By Andrew Gans
18 Sep 2009

	Elaine Paige in Sunset Boulevard

Question: I would think that while you're in America you have a little more anonymity than you do in Europe.
Paige: I do.

Question: Is that a nice change?
Paige: It's lovely. Although it is odd, in the strangest places, I get recognized. I always think that I'm not going to be recognized. In fact, in Saks the other day, I saw two people, and one person was nudging the other, and I just thought, "Oh, it can't be me," and I just carried on looking at the handbags. And then in the end these people came up and said to me, "Oh my God, I know you, don't I?" And I said, "I don't know, do you?" And she said, "Yes, you're the singer, you're the singer!" And I said, "Well, I do do that on occasion." [Laughs.] And that was quite funny. And then I went to the shoe department, and I was buying some Louis Vuitton shoes and again a woman was sitting there. She had on these fantastic boots she was trying on. I said, "Wow, they look fantastic." It turned out she was English, and she said to me, "Oh my goodness, you're Elaine Paige," and I said, "Yes. How amazing, you're English!" She said, "You won't remember this, but many years ago when you were doing Evita…" She bumped into me somewhere or another and asked for my autograph. She was obviously considerably younger then — she must have been just a child. And she said, "You know, I still have it. You were so kind to me and I was with my mother…" But generally speaking, I do have more anonymity here than I do at home.

Question: If you could go back and do any of your stage roles again for a short time, is there any one you would want to revisit?
Paige: Yes, I think I would like to revisit Norma Desmond and maybe Piaf. The interesting thing in my concerts that I'm doing now, it's the first time that I've ever done it with a smattering of costume. Normally I just do it as me in a concert performance. But this time I wanted to suggest a character, so with Norma Desmond I wear one of the gowns that I kept — one of the original gowns I wore in the show with the turban and the sunglasses. I come on wearing this, and the audience go bananas because the vision, the image, is re-created there. Before I've even sung or done anything, they see the image. I think for them, certainly for me, just wearing the clothes or donning a wig or wearing a pair of shoes that the character wore, it really does take me back to the real character. It really is quite interesting that it makes a big difference. By donning the clothing, you're able to kind of disappear more into the truth of the character rather than just singing the song as yourself.

Question: I hope you get to bring the concert here.
Paige: I really would love to. It's been received very well all over the world, so far, where I've played. . . . I would like to try and bring it here. I feel that this encapsulates my career.

	Patti LuPone
	photo by Ethan Hill

DIVA TIDBITS
Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Brian Stokes Mitchell will join forces for staged concerts of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun during the 2010 summer season at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois. Lonny Price will direct the Aug. 13-15, 2010, concerts, which will boast LuPone as the sharp-shootin' Annie Oakley and Mitchell as Frank Butler. The artists will be backed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which will be conducted by Paul Gemignani. Additional casting will be announced at a later time. LuPone's last musical theatre outing at Ravinia was Rose in Gypsy, a role she later repeated on Broadway to Tony-winnning effect. LuPone previously played the role of Oakley in a one-night-only benefit concert at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont. The upcoming concerts will celebrate the 150th birthday of Annie Oakley. For more information visit www.ravinia.org.

Ute Lemper, who has starred in both the London and Broadway productions of Chicago, and actress-singer-comic Sandra Bernhard will return to Joe's Pub — the intimate cabaret located within the Public Theater — in December. Lemper will offer Last Tango in Berlin Dec. 10-13. She will be joined by musicians Vana Gierig and Tito Castro. The evening, according to press notes, is described as "a voyage through Kabarett and Tango in Berlin, Paris, New York and Buenos Aires — tales of love, loss and fatal passion." The dependably outrageous and outspoken Bernhard will present an evening simply titled Dec. 09 Dec. 26-31. Joe's Pub is located within the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street. For ticket information visit www.joespub.com.

Several Broadway actors will take part in an upcoming Symphony Space concert to benefit Restore. The Oct. 26 concert will spotlight the talents of Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid, Phantom of the Opera), Tituss Burgess (Jersey Boys, The Little Mermaid), Nikki Renee Daniels (Aida, Les Miserables), Bryce Ryness (Hair), Ann Sanders (Beauty and the Beast, Avenue Q), Jeff Kready (Les Miserables, Billy Elliot) and pianist Alexander Rovang. Show time is 7 PM. Restore provides aftercare services for internationally sex trafficked women in New York City. Visit www.restorenyc.org for more information. Symphony Space is located in Manhattan at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. For tickets, priced $75, call (212) 864-5400 or visit symphonyspace.org.

The York Theatre Company's Developmental Reading Series will continue Oct. 6 with a reading of the new musical That's Andy. Directed by Clayton Phillips, the 3 PM reading will feature Tony winner Beth Leavel, Hugh Panaro, Lauren Kennedy and Julie Reiber. That's Andy was conceived by Bobby Cronin and features book and lyrics by Crystal Skillman and music and additional lyrics by Kevin Carter. The new work is described as a "a comedic, family-friendly musical about a 10-year-old boy named Andy who dreams of playing the lead in Annie. When Andy shows up to the audition in a red dress, everyone goes haywire. His story takes the nation by storm, sending a confused Andy into the twisted world of reality television in search of the answer to his simple question: 'What did I do wrong?'" For more information visit www.yorktheatre.org.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.