Patti LuPone, who won a Tony, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for her work as Rose in the Styne/Sondheim/Laurents musical Gypsy, is the recipient of Signature Theatre’s third annual Stephen Sondheim Award, the company announced this afternoon.
“I am thrilled that Patti LuPone will be this year’s recipient of the Stephen Sondheim Award,” Signature’s Artistic Director, Eric Schaeffer, said. “With her wonderful performances in Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Company, Passion, and more – she has had an amazing connection to Steve’s words and music.”
Among Ms. LuPone’s most enthusiastic fans is Sondheim himself. “There are few performers who can play both Mrs. Lovett and Fosca, Evita and Reno Sweeney, Nancy in Oliver! and Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, and still create roles for David Mamet,” Sondheim said. “In fact, there’s only one. Versatility of such a high caliber is rare indeed, and therefore it couldn’t be more appropriate that the recipient of this year’s Signature Theatre Sondheim Award is going to…Patti LuPone.”
In mentioning LuPone’s work as Evita Peron, Sondheim is alluding to LuPone’s other Tony Award-winning performance, in the eponymous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical produced in 1980. She also received Tony nominations for her work in The Robber Bridegroom (as Rosamund), Anything Goes (as Reno Sweeney), Sweeney Todd (as Mrs. Lovett), and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (as Lucia). She was also nominated for Emmys twice – once for the TV movie “The Song Spinner” and once for a guest appearance on “Frasier”.
Ms. LuPone received two Grammy Awards in 2009 for her work on the Weill/Brecht Opera Mahagonny, and her autobiography, “Patty LuPone: A Memoir” is a New York Times best-seller. She also won two Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for her work on Les Miserables and The Cradle Will Rock.
Signature Theatre gives the Sondheim Award annually to an individual for his or her career contributions to interpreting, supporting, and collaborating on Sondheim’s works. Previous awards have gone to Angela Lansbury and Bernadette Peters. As of this writing, Signature has produced more Sondheim productions than any other theater in the United States.
Ms. LuPone will be fêted with this Award at a black-tie Gala Benefit scheduled for April 16, 2012 at the Italian Embassy. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets, or in sponsorship opportunities, should click here or call Signature Development Coordinator Mari Chin at 571.527.1727.
Ms. LuPone will return to Broadway next month, to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W 47th St, with her Evita co-star Mandy Patinkin in An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.
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