The year was 1980, and for 27 weeks at midnight during her career-defining run as Evita, Patti LuPone performed a legendary concert at the nightclub Les Mouches... Digitally restored from original soundboard tapes, this recording transcends time, place and genre and miraculously reappears here. It's like having a stereo in a time machine.
Back in 1980, immediately after the curtain had come down on the Saturday performance of Evita, Patti LuPone would leave Broadway and hurry down to a Chelsea boite called Les Mouches. There she performed the midnight nightclub act immortalized on this album. If you're looking for clean, traditional interpretations of show tunes, stay away. But if you want to relive an over-the-top night from back when New York truly was a wild and crazy town, Patti LuPone at Les Mouches is fantastically fun. Backed by an ace quintet led by pianist/musical director David Lewis, LuPone throws herself with manic intensity into a set list split between Broadway tunes ("Love for Sale," "Meadowlark" and of course "Rainbow High" and "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita) and pop/rock songs like Paul Jabara's "Heaven Is a Disco," Bruce Springsteen's "Because the Night" and the Kinks' "Superman." The energy is infectious and the between-song banter downright hilarious, with LuPone chuckling and guffawing and speed-talking, and generally sounding like she's just put her fingers into an electric socket (her shout-out to Stephen Sondheim is particularly funny). Those were the days... -- Elisabeth Vincentelli
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
THIS IS SHOWBIZ HISTORY!:
Anyone who is a Patti LuPone fan or is interested in cabaret should pick
up this exuberant CD. No, the sound isn't state of the art, but when you
consider that it was compiled from OLD CASSETTE RECORDINGS that were found
in a shoebox somewhere, the producers and engineers did a heck of a job
getting it to sound as good as it does. If you can get past that, you will hear a performance that is as energetic and heartfelt as anything out
there. At the time it was recorded, Patti... more info
Lupone Rocks The House:
She is the diva! Patti sounds wonderful in this most priceless find. This CD has been restored to perfection from analog tape recorded almost thirty years ago! The sound quality is wonderful as is Patti belting out some really great music. She has since become a legend and will remain so. I treasure her and this CD. Bravo!!
Eva with her hair down:
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... more info
someone trying to make a buck:
The sound quality is poor. The singing is shrill. The selections are sometimes obscure. I threw away the money on this disc and will never play it again. There must be someone in my family I can pawn it off on as a white elephant gift this Christmas.
