Mandy and Patti Waltz Again in An Evening, at Philly's Prince Music Theater

By Kenneth Jones
and Andrew Gans
23 Oct 2007

Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin
Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin

Two legends of the musical theatre will light up Philadelphia Oct. 23-29 when An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin plays Prince Music Theater.

The performers who won Tony Awards for Evita (he was Che Guevara, she was Eva Peron) bring their critically acclaimed theatre concert — with choreography by Tony Award winner Ann Reinking — to the 450-seat Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia for eight performances.

A spokesperson for the Prince told Playbill.com on Oct. 22 that the Oct. 26 and Oct. 28 performances are sold out, and that other performances "have limited [ticket] availability."

Songs by Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, Vernon Duke, Antonio Carlos Jobim and more have spiked past performances of this rare pairing of major Broadway stars. The singing actors will be accompanied on piano by Patinkin's longtime pianist, Paul Ford, who co-conceived the show with director Patinkin.

Since their 1979-80 Broadway work in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita, Patinkin and LuPone have both separately starred in film, television and concert projects — and returned to Broadway.

A Tony Award winner for her work in Evita, Patti LuPone also earned an Olivier Award for her performances in the West End productions of Les Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock. Her other theatrical credits include Sunset Boulevard, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Working, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class and Pal Joey. LuPone also headlined two solo Broadway concerts, Patti LuPone On Broadway and Matters of the Heart, and received glowing notices for her performance as Mrs. Lovett in the Lincoln Center concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and a Tony nomination for her performance in the recent revival of that Sondheim work. She was seen in the Kennedy Center's staging of Marc Blitzstein's Regina and recently joined Audra McDonald for Los Angeles Opera's production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. LuPone was most recently on the New York stage in City Center's production of Gypsy — a turn that is said to be aiming for Broadway.

Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in the Broadway mounting of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita. His theatrical work includes roles in The Wild Party, Sunday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden and The Knife. An Emmy Award winner for his work on "Chicago Hope," his other screen credits include "Criminal Minds" (he exited as the series anchor at the top of the fall 2007 TV season), "Yentl," "Ragtime," "Dick Tracy," "Broken Glass," "Life with Mikey" and "The Princess Bride." Patinkin's latest solo recording, "Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim," is available on the Nonesuch label.

Prince ticket prices are $65 (weeknights and matinees) and $75 (Saturday evening).

General public tickets are on sale now by visiting the Prince Music Theater's website (www.princemusictheater.org) or by calling calling UpStages at (215) 569-9700.

A special gala performance will take place Oct. 23 with a cocktail reception to follow.

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As previously announced, the LuPone and Patinkin concert will also play McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA, Jan. 18-19, 2008.

LuPone and Patinkin previously presented this concert in September 2002 at the Charles W. Eisemann Center in Richardson, TX. That evening featured duets from several musical theatre classics, including tunes from South Pacific, Carousel, Sunday in the Park with George, and, of course, Evita. The award-winning actor-singers also performed individually.

Additional tour dates of An Evening with Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin are expected.

Reinking won a Tony for Best Choreography for the 1997 Chicago revival and was also Tony-nominated for her direction of Fosse and for her performances in Dancin' and Goodtime Charley.