MOTHERHOOD PUTS PATTI IN FINE COMPANY
BROADWAY star Patti LuPone said that working with a woman director — who’s also a mother — has been one of the best experiences of her career.
‘I’ve had good musical experiences, and really bad ones,’ the American actress told me at the opening night party for the Stephen Sondheim musical Company, directed by the multi-awardwinning Marianne Elliott.
‘She’s a mother, and there’s a different sensibility,’ explained LuPone, who stars with Rosalie Craig in the 1970 show that has been updated to the present day — with Craig playing the central role that was originally written for a man.
LuPone insisted that ‘somebody who has borne a child’ better understands ‘the love of human nature’.
She praised Elliott, and her producing partner Chris Harper, for dealing with the company of Company on the ‘same level playing field’, adding that ‘it really inspires you to investigate, and do the best you can’.
Elliott told me that she got the best out of her cast because she treated them with respect. ‘It’s not a dictatorship,’ she said.
Also celebrating was Jonathan Bailey (below), who played Jamie (formerly known as Amy), who received rave notices across the board from critics this week. The show has become a sensation in the West End, and has already extended its run at the Gielgud Theatre. There’s even talk of a possible production on Broadway.
Elliott and Harper allowed cameras to chart key moments of the two-and-a-half years it took to bring the brilliantly re-imagined Company to life, including meetings with Sondheim; casting; and rehearsals.
Executives from BBC, C4 and Sky are due to view the footage.