady pulls no punches in describing her most humiliating moments, such as the backstabbing that unfortunately happens all too often in this business. She recreates her failures and even includes quotes from her worst reviews. She writes about her loves and losses without a tone of self-pity. The chapter about her struggles with bringing Evita to life gave me goose bumps. It was definitely not an easy journey. She persevered and that role made her a bona fide Broadway star. The chapter about the backstage goings on during the production of Sunset Boulevard are even more harrowing. The fact that she could take such slings and still remain standing is proof that this is a woman of great strength and grit...and talent. God gave her the gifts of being able to brilliantly bring characters to life onstage. She’s a wonderful actress...and, oh yes, she can sing like nobody’s business. This is a heartfelt memoir that exposes Patti’s innermost feelings, fervor, temper, and humor. There’s no "censorship." She tells it like it is, warts and all. And by the time I finished reading the last chapter, I found myself giving Patti a standing ovation in the privacy of my very own living room.

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From Publishers Weekly

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 ( ÿ'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.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; aFirst Edition First Printing edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307460738
• ISBN-13: 978-0307460738
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating memoir, great audio performance, September 25, 2010

By 

Janet Rowell (West Linn, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patti LuPone: A Memoir (Hardcover)

The extravagantly talented Patti Lupone shows that she is as sparkling a memoirist (with Digby Diehl as collaborator) as she is an actress. If you love theater, acting, or Patti Lupone herself, you need to buy this book - and get it ON AUDIO. Lupone doesn't simply read the memoir, she PERFORMS it, and as in her best stage, TV and movie performances, she will move you to tears and laughter. She shares the good, the bad and the ugly from a career that started when she performed as a child with her brothers, and spans some of the high points of the Broadway and London stages. She also settles a few scores (Andrew Lloyd Webber, ahem) and provides insights into the art and craft of theater. A fascinating memoir from an American treasure, and a great audiobook experience.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patti LuPone: A Memoir, September 19, 2010

By 

Luci DeVoy (Sault Ste Maire, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Patti LuPone: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I really really loved this bio. Read it cover to cover in one sitting. I have only known her work through recording, until I saw her in Sweeney in 2005 and Gypsy in 2008. BRAVA on making this book so entertaining. I didn't find her a downer at all. I think she has had a really rocky road and I heard her story told with grace and style. It gives the readers hope for laughter and good friends to help find the silver lining when you are down. She also does an excellent job on giving her side of the story without being crass, or disrespectful to other people invovled in the situation. I appreciated that.
A well told story that is very entertaining and well worth the money!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good read, if only part of the story ..., December 27, 2010

By 

Mimi "Tog in Humb" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Patti LuPone: A Memoir (Hardcover)

I love Patti. Love her! I looked forward to reading this memoir, fully understanding "memoir" means remembered, i.e., it was going to be carefully told and not completely factual, perhaps ... but there's more left out than put in! I'm completely willing to forgive Patti's foibles, but she won't admit to them. So it was an interesting read, because I'm already a fan; but overall it was also a let-down, because I know things about her, as a fan will, that she glossed over or skipped entirely and it made me wonder what I *didn't* know that she also skipped. Much too short for such a fabulous, intrigue-packed life. A used copy will suffice, or borrow or lend your copy.