This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Ben Rimalower: Broken records. The albums you wouldn't shut up about. Broken records. The music our guests can't live without like Judy, Barbara, Liza, better, Audra, Bernadette. We broadcast this podcast with hopes that someday we might get Patti LuPone.

[0:33] Ben Rimalower: Welcome to Ben Rimalower's Broken Records on Broadway World, Broadway Podcast Network, and Broadway on Demand. I'm Ben Rimalower.

[0:41] Daniel Nolen: Thank you. And I'm here with my lovelier than ever co-host, Daniel Nolen.

[0:50] Ben Rimalower: Thank you. Thank you. Please stay seated. It's interesting you said lovelier than ever because whereas you can't see me, and you don't know this, I actually just took a shower and did my hair for the first time. All my hair products were still in my luggage from our recent trip to Fire Island, so I had to dig those out. But you know, even if it's just for me and the cat, I decided I was going to get up, put on my makeup, sit in this lovely chair that I'm sitting, this couch I'm sitting on to record. And you know, even if it's just for me and the listeners and you, gotta do it.

[1:28] Daniel Nolen: Well, you're worth it, baby.

[1:30] Ben Rimalower: Thank you. You know who else is worth it? Is the queen of the streams right now, Miss Patricia LuPone, the star of our conversation today, and the one who inspired us to get back on these mics and make another episode.

[1:49] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, I mean, we just kept thinking, like, you know, what would be the next QuaranStream? And the longer we waited, the more it seemed like it had to be something special. And then the most special thing in the world happened. And you know, it's funny. I think I've talked about it a little bit on our weekly live stream video chat, which I hope everyone is watching. It's called Next Year Some Year, and it's Tuesdays at noon Eastern time on the Broadway World Facebook page and Broadway Podcast Network's YouTube channel.

[2:12] Ben Rimalower: Yes.

[2:12] Daniel Nolen: But um, Next Year Some Year, I have often talked, and I think we've commiserated together about how we're just kind of worn out of live stream theater. I was such an addict at the beginning. I was watching almost every episode of Seth Rudetsky's Stars in the House, gobbling that all up and you know, play readings and all that stuff, and I've just gotten to the point where I'm just like not up for any of it.

[2:50] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, same.

[2:51] Daniel Nolen: You know, and I was at my friend, friend of the pod, Adam Feldman's the other day, and he had to watch some live stream theater thing because he's the theater and cabaret editor for Time Out New York. And I was just like, no, I am not doing that. I would rather sit in the other room in silence by myself than watch, you know, and I wound up watching a little bit with him, and you know, no shade. I won't say what it was, but it's just not where I am right now, you know.

[3:26] Ben Rimalower: And then later I was trying to convince Adam to watch this TV show that I'm obsessed with, Miranda, Miranda Hart's BBC sitcom from 10 years ago. And I'm just loving that show. And I was telling him about it, and he was like, Yeah, I just I don't know if I'm in the mood right now. And I was like, Are you kidding me? When I walked in, you were watching that.

[3:48] Daniel Nolen: And here I'm giving him gold. But I say all this to say, of course, you know, Patty's a special category anyway.

[3:58] Ben Rimalower: Right.

[3:58] Daniel Nolen: But I was starting to have doubts about it as the time approached. I was like, it's gonna be Patty singing just with piano, and it's this no audience, no audience. It's this show, yeah. Obviously, Patty with an audience anytime is a whole special thing. But you know, for Patty singing in a basement, it's her show Don't Monkey with Broadway, which I loved when I saw it at Symphony Space in New York four or five years ago. I was absolutely blown away.

[4:26] Ben Rimalower: But um, I don't know if this is a safe space, just you, me and our millions of listeners, but I haven't been like that in love with the album. I don't know why it hasn't done it for me so much, you know. And I've come to a few realizations watching the live stream yesterday that helped me understand why the album didn't do it for me. But I don't dislike the album, but it just hasn't thrilled me the way some of her other recordings have. So I thought, well, you know, in a sense, what is this video live stream gonna be other than the album, you know, with faces? And I was kind of like, my expectations were not that high.

[4:53] Ben Rimalower: Uh, so I was kind of like, I'm scaled, you know.

[5:07] Daniel Nolen: And also when we had Joe Thalkin on, uh, next year, some year, uh, a couple weeks ago to talk about the upcoming show with Patti, I was asking him about some of my favorite numbers from the show.

[5:21] Ben Rimalower: Like, well, I think you had asked about, um, "You Got Trouble" in River City from The Music Man.

[5:27] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yes.

[5:28] Ben Rimalower: And I asked about "Sit Down, You Rockin' the Boat," which had been my request that she took, and "Sleepy Man" and "Blow Gabriel Blow."

[5:37] Daniel Nolen: And he said that none of those would be in it because they all rely on her use of a chorus, which is one of the cool things about the show Don't Monkey with Broadway, is that whenever she's on the road doing it, she sings with local school choruses.

[5:51] Ben Rimalower: It's part of her personal mission to support educational theater.

[5:55] Daniel Nolen: And, um, it's actually very special on the album because she recorded it live in her hometown, Northport, Long Island, with her high school, Northport High School's current choir, Northport High.

[6:10] Ben Rimalower: Go Tigers!

[6:12] Daniel Nolen: Um, why do I know that?

[6:13] Ben Rimalower: But, um, anyway.

[6:15] Daniel Nolen: Of course you know that.

[6:16] Ben Rimalower: Of course I know that.

[6:17] Daniel Nolen: But, um, but anyway, so, uh, I would all that to say it wasn't even gonna have some of my favorite numbers.

[6:26] Daniel Nolen: But I gotta say, first of all, she walks on and sings Don't Monkey with Broadway, and it was a great song for her to sing for the opening of what is in fact her first concert for television. Because um, the only obviously, you know, my bread and butter, as you know well, as I'm sure our listeners know, I live watching bootleg videos of Patty singing all the time, you know, every day. We could talk about the various merits of Patty singing live in Nantucket and Patty singing live at Carnegie Hall. Could've, woulda, shoulda, 1999, the night that my whole life changed.

[7:04] Ben Rimalower: But um, you know, those are bootlegs or their archival single camera from the back of the house thingies, you know. And the only times she's actually the only single only time she ever had a commercially produced solo concert on video was An Evening with Patti LuPone, which was shown on PBS in 1997.

[7:23] Daniel Nolen: Um, I've seen the VHS at your house.

[7:26] Ben Rimalower: Yes, but you know what? That VHS was only available for PBS sponsors at that time. It was never sold commercially, it was never released on DVD, it has never been streaming. And um, she did a concert as part of a Seth Rudetsky series in Provincetown in 2012, which is a wonderful concert where she throws shade at Bernadette.

[7:50] Daniel Nolen: Bernadette and Betty.

[7:54] Ben Rimalower: Um, actually, I mean, of all the shady, shitty things Patty said about people, including maybe those ladies or maybe not, I won't say. But um, in that concert, it's just sort of general shade. It's not really that personal. But that concert, you know, was only available for supporters of Seth.tv. And it was never um anyway. Oh, the other thing is that both that concert and the PBS thing, and all of them were concerts where Patty was singing for a live audience and they happened to be recorded, whether they were recorded professionally to be sold or not. She wasn't playing to the camera. And this, the camera was all she had, you know.

