Patti LuPone: ‘Put your mask over your nose’
Broadway megastar Patti LuPone doesn’t want your company if it means you’ll be going without a mask inside a theater.
The outspoken “Company” star was filmed Tuesday berating a theatergoer for not following COVID-19 protocols in New York’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. And then she scolded the person for talking back to her.
The incident occurred while LuPone and the cast of the gender-flipped musical’s Broadway revival were participating in an awardsseason talkback after the performance.
Another audience member recorded part of the heated exchange and posted the clip on Twitter on Tuesday night, writing: “Patti LuPone putting an anti-masker in their place at a talkback after the show.”
“Put your mask over your nose. That’s why you’re in the theater,” the 73-year-old can be heard saying at the beginning of the clip.
LuPone continued her tirade after a brief round of applause and cheers: “Who do you think you are? That you do not respect the people that are sitting around you.”
The patron rebutted and said that she pays LuPone’s salary, but the two-time Tony winner disagreed and fired back with an expletive.
The video clip has amassed more than 213,100 views on Twitter. Comedian Kathy Griffin replied to it with “Swoon,” and writer and director Ben Rimalower tweeted: “This is glorious!”
COVID-19 cases have continued to climb in New York this month. Since the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly forced the Great White Way to go dark for months, vaccinations and masks had been required to attend a Broadway show through at least April 30.
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre requires everyone inside — except performers — to wear face coverings at all times for performances through May 31 (except while eating and drinking in designated areas). Its theater operator, the Shubert Organization, is no longer checking proof of vaccination or photo ID at the door.
The “Gypsy” and “Evita” star herself also contracted the infection in February and had to miss 10 performances of “Company” because of it.