He's been Che, George Seurat and Dr. Geiger, but audiences can get to see -- and hear -- Mandy Patinkin as himself, when he plays a three-week concert gig at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre, March 1-23. The concert was originally supposed to end March 19, but due to ticket demand, three extra performances were recently added: March 21 & 22 (8 PM) and March 23 (3 PM).
Longtime accompanist Paul Ford will do the piano honors in this benefit to assist Physicians For Human Rights, Peace Now, National Dance Institute, Crohn's And Colitis Foundation, and Association To Benefit Children.
Patinkin, who will concentrate on Hammerstein/Sondheim material for this benefit concert, just finished his concert touring schedule in Rochester, NY. According to publicist Laura Madelon, he has been on the road since October ("Mandy's window for touring is usually October through February/March).
Madelon also said that the performer's next studio project for Nonesuch Records is an album of Yiddish favorites (after all, his real name is Mandel Bruce Patinkin, and his son was just Bar Mitzvahed).
Tony and Emmy Award winner Patinkin made his 1980 Broadway debut in Evita, winning a Tony Award for playing Che. He garnered a Tony nomination for playing George in Sondheim's Sunday In The Park With George, and went on to appear in The Secret Garden and Falsettos. Other stage credits include The Winter's Tale; The Knife; Henry IV, Part 1; Leave it to Beaver is Dead; Rebel Women; Hamlet; Trelawney of the Wells; The Shadow Box and Split and Savages. In 1995 Patinkin won an Emmy Award for his role as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger on TV's "Chicago Hope." Other, more theatre-oriented, TV credits include the starring role as Quasimodo in a live action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Richard Harris, for TNT (airing March 16); and a version of Arthur Miller's Broken Glass for BBC/WGBH Boston. Patinkin's albums include Mandy Patinkin (1989), Mandy Patinkin In Concert: Dress Casual (1990), Experiment (1994), and his newest, Oscar and Steve, which features the songs of Oscar Hammerstein II and Stephen Sondheim. Patinkin also appears on the 1996 Nonesuch recording Leonard Bernstein's New York.
The show, which runs Tues-Wed & Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sundays at 3, goes on sale to the general public Feb. 9; for tickets call (212) 239-6200. American Express is letting its Gold/Platinum Card customers get a week-early jump and buy the $20-$60 tickets by calling (212) 563-GOLD. Tickets will also be available at the Lyceum box office after Feb. 17.