[8:35] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[8:35] Ben Rimalower: I mean, that was very that was something I was so taken aback by after the first number, I was like, where's the wait? And I feel like she was taken aback by it too, and she kind of had to remind herself like what the format was. She acknowledged it. And when she, after that first number said, Ah, the sound of no applause, and then started talking right to the camera, yeah, it suddenly got, I mean, the opening number was great, but it got to a whole new level. It suddenly became special.

[9:04] Daniel Nolen: It became, I was sitting there rolling balls on CBD out of my mind, dying. I mean, I was in the comment stream before the show started, chatting with the fans, trying to do grassroots marketing for the podcast.

[9:19] Ben Rimalower: But oh, great, great, great.

[9:21] Daniel Nolen: But as it got closer to show time, the comment stream got faster and faster, and I couldn't read everything that was happening, and I was losing my mind. I mean, at first it was so slow, I could do that, and I could post stuff on Twitter, and I could listen to the 538 Politics podcast all at the same time.

[9:40] Ben Rimalower: Oh God.

[9:41] Daniel Nolen: But now it was like Lucy in the chocolate factory, you know, with the conveyor belt just going too fast. I was losing my mind. So I was so amped up, and all of a sudden the universe, just like when you go to the eye doctor, you know, womp, it came into clear focus. Patty was talking right to me, you know.

[9:58] Ben Rimalower: Yeah.

[9:59] Daniel Nolen: And it suddenly just became so real and so intimate. And it was actually very vulnerable because all my fear about was this going to be everything that I needed it to be, all my fear of was Patty going to be, you know, in these arbitrary, maybe Ben only ways or not, but thrilling like she was at Symphony Space or somewhat disappointing, like the album of the show was, you know, all my and my when horror, to be honest, when Patty walked on stage in this in that Riddler shirt.

[10:32] Ben Rimalower: I mean, I appreciate the gesture because in a way, those question marks were Patty herself saying, I don't know what this is gonna be. They were also maybe an acknowledgement of the big election coming up, you know. Maybe there was some, maybe it was a cheesy gesture towards the fact that she was taking questions, so they were question marks.

[10:52] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, that's what I thought.

[10:53] Ben Rimalower: But net was that she was wearing a button-down shirt and stretch pants. She looked like Sharon McKnight, you know. It was like this was when she walked on and I was like, oh, oh, Patty. I mean, this was a gay cabaret on a gay cruise and not Patti LuPone in the main room. This was like the third tier room for the mainstays of, you know, it was very small time. And I thought, okay, okay, I get it. She's keeping it small, she's keeping it casual. This is intimate. This is just her singing to us in our living rooms, you know. And when she started talking, I felt like, yeah, that is what this is, and this is working for me, you know.

[11:35] Daniel Nolen: And it really continued to work when she went into You Got a Lot of Living to Do, which is not my favorite song that she does on the album. But here, you know, she does it really small. I mean, it's a lot of it is like she's almost it's almost like a whisper, you know, it's not in her belt, she's not mixing, I don't know what to call it. It's like song stylist, you know.

[11:58] Ben Rimalower: Um yeah, yeah.

[12:00] Daniel Nolen: I remember her singing this song on the album, and I never really thought about it much before. But this song, I when she sang it this time, I was like, wow, I really love this song. And I loved kind of the work she did walking around the stage. You know, she pulls the mic out of the stand and then it starts, you know, different cameras start cutting in and out. And so it really started feeling like, you know, like an actually produced evening.

[12:28] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, totally.

[12:30] Daniel Nolen: I was actually have to say, I'm glad you brought that up because I was pretty pleased with the camera work. Like, I mean, I guess I had hoped, honestly, I hadn't even thought about it. I had hoped that it would be more than a single camera. But not only was it more than a single camera, it was clearly the people that were, um, the camera director had clearly at least somewhat familiarized themselves with her set list and what she was gonna do, you know.

[12:58] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, yeah.

[12:59] Daniel Nolen: Because I thought, well, not to jump ahead, but I said that it was the first multi-camera Meadowlark. And that really felt like a big deal to me, you know, because it wasn't a bootleg. It really meant something, you know, to be able to cut to those angles and the full stage and then zoom in and all that. You know, it makes a difference because Meadowlark is a full journey, you know.

[13:24] Ben Rimalower: So then just sort of cutting through the next couple of numbers because we don't have that much time and we want to get to everything. You know, then just I do have to say though, one thing when she did Happy Talk, there was something she said, um, it was like, I was Nelly, but there was a lot of other songs I wanted. There's a lot of other songs, and I wanted them too, or something.

[13:45] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[13:45] Ben Rimalower: Which I thought that was so funny because that's like such a Patty way of saying the thing that Bernadette says, which is like, I didn't sing this song in the show. Patty's version is like envious, you know, it's like there's a lot of other songs, and I wanted them too.

[14:00] Daniel Nolen: Totally, totally.

[14:09] Ben Rimalower: Um, I loved Happy Talk. I was like weirdly self-conscious for her that like Happy Talk and Bally High, especially were somehow gonna be like, you know, culturally insensitive at this moment.

[14:21] Daniel Nolen: Um but I actually re-watched it this morning and was able to just enjoy it more. And I will say um that I got a message during the show from, I mean, speaking of the culture that you know it might be insensitive to, I mean, you know, Asian American Broadway star Anne Hirata, who had to message me to this is so name-dropy, but I have to say Anne Hirata had to message me to tell me that she was watching it and she started crying during Don't Cry for Me.

[14:51] Ben Rimalower: And so I was like, well, if Anne Hirata is happy, it must be okay.

[14:56] Daniel Nolen: And um, and uh actually I cried during "Don't Cry for Me Too," which honestly, in all my literally decades of watching Patti sing that song thousands of times, including all the video, I never, it's never made me cry before, and it really did.

[15:10] Ben Rimalower: Um, but a lot of people in the comments too cried during that song.

[15:14] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, I mean, it was pretty uh it was pretty moving.

[15:17] Ben Rimalower: I mean, and that's another thing I think that has to do with the intimacy, you know.

[15:20] Daniel Nolen: Um, but uh anyway, so I I like that more than I had yesterday when I rewatched it today, and also same with "Big Spender."

[15:28] Ben Rimalower: Uh, we're watching it yesterday.

[15:30] Daniel Nolen: I had kind of been like, I, you know, to me, that song is just such a like A side, like number one, like, you know, it's a pop, it's become a pop song in addition to being a show tune.

[15:43] Ben Rimalower: And um, I I think I was like, I don't know, I I got a little lost in it last night.

[15:49] Daniel Nolen: When I rewatched it today.

[15:50] Ben Rimalower: I think I got the joke of her playing the like bored tired exhaustive.

[15:55] Daniel Nolen: That was my question, is why is she so why is it so deadpan?

[15:58] Ben Rimalower: I mean, she always does it that way.

[16:00] Daniel Nolen: Why, yeah, I never quite got the reason she does it kind of, you know, not animated at all.

[16:08] Ben Rimalower: I think she's playing the fact that she's like, she's she's the hooker that's been like, you know, the doing these like, you know, these taxi dances, you know, the these these lap dances or whatever, you know, whatever it is, like 40 bucks for 10 minutes.

[16:23] Daniel Nolen: She's been working all night.

[16:24] Ben Rimalower: It's 5 a.m.

[16:26] Daniel Nolen: She's ready to like, you know, take off her like, you know, kitten heels and like get on that like M13 back to Queens.

