Patti LuPone: Taking the stage at Carnegie Hall

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

0:30travel dollars work harder. Follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app.

1:00again? Really? AutoTrader. Buy your car online. Really?

1:08Patti LuPone:Welcome to the documentary In the Studio from the BBC World Service. I'm Patti LuPone and we're in Manhattan, New York for the next stop on my concert tour Matters of the Heart, which I'm performing at the historic Carnegie Hall. Patti LuPone is one of the great voices of American musical theatre and has long reigned as one of Broadway's most formidable leading ladies. Celebrated for her work with Stephen Sondheim, she was also the original Evita on Broadway, originated the role of Fontaine in Les Miserables and was the original Norma Desmond in the London production of Sunset Boulevard. Along the way she's received no less than three Tony Awards, two Grammys and two Oliviers.

1:58For In the Studio, the series that goes behind the scenes with the world's leading artists, we join Patty in New York to discover the work that goes into performing at one of the most famous concert halls in the world.

2:14Patti LuPone:The history of Carnegie Hall is something you walk into and you just, it elevates you. the building itself has entertained so many extremely important musicians i mean everybody says you come here and you can almost feel all the great artists who performed here before you i suppose i better use the sir hadn't i because it's britain i'm sir clive gillinson the executive and artistic director of carl e-hall We really do have every sort of music. We think it's really important. Carnegie Hall should represent the best of everything.

3:04Hi, how are you? I'm good, thank you. None of the people that work there have been there for years. Full-time, almost 20 years, but I've worked in the building for 30.

3:15Patti LuPone:This is their hall, and there is a routine. and you're entering into somebody else's house. We start at 8 in the morning and we have a concert at 8 o 'clock at night and it's always whatever we need to do happens. Behind the scenes, it takes an entire team to make a night like this possible. There is no margin for error. Rachel Davis is Director of Production at Carnegie Hall. So I have four production managers. I'll sign one person to every event and that person does all the technical needs. So what are the sound requirements? What are the lighting requirements? How does the stage look? How many music stands?

3:55How many chairs? Which angle is the piano? Which piano? The auditorium holds just under 2 ,800 people. The main thing is the natural acoustics are as good, if not better, than anybody created before, but other than anybody's created since. It was built by artisans. Rising across five different levels in a sweeping horseshoe configuration. By this evening, every seat will be filled. It's a lot of people to play to, and I remind that to people. Sorry, I just let that siren go. We're in Midtown Manhattan. That one just says particularly loud. Okay. And you'll hear them in the hall. Really? Oh, yeah.

4:47And nothing is quiet in New York. So, you know, New Yorkers love noise. So it's one of those things you live with.

4:57Although based in Connecticut, when Patty's performing in New York, she stays in her apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, close to Central Park.

5:10It's a grand red brick building from the 1900s with an old-school doorman from the Bronx.

5:17Patti LuPone:You know, it's a quirky family building. If I'm doing a Broadway musical or a West End musical, or I'm doing a concert, I will wake up naturally, and hopefully that's, you know, 10 or 11 o 'clock in the morning, and the day is in preparation. I'm gearing up for the evening's performance. I don't want to go on stage tired, so I can't do anything.

5:45The Patti LuPone knows the washing up.

5:49Patti LuPone:Yes, I do. I will do the preparation here. I'll hit the high notes to make sure that I have them. I will go over the lyrics that are questionable, that I think, are you going to forget lyrics on this particular song? I'm Kathleen Sabigal, and I'm the director of the Rose Archives and Museum at Carnegie Hall. What do you have in the LuPone files? Oh, okay, so I pulled just a few things. So Patti LuPone's been here at Carnegie Hall 12 times. That's including the concert tonight. Out of the 12, six have been headlining shows where it's just Patti. And the first one was this one I pulled out. And this was actually a benefit concert that she did for the gay men's health crisis, November 19, 1999.

6:39Let's see. 2004, this was 1999. The most recent time she came before she's performing tonight was this one, A Life in Notes, which was an album she did, but then she was touring with a show. They started out to offset unemployment.

6:59Patti LuPone:You know, when you're working on the stage, stage productions close, and then what do you do? And so I started, actually for me it started in Cabaret in a place called Les Mouches, where I did an act at midnight on Saturday night after Evita, I learned more about performing in musicals than I had at Juilliard learning about anything because of the intimacy and the commitment to tell a story with your eyes open to an audience member. So when I went back to do Evita, I had a different attack. She's a conniver, she's a striver, so I had to get the audience on my side. And playing Les Mouches taught me how to do that with more confidence.

