THAT NIGHT WE MADE PATTI CRY

It was a Thursday night in Toronto...
By Joshua Page (Music Theatre Student)

Every now and then something happens to remind us why we do what we do. Two weeks ago was one of them, when Patti reminded me why she's one of the reigning queens of a potentially bygone era.

Two friends and I had just driven through treacherous highways through the Richmond Hill neighborhood populated with a vast variety of spas, tacky ethnic restaurants, and porno cinemas to watch the legendary Patti herself. After a quick bite to eat at the cutest, oddly familiar bookstore / cafe next door (which I later discovered was because it plays host to a dedicated NaNoWriMo group every November) we walked over for our date with Patti. Up in the nosebleeds I was more excited than a peep in a microwave as the lights dimmed and we were warned to turn off our cell phones and cameras. Not that anyone would dare after that whole Gypsy episode...

 
Frightening? Yes. Awesome? That too.

The night was dedicated to the roles she coulda, shoulda, woulda played. The show described her intro to the theatre and her Juilliard education all framed by heart-stopping performances from Hair, Oliver and a hysterical split-personality duet from West Side Story. She closed Act One with this new song that my troupe of musical theatre nerds didn't recognize, talking about why artists exist. The line I remember most clearly is, 'All that I have is my skill and my name / and a chance to make them known'. Points to anyone who can tell us what it is, since I have scoured the world wide web to no avail!

What got me was how grand this woman is. She isn't one of the biggest Broadway Divas for nothing, you know. From the way she maneuvered her bedazzled silver microphone, to striking poses I didn't know actors could actually pull off, to leaning affectionately against her JRB look-alike pianist: Joseph Thalken, she constantly reminded us of the things Broadway stars of her caliber can get away with that we normal folk can't.

The only thing that disappointed me was that the show seemed very scripted. She never searched for words, she never meandered or had a tangent; it was a very clean, well-rehearsed performance. Luckily we broke the script for a bit that Thursday night because it just happened to be her birthday...

I find this startlingly accurate.

Inevitably, at the beginning of the second act when she strode back onstage to thunderous applause, a chorus of Happy Birthday started up, she cried for the fourth time that night and announced that she would never forget this birthday (Debate: Genuine or Not?) - after this she had a lump in her throat that caused her to stop midway through How to Love A Woman and excuse herself to hack up 'cry snot' backstage. While the deviation from the script wasn't exactly pretty, I'm glad I got to meet Patti flying by the seat of her pants. After the three encores (including Ladies Who Lunch) we ducked out and got some autographs.

 

I HAD a picture of her from that night, but it was never uploaded, so here's a photo of her from Gypsy instead.

While the concert was exhilerating, I left wondering - who's coming to replace these great dames? Who are our new Broadway divas? Don't get me wrong, I love me some Sutton Foster, but I don't find her quite as... larger than life as Patti, Ethel and Liza. Do you think we have any more of this genre of star coming up, or is this style of performer a thing of the past?

 

P.S. - She'll be in New York in June. Just sayin'.

 

P.P.S. - She's going to be on Glee?! Holla!

Comments

[KMM]

the song is called "I Was Here" from Ahrens and Flaherty's "The Glorious Ones"...Mark Kudisch originated the song it played Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center a few years ago.

[Joshua Page]

Excellent. I've been tearing my hair out over it since that night! Thank you!

[MT]

leslie kritzer = new dame

[Tiffany & Co Outlet]

A sad thing about life is that when you meet someone who means a lot to you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just have to let go.