[16:33] Ben Rimalower: Put on that bowling shirt.

[16:35] Daniel Nolen: Literally, you know.

[16:36] Ben Rimalower: Um, and uh, so I, you know, I I feel like I got the joke a little better today.

[16:41] Daniel Nolen: Um, and then uh where the concert really started to fly for me was the next song, which um she's been singing "Easy to Be Hard" from Hair since Coulda Woulda Shoulda in 1999.

[16:54] Ben Rimalower: And I've always found it absolutely thrilling.

[16:58] Daniel Nolen: And I love this song for her so much.

[17:01] Ben Rimalower: And I I think that maybe on the album of "Don't Monkey with Broadway," I hadn't been as into the vocal as I had been all these years.

[17:08] Daniel Nolen: And I got worried that maybe like, oh, maybe now that she's older, she can't quite give it the same everything that she used to.

[17:17] Ben Rimalower: Because it really she the way she does it, it lives in that very tricky, mixy part of her voice.

[17:23] Daniel Nolen: Um and not mixing like just to cover a little passaggio in between the belt and the head voice, but actually mixing on purpose stylistically, kind of for so much of it, and then goes into like a very high, sort of dangerous belt for the end.

[17:39] Ben Rimalower: And dangerous.

[17:40] Daniel Nolen: And I felt like she well, it really is because when she gets the the end of this arrangement, you know, it's like um uh easy to be hot, easy to be cold, and then for the highest note of the song, easy to be high, you know.

[17:57] Ben Rimalower: But it's like she's really easy to say, yeah, and then it's beautiful and mixy again, you know.

[18:05] Daniel Nolen: Um and uh and I love that so much, but you only enjoy that final mixy beautiful end note if it has lived at its fullest thrilling, you know, crazy vibrato for that penultimate high note.

[18:18] Ben Rimalower: And here I felt like she really truly, truly nailed it, and and so thrillingly, and then what shocked me that I've never seen her do before was when it was over, she went straight into "Let the Sun Shine In."

[18:35] Daniel Nolen: And it felt I was like, Are we at Marie's Crisis?

[18:39] Ben Rimalower: Never have I experienced that except for at Marie's, and it was so it had all the joy and everybody sing along.

[18:46] Daniel Nolen: In fact, she did say, everybody, of a Maurice Crisis sing along, but it also felt very flower child, hippie.

[18:54] Ben Rimalower: It felt it felt very revolution.

[18:57] Daniel Nolen: It felt like she threw up a peace sign, it felt very anti-Trump, but in a joyful, we're gonna fucking do this kid's way.

[19:04] Ben Rimalower: You know, it felt summer of love, it felt triumphant.

[19:08] Daniel Nolen: I felt that her voice sounded better than it had the whole night, in some ways, better than it had in years.

[19:15] Ben Rimalower: You know, it's always so exciting for me to hear Patti sing a song I've never heard her sing before, and to feel like wow, this is immediately becoming one of my favorite ways I've ever heard her sing, you know.

[19:27] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[19:27] Ben Rimalower: And well, in Hair, it rides the line between the rock musical and then showtune, which is what you know, she grew up kind of being interested in.

[19:36] Daniel Nolen: Totally.

[19:36] Ben Rimalower: And it's really her sweet spot because it's the rock musical that she was in love with when she was, you know, Patti conceivably could have been in Hair at the time, you know.

[19:46] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yeah, she could have been Sheila.

[19:48] Ben Rimalower: Absolutely.

[19:49] Daniel Nolen: And, you know, in fact, Elaine Page was in it, you know.

[19:51] Ben Rimalower: I mean, just uh uh there you go.

[19:54] Daniel Nolen: Uh so um, but anyway, so I was just really I just felt she was really, really um it was a peak moment for me watching it, and and again today, and I it it was the first time I really felt like oh wow, like this is a concert I'm gonna be watching for years, you know.

[20:15] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, um and I know that they said it's not gonna be available anymore.

[20:19] Daniel Nolen: Uh and as a matter of fact, I bet they'll make it available somehow.

[20:22] Ben Rimalower: Well, I don't know if they're going to, but someone's going to.

[20:25] Daniel Nolen: This is gonna be Chef Lupin, LuPone dolls.

[20:28] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, you know, we'll we'll have access.

[20:30] Daniel Nolen: Um, so anyway, I was just really, really blown away.

[20:33] Ben Rimalower: Um, and then she takes her first question of the night, and I thought it was really fun the way she interacted with those questions.

[20:40] Daniel Nolen: Um Yeah, I love it when she's like, uh, I'm really into the questions.

[20:44] Ben Rimalower: Yeah.

[20:45] Daniel Nolen: And uh and I I didn't mind the fact that they were like pre-selected in a way to be lead-ins to the songs.

[20:51] Ben Rimalower: I loved this questions as lead-ins.

[20:53] Daniel Nolen: I thought they made for nice transitions.

[20:55] Ben Rimalower: Um that's almost what's the biggest bomb you've been in.

[20:59] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[20:59] Ben Rimalower: To which she said, lucky for you, I have a selection.

[21:02] Daniel Nolen: I thought I thought the way that was a real fun uh intro.

[21:06] Ben Rimalower: And and then I thought it was a truly thrilling performance of "Meadowlark."

[21:11] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yeah, totally.

[21:12] Ben Rimalower: I mean, this was for me, this is when I was, I mean, I was loving it, but then this was when it really went to the next level was when she entered this next section of the show, starting with "Meadowlark," getting into all the show tunes.

[21:23] Daniel Nolen: Totally.

[21:24] Ben Rimalower: I had a revelation watching her sing "Meadowlark" too.

[21:27] Daniel Nolen: That which is that um part of I think what makes Patti uh well, a difference between Patti and many singers, uh, and "Meadowlark" really exemplifies it, is that a lot of singers have to start mixing when they get to the big high notes in the climax, is where it gets to be a little too much for them to be belting.

[21:48] Ben Rimalower: Whereas Patti mixes the low notes in the beginning to warm up so that she can really belt when she gets to the big high notes.

[21:55] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yeah, honey.

[21:56] Ben Rimalower: You know, uh, and it's so funny to hear the notes in the beginning that are not that high where Patti's like full on head voice, even, you know.

[22:06] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, yeah.

[22:07] Ben Rimalower: I mean, I was last night watching Patti do all these big belty numbers, "Meadowlark," some people, I was like, this is where her voice just really shines because it's like she, you know, the way she kind of does the little Patti yodeling in the slower, softer parts of songs, it almost makes it seem like, you know, it almost makes it seem like, oh, she's flipping to her head voice because she doesn't want to sing it full voice, so like maybe, okay, maybe she can't sing that.

[22:39] Daniel Nolen: Totally.

[22:39] Ben Rimalower: But then whenever she lets it loose in like the really high belty parts, you're like, oh no, she can totally do it.

[22:45] Daniel Nolen: It's just like a different, I don't know, it's like a different animal, you know, it's like a it's like a whole different realm almost because that seems easier than the lower parts for her.

[22:58] Ben Rimalower: Totally, totally.

[22:59] Daniel Nolen: 100%.

[23:00] Ben Rimalower: Um so I mean, in a way, it's like, you know, I think Patti is at her best as an actress and as a storyteller.

[23:08] Daniel Nolen: Um at least a singing actress and singing storyteller.