7:42Patti LuPone:Now they've morphed into concerts for performing arts centers. So this tour is a show called Matters of the Heart. And it's a show that she did 25 years ago. And she's reviving it for this. My name is Joseph Falcon. I am, in this context, Patti LuPone's music director. I'm a freelance composer, conductor, pianist, arranger in New York City. and it's like we have to book joey the minute there's a hold on a date we have to call him because he's in demand he plays that piano as if it's an orchestra i first met her and worked with her in the 90s a pianist music director at the time was dick gallagher and they worked together a long time he was a friend of mine dick gallagher passed away in the early 2000s yeah it's uh it's It's sad We've kept a lot of Dick's arrangements And it's put together by Scott Whitman and Jeffrey Richman Who are her long-time collaborators We sort of tried to figure out how to tell love stories And the first act is pretty much the conflict and the disappointment And the second act is family So the family songs mean something to me and wonderful guy I always dedicate to my husband.

9:03Patti LuPone:But the other ones sort of, they're about telling this story, the kinds of love that can embrace you or entrap you. I've grown to understand how she approaches a line, a phrase, where she might breathe, and try to incorporate that into what I'm doing. And it is a big thing, this particular show. we will run sections of it and she'll assess her voice and say you know what i think we need to try that higher or lower because of where it is in my voice we didn't drop them that much a couple of them we dropped a full step most of them just a half step and they were just more more comfortable and i can sing better in them and more often than not singers sing in the wrong keys and i was singing in the wrong keys.

9:52Patti LuPone:Oh my God, definitely for Evita. I don't know why we think that we have to hit the high note. Someone, my voice teacher, David Vosberg doing Evita said, your high note will sound high to an audience. It doesn't have to be the note you think is the highest note. Your natural high note will sound high to an audience. Before they miss, I should have dropped it. But I went, I don't, I better do what they tell me to do. To finish that note on an E so high, when you're a kid, you don't think, well, first of all, you don't know what keys you're singing in. You don't take the time to figure out what's my range.

10:32Patti LuPone:What am I most comfortable in? And these are the keys I should sing in to protect my voice. Don't think it. You want the part, you sing in the key the composer wrote it in and then you don't dare ask to drop it because he might go no you're fired she's never about showing off like look at me i can sing this note it's always from within of how do i interpret this song to the best of my ability often in a live performance she might do something slightly different from what we rehearsed. And it's not intentional. She's just feeling the room, feeling the acoustic, the audience, what happened in the news earlier that day.

11:17And it's fun for me because it's like a game of tennis. I know the ball's going over the net, but it might come at a slightly different angle than what I was used to. It's just the actress in her that is taking everything in and interpreting it and sharing it with an audience. She may be famed for her singing voice, but Patti is an actor first and foremost. She studied the craft at Juilliard and was part of a touring theatre company before ever setting foot on Broadway. She's also been a frequent collaborator with playwright David Mamert.

11:51Patti LuPone:I cut my teeth on David. We've known each other since 1976. And when David says, just stand there and say the line, that's exactly what he means. And it's the simplest thing. It's the hardest thing to do, but it is the simplest thing to do. It's all about the editing, to get it to where I am as still as possible and just saying the line. He says, let the script or the work, you have the fun, and do not act upon the words. Actors will have a tendency to comment on the words as opposed to just delivering the full weight of the word. So he taught me how to act. But Patty has used her voice not just in acting and singing.

12:33She's well known for expressing her political views.

12:36Patti LuPone:I'm not necessarily a political person. I've been made a political person. You know, I suppose, you know what, I take that back. I've been a political person since the Vietnam War. I've been protesting since the Vietnam War. You know, I've grown up in war in this country. I don't think I've been alive when the country was at peace. The Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War. it goes on and on and on and I think artists have a responsibility and people say no no no we need you you know Patty the artist we need you we need you because we need it but I feel so superfluous standing on stage in a musical top dancing when the streets are burning I'm just how are you I don't know what's going to happen I just, I have to know how to rise up.

13:33Patti LuPone:I have to know how to use my voice because there's nothing else I can do. I know I have to risk it. We as an institution will not take political positions. Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, Sir Clive Gillinson. It's really important that we're agnostic and that we present all artists, all views. I mean, look, we're not thrilled for people to take extreme positions because, in fact, we're giving them the platform as a performer. We're not giving them the platform to talk politics.

14:06I'm here on the job site with Dale, who's a framing contractor. Hey, good morning. Dale traded up to Geico Commercial Auto Insurance for all his business vehicles. We're here where he needs us most. Yep, they sure are. We make it easy for him to save on all his insurance needs, all in one place, with coverage that fits his business and bottom line. Oh, I shouldn't have looked down. It's all right. We're so far up here. Look at me. Take a deep breath. No, I'm good. So good. Get a commercial auto insurance quote today at Geico.com and see how much you could save. It feels good to Geico. At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer.

14:40With a subscription to BBC.com and the BBC app, you get unlimited articles and videos, ad-free podcasts, the BBC News Channel streaming live 24-7, plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. From less than a dollar a week for your first year, read, watch and listen to trusted, independent journalism and storytelling. It all starts with a subscription to bbc.com and the BBC app. Find out more at bbc.com slash unlimited.

