Patti Lupone at Les Mouches

by

Patti LuPone

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Patti Lupone's been a singing force for years now, as is proven by her latest and most interesting find "Patti Lupone at Les Mouches".

As the liner notes say, her involvement with Les Mouches came after a noticable lack of applause during her now infamous and Tony winning run as Eva Peron in Evita. Somehow, after performing for over two hours in a B'way show in the lead, Lupone had enough voice and gumption to perform in a more intimate show, which is this one.

Lupone in the recording is surprising. At first, with her between song banter, she sounds girlish and not quite the professional of her later years. But then, as she gets into her act, her powerful voice grows and booms out some of her songs. When she gets to the career defining "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", she's in full form.

Some reviewers have complained about the quality of the recording. Is it 2008 sound standard? No. This is from found tape, recorded nearly thirty years ago now. It's amazing to me the sound is what it is. There is not one song distorted to the point of unenjoyment. It's Patti, and her powerful voice is one to awe in. Her song selection is representative of her career up to 1980.

This CD is for Broadway lovers, musical historians, and those who appreciate hearing singers with just a piano and a microphone, and a mighty set of lungs.

As many reviewers have stated here, I too am a huge Patti Lupone fan. I've seen her in Evita and Gypsy and I can not even begin to describe how extraordinary her performances were. I also had the pleasure of seeing her perform at Lincoln Center in a one night engagement for Equity Fights AIDS about three years ago. This was an opportunity for Patti to showcase her "Lady With A Torch" album with the same musicians she recorded that fantastic record with. What an evening that was! Yes, if you ask me Patti the singer has no peer. And Patti the artist is Rembrandt, Da Vinci and Renior all rolled into one.

"Patti Lupone at Les Mouches" is a sort of behind the scenes glimpse at a fledgling artist assending torward her zenith. It is a rare opportunity to witness a young star performing live "without a net" and with anything but state of the art recording equipment. Kudos to Patti for a daring attempt to pull this off, with such a high degree of difficulty. Unfortunately, the results are spotty at best. To begin with the material does not suit her voice. The familiar standards, I Got Rhythm, Love For Sale, Meadowlark and Not While I'm Around and of course her always wonderful Don't Cry For Me Argentina are all rendered with her usual self assured bravado. But Heven Is A Disco and the contemporary pop material, Downtown, Because The Night, Superman and Mr. Tambourine Man all sound forced, amateurish and I'm afriad to say downright embarassing.

Why, I wonder did she choose to release this work at this point in her career. With recent triumphs in Sweeney Todd and Gypsy Patti truely has nothing left to prove. Perhaps her fans can see or hear no wrong in anything she does. And, as fanatic admirers they clamor for even second rate material like this. I'm sorry, I know I'll catch a lot of flack from her faithful, but I just don't get it. I love everything Patti Lupone has done on Broadway. I can't say enough about her "Lady With A Torch" album and I can listen to "Matters Of The Heart" all day long. Live At Les Mouches dosen't do it for me. But that still dosen't change my admiration and respect for Ms. Lupone. She's still the best dammed singer in the world as far as I'm concerned and I'll always walk that extra mile to see her perform.