[23:13] Ben Rimalower: When when her voice is really flying, you know.

[23:17] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[23:18] Ben Rimalower: Because when when because I think so much of Patti's like joy and freedom on stage, her sense of abandon comes.

[23:27] Daniel Nolen: Uh, I don't know whether it's ego or what, but she needs to, you clearly, Patti, you know, she's like that high school girl starring in a musical.

[23:34] Ben Rimalower: It's like you want she needs to feel that she's like fucking nailing it, you know.

[23:39] Daniel Nolen: And when she is, that's when I feel like the most soul comes through, you know.

[23:44] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, that's so true.

[23:46] Daniel Nolen: And so, you know, "Meadowlark" is is when she, you know, she really gets the chance to just give that all of it, you know.

[23:53] Ben Rimalower: Yeah.

[23:53] Daniel Nolen: Um another another realization I had, not about Patti, but just about the song.

[23:58] Ben Rimalower: Um, you know, we talked with uh Steven Schwartz, the composer of "Meadowlark" and the Baker's Wife on our podcast, Go Back and Listen, if you haven't.

[24:08] Daniel Nolen: Um, and he's, you know, so influenced by Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins.

[24:12] Ben Rimalower: And I really, really, for the first time uh realized the Joni Mitchell influence on this song in particular, because the way it's structured is very, you know, there's a lot of verses, there's a lot, it's very storytelly, and and you know, Joni, she has tons of songs about birds, you know, there's uh "Sweet Bird," "Black Crow," and and they're all very verse verse chorus, verse chorus, verse chorus.

[24:39] Daniel Nolen: And um, I don't know.

[24:40] Ben Rimalower: This I I listened to "Meadowlark," I was like, this sounds like it belongs, it's like a show tune version of like a song that would be on like Joni Mitchell's Hissing of Summer Lawns or something.

[24:51] Daniel Nolen: Um I'm gonna listen to Hissing of Summer Lawns when we get off the interview.

[24:54] Ben Rimalower: The interview podcast.

[24:56] Daniel Nolen: And uh Steven Schwartz would be so pleased.

[24:59] Ben Rimalower: Um so I just uh moving on uh to the next section.

[25:02] Daniel Nolen: I just have to say that um I want to give Patti a line reading because well, she does she she did this thing about um in the Kennedy, we were the least attended show in Kennedy Center history in a 2500 seat theater, we had 25 people, which um uh my friend, uh a different friend, Adam, Adam Turner messaged me to say she's been doing that same pattern uh that's 25 years old.

[25:28] Ben Rimalower: And I said, yes, but she stopped doing it 25 years ago.

[25:32] Daniel Nolen: She just recently brought it back in "Don't Monkey with Broadway."

[25:35] Ben Rimalower: But the problem the problem we're running into here is that I think Patti's muscle memory remembers how that used to go in that banter, where it would go, uh we at least attended show in Kennedy Center history.

[25:48] Daniel Nolen: In uh we had 25 people in a 2500 seat house, and these people didn't have the good sense to get in one row.

[25:57] Ben Rimalower: We couldn't find them.

[25:59] Daniel Nolen: So it was hilarious, but she no longer has that part.

[26:02] Ben Rimalower: We couldn't find them.

[26:03] Daniel Nolen: Now it just moves on.

[26:05] Ben Rimalower: So when she says, and these people didn't have the sense to get in one row, it's like a hanging Chad.

[26:11] Daniel Nolen: She we need she needs to say that in a different way so that it buttons that story.

[26:17] Ben Rimalower: Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[26:18] Daniel Nolen: I felt like it was very odd last night.

[26:20] Ben Rimalower: Anyway, um, maybe it's just odd in my ear because I'm expecting the next line.

[26:25] Daniel Nolen: I'm willing, I'm willing to own that.

[26:26] Ben Rimalower: Honestly, any qualms I had about Patti's performance, I realized it might just be my own overly attached uh emotionality with her.

[26:35] Daniel Nolen: Um, but so then she introduces the next plot, which is "Working," and another case of my overly attached emotionality and codependent insecurities.

[26:43] Ben Rimalower: I realized that I love her singing this.

[26:45] Daniel Nolen: By the way, it's another one that she does that was my request.

[26:49] Ben Rimalower: Um but uh I realized as it started last night that I was like immediately on hyper drive, as I always am with her of like, how does she sound?

[26:49] Daniel Nolen: How does she sound?

[27:00] Ben Rimalower: And she did a couple of tiny little riffs.

[27:03] Daniel Nolen: I'd never heard her do in this song before.

[27:06] Ben Rimalower: And I wasn't sure whether I liked them or not, but I immediately had this thought, oh my god, Daniel must really know this song.

[27:14] Daniel Nolen: Daniel probably really likes this song.

[27:16] Ben Rimalower: It's by James Taylor, so it's only a stone's throw away from Joni Mitchell and that whole world.

[27:22] Daniel Nolen: Not to mention the fact that it's on one of Daniel's favorite Bet Hilder albums, Thighs and Whispers.

[27:28] Ben Rimalower: Clearly, this is a song that Daniel uh at least knows and likes, if not probably knows and really loves.

[27:34] Daniel Nolen: And all I could think was like, oh my god, I hope she's not letting Daniel down.

[27:34] Ben Rimalower: I hope she's not letting Daniel down.

[27:40] Daniel Nolen: And it wasn't until I rewatched it today that I was like, no, I'm good.

[27:40] Ben Rimalower: I'm good.

[27:45] Daniel Nolen: I really like it.

[27:45] Ben Rimalower: I really like it.

[27:46] Daniel Nolen: I really like it.

[27:48] Ben Rimalower: You know, it's so funny you say that.

[27:49] Daniel Nolen: I do like this song, but on Thighs and Whispers, it's the one I always skip over because it seems just like it's such a different world than the rest of the album.

[27:58] Ben Rimalower: So it's like I'm never in the mood when I'm listening to Thighs and Whispers, I want like "Night in Black Leather" or um "Mary Pen."

[28:06] Daniel Nolen: Yeah.

[28:06] Ben Rimalower: I want like like disco summer fun.

[28:09] Daniel Nolen: I don't, I I if I'm if I'm looking for like other bet my bet fall playlist, yeah, that's where "Millworker" is with like, you know, "Drinking Again," "Skylark," etc.

[28:18] Ben Rimalower: Yes, yes, yes.

[28:19] Daniel Nolen: Um, and I realized I actually never, even though it was my request to Patti, I never listened to her recording because the "Don't Monkey with Broadway" CD, when she does it, it's she does the monologue from "Working" that in the show comes in the middle of the song.

[28:35] Ben Rimalower: So it's a really long track with a lot of talking.

[28:38] Daniel Nolen: So like I'm not gonna put it on like some cocktail playlist of like, you know, belters and broads or whatever, you know.

[28:45] Ben Rimalower: So I really didn't get to know Patti's version too well, and I'm so happy that she did it without the monologue last night because I know they're a crunch for time.

[28:53] Daniel Nolen: Um, but anyway, I really did love it, and I'm glad you did too.

[28:57] Ben Rimalower: And what she did differently last night, that's very Patti, and that I really liked in putting her own spin on it, was that she on the album of "Don't Monkey with Broadway," just like everybody else that's ever sung the song, ends the song with the high note um, for the rest of the morning, for the rest of the afternoon gone, and the rest of my life.

