Even the most successful artist has dreams of having done more -- another song, a role that went to someone else, an opportunity missed or an offer refused. That's what hindsight is about.
Patti LuPone, one of the most successful stars of Broadway, TV and Hollywood, has put together a nostalgic yet constantly energetic one-woman show about her missed (and occasionally not missed) opportunities, called, "Coulda, Woulda Shoulda." She described it to the Post-Gazette's Sharon Eberson as "the songs that I coulda sung, I woulda sung if someone had cast me, I shoulda sung because I would have been better in the part."
This weekend, with conductor Rob Fisher and pianist Joseph Thalken, Ms. LuPone brings her "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" to the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops concerts in Heinz Hall. To further promulgate the list of bad spellings, it's one helluva show!
It doesn't hurt that the Pittsburgh Symphony contingent is an optimum accompanying combo, nor that the 70-minute nonstop romp conceived and directed by Scott Williams is slick and sleek without dumbing down or cheapening its first-rate musical material. At 62, the singer-actress who can list the creation of Evita and the portrayal of Maria Callas among her manifold artistic credits, exudes seemingly unlimited energy and a vocal range that extends from a blaring Ethel Merman belt to a sinewy Barbra Streisand whimper.
She has emotional range as well -- the ability to make every song different, at the same time tailoring each piece to her own talents and abilities. This was evident early on Thursday in "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy" (from "South Pacific"), an upbeat number that she transformed by rhythmic alterations and vocal color into a wistful torch song. In immediate contrast, Ms. Streisand's "Don't Rain on My Parade" ("Funny Girl") was an in-your-face delivery, while "Easy to be Hard" ("Hair") brought home a reminder that the often-maligned 1960s are not so far removed from us as some might believe.
Ms. LuPone enlisted the vocal support of keyboardist Thalken in the exquisite "Sleepy Man," an intriguing segment of "Robber Bridegroom," a show that never got off the ground. She further tugged at the heartstrings in "As Long As He Needs Me" (from the popular "Oliver"). The latter along with "Everything's Coming Up Roses" ("Gypsy") and "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" ("Evita") are not missed opportunities but songs she virtually owns these days, and the present renditions showed us just why.
Once more switching character and emotional status, she delivered "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunch" with a wayward champagne glass and persona to match. Finally, after we thought she had taken a final bow, this irresistible performer showed her high musicianship and Juilliard credentials with an un-miked, a cappella, enormously touching rendering of "100 Years From Now."
The concert's perfunctory first half consisted of insipid orchestral arrangements from Broadway shows, reasonably played by the Pittsburgh Symphony contingent and valiantly conducted by its good-humored resident conductor Lawrence Loh.
Patti LuPone performs again at 8 tonight and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
First Published: November 12, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