15:10Patti LuPone:You're listening to In The Studio with me, Patti LuPone, from the BBC World Service. And we're in Manhattan, New York, for the next stop on my concert tour, Matters of the Heart. They spent the morning from 8 to noon hanging the lights, setting the sound, setting the stage. Rachel Davis is director of production at Carnegie Hall. And then they went to lunch, 12 to 1, and then they came back from 1 to 3 and they did what's called a line check. So they tested all the mic lines for the instruments that were set up. And then at 3 o 'clock they did a sound check, so the musicians practiced. and she just arrived at 4.30.

15:53Patti LuPone:I will go warmed up and ready to perform to the sound check. Basically, the sound check is for the technical aspects of it. The lights, the sound, balancing the quartet, the piano, and the voice, and my volume. They kind of messed up with the acoustics in that theater, which is a drag. It's really sad. And you're really mic'd? Yes. That's another reason why it's a problem. It's an acoustical house. But people have forgotten how to listen, too. It's tricky because it was built as a completely acoustic venue in the late 19th century. And they did a big renovation in the hall in the 1980s. And they didn't do a great job.

16:40And they have since gone back and tried to correct things. And it's a great hall, but there are a few acoustical issues that are problematic when you start amplifying. So it's a very fine balance because it's not like you're in a, for lack of a better word, a dead space where you're, let's just call it an arena, right? It's a vacuum, that space, right? There's no sense of anything. And so people put up big speakers and things. Here, we have natural acoustics. So sometimes we say less is more, right? Don't make more noise on stage to ruin the reflection of the noise, right? Luckily in our show, with just the piano and string quartet and voice, there's not a lot of amplification that's necessary.

17:34So I think that's helpful. Every time I've heard something in that hall where there is a lot of amplification, it gets very soupy, and it wasn't built for that. When you hear the Vienna Philharmonic there, it sounds unbelievable. So that's a challenge, but they were great about adjusting sound, but it's trickier than you might think.

17:55Patti LuPone:The enunciation needs to be more specific. The sound checks, I used to sing the entire show, not this particular show, but any concert I was doing, I would sing the entire show, but I can't do that anymore. It's really too much for my voice. And so how do you protect your voice then if you're performing? Vocal silence technique, but vocal silence. I think that's the only thing. They say, oh, honey and tea. Tea dries me out. Honey doesn't do any good. It's vocal silence. They're two little muscles that have to relax. And they're the two that say, you're going on tonight or you're not going on tonight.

18:31Patti LuPone:You can feel 100%. But if they are tired or if they are swollen, they'll go, not today, sister. So vocal silence. I can give myself 24 hours of vocal silence. I learned that in Evita.

18:50So that's the heating system.

18:51Patti LuPone:Yeah, New York City heat. You should hear it in the master bedroom. We can't sleep. Yeah, New York City heat. But this is an old building. It's steam heat. She does do her best to keep up with vocal warm-ups and just making sure the voice is in good shape. She has a good voice teacher here in town. I'm still learning. Someone, when I was doing Evita, said, check your voice in the morning. Bwee, bwee, bwee, bwee, check your voice, which is what I do now, to find out whether it's going to be harder to vocalize or I have my voice. And sometimes the wind is in your sails and sometimes it's not. She's blessed with a very particular instrument, and it's sort of extraordinary that at her age she is still sounding great.

19:40Patti LuPone:I can't believe I still have the power I have in my voice. I made a pact with the devil. But I don't remember that pact, but it feels like it. I really think it's because I'm an Italian and I have a big set of lungs, but I do think it has a lot to do with the genetics. Tonight there's a beautiful bouquet of roses on the piano. It's all white, and they've lit it beautifully. So you're essentially kind of on call? Yeah, I don't always stay for every concert. I'm a super fan of hers, and my plan is to stay. I very much enjoy the concerts. I will never do another Broadway musical. Those days are over.

20:22Patti LuPone:They're over. Those days are over. Broadway has changed drastically. It's not something I was trained for, and it's not something I want to be a part of. It's too loud. They think audiences are deaf, so make it louder. I can't understand lyrics, but the concert work is very rewarding. It's just very rewarding. Do you have a what? Do you have a special diet when you're on tour? Not really, but yeah. I'm just careful. It's dinner on the road. It's always about the food. It's always about what are they going to feed us. And then a lie down and then getting into makeup and hair. And I like a minimal dressing room.

21:05Patti LuPone:I don't like a lot of stuff in the dressing room. Always have to have a deep sink because you have to wash your dishes. You have to be able to wash your dishes and your coffee cups and your tea cups. And I can't leave my dressing room to start a show until a place for everything and everything is in its place. Because if it's organized, my mind is organized. When you're not working, is there things that you like to do to take your mind off? Because I think you said before about how you have to kind of leave the show in the theatre. Yes. And have that separation. With actors, I think your life fills what you do professionally.

21:45Patti LuPone:If you don't live your life, how can you interpret characters? You have to constantly be observing and, you know, curious. And so I'm still very curious. I like to travel. I love to travel. I love to see what goes on in different countries. But I find that I don't know what to do with my spare time because all I've ever done was being on stage. I don't knit. I don't garden. I read. But it's a dilemma, I think, for more than just me, where we don't know what to do if we don't do what we were born to do.