[29:20] Daniel Nolen: But yesterday, Patti Styles, she went, and the rest of my highlight.

[29:26] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, and uh, yeah, and I enjoyed it.

[29:30] Daniel Nolen: Um, so go, Patti.

[29:32] Ben Rimalower: I noticed also that's another thing Patti loves to do is she loves to scoop. You know, she loves to like even on like regular notes, like I can't I'm trying to think of an example, but I mean there's so many. But she she doesn't like just to go from one note to the next easily. She likes to really make an ordeal of it.

[29:49] Daniel Nolen: Uh, she claims she doesn't know she's doing it, and that like when Sondheim like gave her notes about it, she was like dumbstruck that it was happening.

[29:57] Ben Rimalower: But like she was a small hotel. It's these two songs. I could write a book and there's a small hotel. I don't know like how out of my mind I was last night, but watching it live, I was like, she's hitting bum notes. I was like so down on it. And then when I rewatched it today, I was like, no, it's good, it's nice, it's different, it's unusual.

[30:19] Daniel Nolen: It's unusual.

[30:20] Ben Rimalower: Uh, I mean, there were a few times throughout the night. No Tino Shade. It we all do it. But there were a few times I was like, flat, flat.

[30:27] Daniel Nolen: Well, it's live and no audience, so the energy's weird, and she's gotta play smaller for the camera. You know, I get it.

[30:35] Ben Rimalower: Um, after those songs, I love it. She just goes, Aren't those pretty?

[30:41] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, exactly.

[30:42] Ben Rimalower: Straight into can't say no. Say I'll mean and I gotta say, I've always loved her doing can't say no. I loved it when I saw it. I love it on the album. But I mean, the YOLO, the Yoto finally really works. It really works.

[30:52] Daniel Nolen: And like, I just kind of felt like, I mean, is this like if the definitive can't say no?

[30:57] Ben Rimalower: Um, my I liked her for example. No one has ever been this felty in it. Like, this is like I feel like I need to like make my mom watch this because it's like my mom was the Ado Annie understudy in the um Camp Jubilee Decamp production in 1950.

[31:11] Daniel Nolen: Oh whatever, 1962.

[31:15] Ben Rimalower: Um, but uh so uh it's a very special song to my family. Um, but I um my one beef about it was why does she say, What are you gonna do?

[31:27] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, yeah, for no reason.

[31:29] Ben Rimalower: It's supposed to be what you're gonna do.

[31:31] Daniel Nolen: What you're gonna do, yeah.

[31:32] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, she's actually over enunciating for once.

[31:34] Daniel Nolen: Well, with Patti, it's always over or under.

[31:36] Ben Rimalower: And I actually went, I was like, oh, she's I was like, maybe I just know the movie, and I haven't listened to Celeste Holmes on the original Broadway version enough. So I listened to that. I listened to the movie, I listened to Christine Ebersol, I listened to the revival, and no, it's what you're gonna do. Everybody sings what you're gonna do. She just got along.

[31:51] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[31:56] Ben Rimalower: It's like um, yeah, sudden Foster saying, stick around for the jokes.

[32:02] Daniel Nolen: No, it's not like that.

[32:04] Ben Rimalower: Anyway.

[32:08] Daniel Nolen: And I have the exact same thought process every time I sing Patti's, every time I see Patti sing if. Um, and uh, I mean, then go sorry, so many thoughts. Random prop use for the first time ever on stage, the gun.

[32:24] Ben Rimalower: I was like, what?

[32:26] Daniel Nolen: So bizarre. Um, but I I do uh my final thought always is that this is a great performance, and it's one of the great performances of this song.

[32:37] Ben Rimalower: Yes.

[32:38] Daniel Nolen: Um, it's a great build for her. I mean, the thing about this song is that I always start out thinking, oh my god, I love her singing this. I'm so happy she's singing this. Then I think, oh, actually, I still really like Sally Mays's version best of all.

[32:47] Ben Rimalower: Then I think, oh god, Patti's doing this so fast. I don't know if I like it so fast. This reminds me so much of Liza, and I hate Liza's.

[33:03] Daniel Nolen: Then I think, why do I hate Liza's?

[33:06] Ben Rimalower: Dan Fortune likes Liza's.

[33:07] Daniel Nolen: Then I go back to Liza's and I go, Oh, I don't hate Liza's. Maybe I don't hate Patti's. Then I go back to Patti's and I go, Oh, I know, I really love this. And then I go, oh, wait, maybe is Elaine Stritch really the best?

[33:15] Daniel Nolen: And then I go, what about Kristin Chenoweth?

[33:21] Ben Rimalower: No, I still like Sally Mays the best. And then I go, yeah, but Patti's really great.

[33:27] Daniel Nolen: And you know who is laughing their ass off if they were listening to me go through that?

[33:33] Ben Rimalower: Who?

[33:35] Daniel Nolen: Betty Buckley.

[33:36] Ben Rimalower: Betty Buckley. I'm sure if she's not listening, she has someone listening on her behalf. Betty is like exactly Rimalauer. You don't need to compare them. They can all be good in their own different ways.

[33:48] Daniel Nolen: So true.

[33:49] Ben Rimalower: I mean, I do love Kristin's. Of course, I love Stritch, but I have to say, this was one of my favorite moments of the night with Patti. Because I just felt it really displayed her, you know, Carol Hill abilities as the music person.

[34:03] Daniel Nolen: I mean, she's just so good at like, you know, the fast talking, you know.

[34:08] Ben Rimalower: She's good at the fast talking, she's good at the murderous rage. And and she's really good at the like, you know, uh 1940s siren of like, goodbye, Joel. You know, I mean, like, that's like you want Patti like belting her heart out in a nightclub in the old days.

[34:25] Daniel Nolen: You know, yeah.

[34:26] Ben Rimalower: Well, and speaking of Liza speed fast, the next number, some people, which of course my favorite, our favorite is is the crazy Liza, but this almost gave Liza a run for her money tempo-wise, because this was real sped up, which of course I loved.

[34:42] Daniel Nolen: But uh I mean, some people she started singing it and the chat went crazy. I mean, it was like that. It was just like comic, comic, comic, comic, comment. It just started going so so fast I couldn't keep up.

[34:54] Ben Rimalower: Um, and of course, this this was I wrote down like uh these old school belt songs are just perfection when she does them. I mean, her voice, it's made for that, you know.

[35:05] Daniel Nolen: I mean, I I think this is Patti's best version of some people.

[35:09] Ben Rimalower: Oh, um 100%. I was floored. She does it better. I mean, like on the Broadway cast album of Gypsy, she does this weird thing where she's like, um, anybody that stays home is dead. If I die, it won't be from sitting. It'll be from fighting to get up and get out.

[35:29] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[35:31] Ben Rimalower: And here she was much more natural. And also, like in Gypsy on Broadway, they must have given her some weird note or she was doing like a weird vocal thing. But every single time I saw her do Gypsy Live on Broadway, she would be like, but I and here she really hit the like, but uh, and just the way you wanted it.

[35:49] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, you know, that's how she needs to do it.

[35:51] Ben Rimalower: I um, and after the also after all these old school belt songs, her energy is just so buoyant and good. She's just so like in her basement Patti, you know, she's just so excited and and giddy and you know, I don't know. There's something about the energy of these songs that also brings out the best in her person, personality, you know, and her giving nature as a person.

