""I have been incredibly fortunate over the course of
my career to have been associated with some
extraordinary dramatic and musical productions, and also
some rather spectacular disasters. Looking back, I can
find gifts and life lessons in every one." "The
legendary Patti LuPone is one of the theatre's most
beloved leading ladies. Now she lays it all bare,
sharing the intimate story of her life both onstage and
off--through the dizzying highs and darkest lows--with
the humor and outspokenness that have become her
trademarks. With nearly 100 photographs, including an
8-page four-color insert, and illuminating details about
the life of a working actor, from inspired costars and
demanding directors to her distinct perspective on how
she developed and honed her Tony Award-winning
performances, "Patti LuPone: A Memoir" is as
inspirational as it is entertaining. And though the
title might say "a memoir," this is ultimately a love
letter to the theatre by a unique American artist.
Raised on Long Island's North Shore, Patti discovered
her calling at the age of four and knew that she was
destined for the stage. A prodigiously gifted child, she
was one of only 36 young actors chosen for the inaugural
class of The Juilliard School's Drama Division, where
she fought near-constant criticism from her instructors,
and here describes those early years with disarming
frankness. From the heady days of her early
twenties--crisscrossing the country as a founding member
of the classical repertory theatre ensemble, The Acting
Company--to her early success on Broadway, her four-year
stint as Libby Thacher on the television series "Life
Goes On, " her loving marriage to Matt Johnston, and
much, much more, Patti chronicles her professional and
personal life with inimitable candor and wit. With its
insightful retrospective of her career-defining turns,
both on Broadway and abroad, in "Evita," "Les
Miserables," "Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard," "Sweeney
Todd," and "Gypsy," "Patti LuPone: A Memoir" reveals the
artist's deeply felt passion for music and the theatre
and is, in the end, the compelling and quintessential
tale of an exceptional life well lived. "From the
Hardcover edition." |
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