[36:16] Daniel Nolen: Yes, exactly.

[36:17] Ben Rimalower: And a funny comparison to Bernadette, I thought of, which is um, when Bernadette sings some people in a concert, it is by far the number one brassiest moment in the show.

[36:17] Daniel Nolen: Mm-hmm.

[36:17] Ben Rimalower: When Patti sings some people in concert, it's like not even in the top five brass.

[36:35] Daniel Nolen: Right, right.

[36:36] Ben Rimalower: Barely scratches the surface.

[36:37] Daniel Nolen: Barely scratches.

[36:38] Ben Rimalower: Uh, it's like a novelty number amidst all the really brassy stuff.

[36:42] Daniel Nolen: Mm-hmm.

[36:44] Ben Rimalower: Um, well, so the next question uh do you ever get tired of Don't Cry for Me?

[36:49] Daniel Nolen: You know, all I was thinking of during this question was uh the Andrea McCartell story of uh Shignature Shawn.

[36:58] Ben Rimalower: Yes and I thought Carol Channing is just looking down with bated breath right now, waiting for Patti to say, no, she doesn't get tired of it.

[37:05] Daniel Nolen: And Patti eventually got there, but she did it in the roundabout way. Like of course, but of course, I'm only trying to make you happy, Michael.

[37:13] Ben Rimalower: So the answer is no.

[37:15] Daniel Nolen: I don't get tired of seeing it.

[37:16] Ben Rimalower: No, that's not what she said. What she said was, but I'm here to make you happy, Mike, Mike, Mike.

[37:21] Daniel Nolen: And she was so casual and little sex joke, casual, casual. She goes, uh, but uh, but tonight I'm trying I'm here to make you happy, Mike.

[37:30] Ben Rimalower: So I don't all of a sudden, in that she started crying in the middle of that sentence.

[37:35] Daniel Nolen: She was like, Oh, did she?

[37:37] Ben Rimalower: I didn't even realize.

[37:38] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yeah. She's like, sex joke, sex joke, but I'm here to make you happy, Mike.

[37:43] Ben Rimalower: So I don't. It was the most insane left turn, and she pulled it off with flying colors and literally went into a glorious don't cry for me that was one of my favorite ever and truly made me cry.

[38:00] Daniel Nolen: Even after she said don't cry. She could tell me not to cry, but I didn't listen.

[38:06] Ben Rimalower: I mean, again, the chat went off during this number. Everyone said they were crying. I mean, shout out to James Dean, whoever that was, saying in this, also during this song, I think he was like, Well, I finished my bottle of wine.

[38:18] Daniel Nolen: And I appreciated throughout the whole concert, he was updating everyone of where he was in his wine consumption.

[38:23] Ben Rimalower: It was the right moment for that.

[38:25] Daniel Nolen: And I have nothing but props. I was truly blown away.

[38:29] Ben Rimalower: And I have to say, though, that I want to just throw a little shade at Patti that she deserves.

[38:33] Daniel Nolen: Good.

[38:34] Ben Rimalower: Because for all her carrying on about how she doesn't she does her Evita arms in a perfect V, not Elaine Page. Her arms are getting lower and lower and more Elaine Page like every year.

[38:48] Daniel Nolen: This is 100 not 100%, but like if Elaine Page's arms are like a U and Patti's arms are a V.

[38:59] Ben Rimalower: Let's let's say that Patti's V is a 10 on the scale, and Elaine Page's arms U are a zero on the scale. This was like at a 1.2.

[39:12] Daniel Nolen: Well, listeners, if you came to hear a ranking of Elaine Page and Patti LuPone's arms, you've come to the right place.

[39:19] Ben Rimalower: Now, I just have to say, I've heard Patti sing Something's Coming several times over the years, and I always liked it. And uh I actually really like it on the Don't Monkey with Broadway album, although I don't love the transition into the mixed voice on the last note on the album.

[39:37] Daniel Nolen: So I wasn't particularly excited.

[39:39] Ben Rimalower: Oh, I also just want to have one going backwards. That I thought the lighting and camera work and Don't Cry from You was so gorgeous and beautiful.

[39:46] Daniel Nolen: Yes, beautiful.

[39:47] Ben Rimalower: I agree. That was where I really was just like, oh my god, like she could send this out like to this is like cinematography, you know.

[39:55] Daniel Nolen: Well, uh I think the camera work helped because it wasn't obviously there was no audience, and singing this song to no audience seems so strange.

[40:02] Ben Rimalower: But uh with the cam the camera work made it seem more expansive and more totally than it was, you know, totally.

[40:12] Daniel Nolen: Um, but uh anyway, but I just thought um something's coming, kind of like what I said about um no, I take that back. It remember when we another episode of The Pod people should go back and listen to is our Scott Whitman interview, um, who, by the way, directed uh Don't Monkey with Broadway, conceived and directed.

[40:33] Ben Rimalower: Um, and he's conceived and directed all of Patti's concerts since uh her first album, Patti LuPone Live at the Westwood Playhouse in 1993.

[40:42] Daniel Nolen: Um, but Scott said, Scott compared Patti to Frank Sinatra.

[40:49] Ben Rimalower: Um, and I felt that that was really apt when Patti sang Something's Coming. The way that she acted that song and told the story of that song, I felt was truly masterful.

[41:01] Daniel Nolen: I I really, you know, it's like I have to say I agree with you so much about the old school brassy stuff, but it's not just old school brassy. It's old school musical theater.

[41:13] Ben Rimalower: And and it's as great as she is in the Rogers and Hammerstein, in a way, Leonard Bernstein is really the ideal for her because it's you really see that Patti grew up on West Side Story.

[41:26] Daniel Nolen: That's a show she truly loved, you know.

[41:28] Ben Rimalower: And when she sings Something's Coming, I just felt last night like she owned it, you know.

[41:33] Daniel Nolen: I felt that she owned Something's Coming.

[41:36] Ben Rimalower: And and I well we'll get to it because I feel that way about the next two songs from West Side Story, all next three songs from West Side Story. But um, but it started with Something's Coming.

[41:45] Daniel Nolen: I I felt, you know, I I love this song so much, and I love so many versions. I love all the men that sang it on all the cast recordings and the movie soundtrack of West Side Story.

[41:55] Ben Rimalower: I love Barbara Streisand's recording from uh the Broadway album.

[42:00] Daniel Nolen: I love I love Betty Buckley singing it at the Sondheim um benefits in the early 2000s, and I think it's one on one of her albums too.

[42:09] Ben Rimalower: And uh, you know, you know who Patti reminded me of when she sang it last night was Marilyn May.

[42:15] Daniel Nolen: Ooh.

[42:16] Ben Rimalower: Well, now I really want to go back and watch because this is one of the songs I don't remember very well from last night.

[42:22] Daniel Nolen: I I really felt like she she I and I think it partly had to do with coming on the heels of how triumphant and exquisite she had been in Don't Cry for me.

[42:32] Ben Rimalower: And it goes back to that thing a little bit of I feel like when Patti feels she's doing well, she does her best.

[42:38] Daniel Nolen: Now, and just to own that and qualify it, so it's not a total read of Patti, because it's just my opinion. Maybe it's that when I feel Patti feels she's doing well, that's when I feel she feels she does her best.

[42:51] Ben Rimalower: I don't know, it's getting a little psychological, uh a little bit into a miasma of insanity.

[42:55] Daniel Nolen: But but anyway, but I I just for me watching her do Something's Coming, it was like that sense of Marilyn May when it's like she knows who she's singing to, she knows she knows what she's singing about.

[43:08] Ben Rimalower: And I, you know, and I also have to say that the other thing that I kept tripping on watching it, uh, and just to give full respect, since I did say the outfit was a little Sharon McKnight for me, whom I love, but still not the look I really want for LuPone.

[43:23] Daniel Nolen: But um, but it also felt sometimes a little Judy Garland for me, and that's another great rendition of Something's Coming.

[43:31] Ben Rimalower: So not for nothing.

[43:32] Daniel Nolen: Oh, yeah.

[43:32] Ben Rimalower: It was a little bit like watching Judy in the 60s, like on the Judy Garland show specifically in a studio audience singing to the camera, you know.

[43:40] Daniel Nolen: And oh yeah, that's that's interesting.

[43:42] Ben Rimalower: And it's a really nice space for me to see Patti in because I don't think it's a space she was always comfortable in.

[43:49] Daniel Nolen: The Patti, the Patti that I grew up on, who is a Broadway musical star who could do sort of concert singing, but I didn't know if she was, you know, the intimacy of this, I really feel like she is really settled into it.

[44:01] Ben Rimalower: And in "Something's Coming," I really thought it was masterful. Um then she does a "Boy Like That" in "Somewhere," correct? Well, first it's a "Boy Like That" slash "I Have a Love." And she does both the Anita and Maria parts, and it's hilarious, and it is musically impressive and comedically impressive and vocally thrilling. I mean, you just kind of have to give Patti full props, and it's such a great bit that she does. And it's a joke that does not get old and that truly pays off. Um, and straight through to her not singing the high F at the end of "I Have a Love," which she earns the right not to do, although I do believe she has it. Um, but then what really floored me last night and floored me again today is I gotta say her version of "Somewhere," which I know I liked when she sang it live in "Don't Monkey with Broadway," and I don't mind it on the album, even though I hadn't been that into the album before.

But last night, and I know that it was special last night because she was crying after it, and it clearly, it clearly for her is about this moment in history that we are living. And for me, that soul came through and it came through vocally and musically, and I thought it honestly for me it was the definitive version of "Somewhere."

[45:30] Daniel Nolen: Mmm. I love that.

[45:31] Ben Rimalower: I really, I was so moved and so thrilled, and um, I really felt it was so clear Patti was singing to us about 2020, about COVID-19, about kids in cages, about the great division in this country, about the racism, about the income inequality, about the struggles that we face now and that we're going to be facing in the years to come. And it was such a message of hope and strength. And it was about Broadway being shut down as a function of that, you know. And I just have never felt more in awe of Patti as an artist when she was crying after this thrilling definitive performance of "Somewhere," and she was so choked up as she introduced the next section, which was the Sondheim songs. And I really feel that it was informative about who Patti is as an artist, as a performer, because when she was choked up as she was introducing the next section of the Sondheim songs, I saw her gesture to Joe at the piano to start because you could tell that he would be, as anyone accompanying her would not sure if maybe she needed a moment, you know.

Maybe she didn't want to jump right into singing "Another Hundred People," but it was so clear that Patti's perspective on her work as an artist was to—that's how Patti was gonna work through her feelings. Patti was going to bring herself to "Another Hundred People," which is not a song about that pain and that struggle and those obstacles that we face as a society. And by throwing herself into that moment, she was gonna climb out of the moment that came before. And indeed, that's what she did.

[47:20] Daniel Nolen: And it's part of Patti's, I think, natural gift as an actor and a storyteller, is that she knows she might be in this emotionally labile place. She can throw herself into the next one and trust that she'll be there. She's not somebody that's gonna still have the baggage of that sad song dragging her down, you know. And she didn't. She was able to jump right into it. But it's like she had to reassure Joe that she could do that so he knew to just follow her into it, you know. And I found that really interesting. Um, I really liked her singing "Another Hundred People," which I always really like her singing. It was very scoopy, and I was very worried about what Steve would say if he watched it.

[48:03] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, very scoopy. Um, let me just say, and then I'll let you talk about it. But I will say it's all worth it for me too, though, because Patti's weird ass pattiness, the idiosyncrasies, the way she throws her body into these notes she hits, you know, in the second chorus when she hits that crude remote and just like literally like throws out not just her face to hit the note, but her arms and her hips. And that's it. It's so thrilling. It's like she's just living the music in her whole body, you know. And to me, that is what the song wants most of all. So I forgive her the scooping. I enjoy the scooping, and I hope that Steve would. What do you think?

[48:50] Daniel Nolen: I do you think he watched?

[48:53] Ben Rimalower: Mm-mm.

[48:54] Daniel Nolen: No.

[48:55] Ben Rimalower: No way in hell.

[48:56] Daniel Nolen: No way in hell. Um, he's too busy.

[48:59] Ben Rimalower: He's too busy watching those Randy Rainbow videos. By the way, I'm really bummed. Maybe some of our—thank you. Maybe some of our listeners will let us know. But my new goal is to um troll Sondheim's Instagram page. Um, whenever he posts something, I'm gonna comment in the most banal way, just from like my inner Valley Girl. So, like when he posted the Leaves Changing in Connecticut and wrote red, red, red, red, green, or whatever he wrote some "Sun in the Park" quote. I wrote OMG totes my goats. And I was really hoping that more people would bring it up or like comment on it, and nobody has.

[49:39] Ben Rimalower: So if you're out there. I'm glad he's posting because for the longest time I hadn't followed him yet because he never posted anything. I was like, I don't want to waste that follow.

[49:48] Daniel Nolen: Totally.

[49:48] Ben Rimalower: But if now he's giving the content, maybe I'll have to give him a follow.

[49:53] Daniel Nolen: Yes.

[49:54] Ben Rimalower: Um, okay. So then anyone can whiodel.

[49:57] Daniel Nolen: I mean whistle.

[49:58] Ben Rimalower: Anyone can or not while I'm around. Wait, wait, are you just throwing shade? Because I was the one that wasn't that into it when she did it on the Sondheim 90th birthday, but I thought it was kind of perfect last night.

[50:08] Daniel Nolen: No, it was fine.

[50:09] Ben Rimalower: It was fine. Um, I just I don't love—there's a certain type of person I love doing that song, and it's not always Patti.

[50:16] Daniel Nolen: Gotcha.

[50:16] Ben Rimalower: If I'm being honest. Um, I guess I would have said that before, but last night I was really into it. And I also felt that way about "Not While I'm Around," which I thought she did really great. And she even had a little bit of that la mouche thrills to the end with that great last belt note.

[50:32] Daniel Nolen: Yes, and I yeah, I like that song. I like her doing it. But the next song "Being Alive," again, something happened, something chemically, mystically, and the stars just align when she sings that song, and I thought she nailed it, and I was blown away yet again.

[50:51] Ben Rimalower: Yeah, me too. You know, I always complain, I only want that one "Being Alive" that magically happened in 1992, and it'll never be the same again. But I would like to give my full support to Patti's performance last night. I thought it was thrilling.

[51:05] Daniel Nolen: Yeah, it was great. I mean, there are certain songs. Uh, you know, I mean, listen, I think, you know, gender schmender, whatever. If a girl wants to sing a guy song, a character, a guy character song, or vice versa, that's great. But there are certain songs that I prefer. You know, I don't like when women sing "Old Man River," and usually I don't like when women sing "Being Alive," but Patti, you know, her voice isn't your typical female instrument. So when she sings "Being Alive," I, you know, hers is the one I prefer over anyone, truly. But so um, yeah, she killed that.

[51:47] Ben Rimalower: Um then she gives—and by the way, just really in such amazing voice. I mean, I' such amazing voice. I was thinking about how familiar I am with like the nooks and crannies of her voice, you know. And uh it she just—it's like the years fall away sometimes, you know. Uh with her very often. And when she gets to the end of "Being Alive," you know, and I gotta say, you know, ever since we did the podcast on um the Cameron Macintosh tribute, um, "Hey Mr. Producer," where I really enjoyed Bernadette's "Being Alive," which I'd never been a fan of before. So I've been really taking the journey with Bernadette's "Being Alive" lately and really liking it, but I kind of can't forgive her not going for that high note near the end, you know, the theing, you know, whatever.

And when Patti gets there, you know, Patti's at the top of her belt there too. And Patti's really belting full throttle, and there's something, there's some placement Patti just goes to where she just reaches for the stars and grabs it there, and it's magic.

[52:52] Daniel Nolen: Totally, totally.

[52:54] Ben Rimalower: And it just keeps soaring on to that final final note.

[52:57] Daniel Nolen: Yes, it does.

[52:58] Ben Rimalower: Yes, it does. Uh, I mean, I can hear it now, and it gives me chills. Um, how hilarious was the intro to the finale when she—I think I've maybe heard this before, but Broadway's been mean to me, and I've been mean right back.

[53:16] Daniel Nolen: Just about the same.

[53:17] Ben Rimalower: I love that. Sorry, I shouldn't have let you.

[53:19] Daniel Nolen: No, no. I wrote it down. I was like, wow, wow. I don't think I've ever heard her say that. And I mean, did someone write that for her, or did she come up with it?

[53:28] Ben Rimalower: Modern Family genius television comedy writer, executive producer Jeffrey Richmond, who writes all her one-woman shows, wrote that.

[53:37] Daniel Nolen: Brilliant. Love it.

[53:38] Ben Rimalower: Yeah. Um, give my regards to Broadway. Um, and then of an interesting encore choice. Thrilling uh "Life is just a chair of cherubalies," bowl of cherries. Um, and then uh she just—I love how she ends it. She's just in such good spirits. Um takes a bow with Joe, walks off the stage. Uh yeah, I mean, again, it starts out. We're not really sure what's happening, there's no audience, but then by the end of it, it feels like hanging out with the Patti of the basement tapes, you know.

[54:10] Daniel Nolen: Totally.

[54:11] Ben Rimalower: It's that energy, that playfulness. Um yet full performance mode.

[54:16] Daniel Nolen: And yet, full of performance mode.

[54:17] Ben Rimalower: Not some little BS like calling into the Andy Cohen show and like giving him a little, you know. Um, this, I mean, that by the way, that's where she's saying "Life is just a bowl of cherries." It was when she uh right when she was on Andy's and Watch What Happens Live. Uh, I believe he requested it. Um I thought, you know, she just—she did it uh boots Mama the House down. Um and give my regards to Broadway. I mean, who else but Patti can sing that song with the full Al Jolson, you know, or whatever George M. Cohan, uh, you know, power and passion.

[54:53] Daniel Nolen: Yes, exactly.

[54:55] Ben Rimalower: Um, so all in all, I mean, it's such a special night. Like you said, we've been so just oversaturated with these streams. And this was one that I think people really came out for. And I mean, I even saw people we know. Uh, I saw a friend of the pod Cola Scola in the comments. Um uh doing some people he uh did the uh the pop-up part you ain't gonna idiot sent for me Rose.

[55:20] Daniel Nolen: Oh my god, I love that.

[55:22] Ben Rimalower: That reminds me of one of my favorite things Cole ever did was uh we were karaokeing, and maybe you were there, and I was singing "Rose's Turn." And uh when I got to the um you like it, Cole calls out, no.

[55:40] Daniel Nolen: He's always good for a gypsy uh song fill-in.

[55:43] Ben Rimalower: Um totally well uh and by the way, Patti mentioned that she was tired of singing for free in her basement, but she didn't uh get paid last night either. It was a benefit for this terrific uh series that is benefiting uh all these dark nonprofit theaters around the country. Uh and it was launched by Dallas Summer Musicals, but it includes some of the best nonprofit theaters. There's I think 30 different organizations. And this was the first in the series. It's called Live from the West Side, The Women of Broadway. And then coming up November 14th is Laura Benanti. And December 5th is Vanessa Williams. And everybody should be sure to tune in for those too.

[56:25] Daniel Nolen: Absolutely. I also need to uh take a listen to uh Laura Benanti's new album. I have not done that yet.

[56:33] Ben Rimalower: I don't think the album is out yet, is it?

[56:37] Daniel Nolen: Uh I think I heard someone say they were listening to it.

[56:41] Ben Rimalower: I think I should on Instagram. I mean, I know she released that bonus the uh advanced preview. She did the Rufus Wainwright track. Maybe it's just a track. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the whole thing's out. We should do it. And we should we should have her back on the live stream to tell us about it.

[56:54] Daniel Nolen: Oh, that'd be fun. I enjoy her so much. And uh anyway, everyone should tune in for Laura Benanti and Vanessa Williams, and they should listen to our Laura Benanti interview on Broken Records.

[57:05] Ben Rimalower: That's right. And um they should watch us uh Tuesday morning, uh Tuesday mor, well, Tuesday afternoons at noon Eastern time. Uh, or they can catch the episodes after the fact on Broadway World's Facebook channel uh page or probably Podcast Network's YouTube channel of next year, some year.

[57:25] Daniel Nolen: That's right. Uh last week we talked to all about Angela Lansbury on her 95th birthday. And I already have a really, really special um video bookmarked for our Who Do You Think You Are segment.

[57:37] Ben Rimalower: So should we make it a theme?

[57:41] Daniel Nolen: Uh we could. This video, I don't know how this would fit into the theme, but uh who knows, who knows not the—we'll figure it out.

[57:50] Ben Rimalower: I assume Tuesday morning.

[57:52] Daniel Nolen: So yes.

[57:53] Ben Rimalower: Yes, yes.

[57:54] Daniel Nolen: Well, thank you everyone for listening. And um, yeah, we'll see you uh we'll see you Tuesday or next time on the pod.

[58:02] Ben Rimalower: Bye.

[58:03] Daniel Nolen: Bye.

[58:05] Daniel Nolen: Thanks for listening to Ben Rimalower's Broken Records on Broadway World.

[58:09] Daniel Nolen: For more episodes, visit Broadway World, iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever podcasts do be.

[58:15] Daniel Nolen: This episode was edited by me, Daniel Nolen.

[58:18] Daniel Nolen: Thanks to Emmy-winning composer and lyricist Lance Horn for the Broken Records theme song.

[58:22] Daniel Nolen: Follow us both, Ben Rimalower and Daniel Nolen on all y'all's socials.

[58:26] Daniel Nolen: That's Ben Rimalower, B-E-N R I M A L O W E R.

[58:32] Daniel Nolen: And that's Nolen with an E, not Nolen with an A.

[58:35] Ben Rimalower: It's Nolen with an A, isn't it?