Analyzing Patti LuPone's "LADIES WHO LUNCH!"

Patti LuPone won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a musical for playing Joanne in Company. This is her amazing performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch."
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P.S. The reason for the video/audio quality is, my Mac crashed on me! I have to get it fixed, and in the meantime I'm working on my laptop which isn't powerful enough to run my audio & video editing software. If you have any tips as to how to recover a Mac that keeps crashing please let me know! Thanks again for watching :-)

[@carlosyamara]

As far as the fumble, Patti lived by a famous tagline “ Never let them see you sweat”

[@rohitbabar8715]

The 2011 production with nph, that ladies who lunch performance is probably my favorite of all( Stephen Colbert, Sondheim's 80th birthday and all rest) . The song almost feels like it's coming out of her. Just beautiful.

[@L-O-L-za]

Love Patti! She is amazing - 73 years old!!

[@marionday1451]

Love this commentary, and all your analysis videos. Can I jump off what you said about Lupone’s amazing stillness at 14:21, “ …the girls in their prime, aren’t they too much?” I’m so grateful to you for pointing this out because it made me wonder what’s behind it, and then I saw it. LuPone being such a good actor is not going to settle for saying a question rhetorically. She’s not making, “aren’t they too much?“ The same as, “they are too much.“ It’s a question. So why is she asking Bobbi that question? Why does she care what Bobbi thinks? Again, a lesser actor might settle for, “I just want her to listen to me“. But if you watch this song through the lens of: LuPone desperately needs Bobbi to say something affirmative back. To affirm her view. To play with her. This is a game little girls, and women, play with each other and it has to do with women’s intimacy. I criticize, “her over there“, and if you give me even a look that says you agree, then we can be friends, and share secrets. We’re not so alone. Which is this whole musical. And this is an amazing thing that Bobbi being cast as a woman can uncover. I usually see this song played as a conversation between the singer and the audience, but LuPone’s scene partner, in the early part anyway, is Bobbi, and she needs something from her, a concrete thing she might be able to get, I know that sounds so basic in acting theory, but it takes rigour to make that choice every time. LuPone, OMG. So anyway, I think that’s why Lepone stumbles early in the song, and I agree with you, she does. I think this is a scene with an intense want from a specific scene partner, it’s about friendship between women, and having a man there literally throws her off her intention for 1 millisecond. Especially if she makes choices intuitively from her feelings, she may not have been able to predict how much her arc of this song depends on singing her real questions to a woman. If all her questions are real questions, not rhetorical, and what she wants from Bobbi is affirmation and complicity, ie girl best-friendship (for girls, the lack of this is existentially devastating, no exaggeration.) and Bobbi says nothing… Because Bobbi has no lines… It starts to hurt LuPone. It’s a rejection. So LuPone, who’s made an offer and feels rejected, begins to attack Bobbi herself, the girl who just watches and receives overtures of connection, but gives nothing back. TLDR I think the reason for the silence after the questions is they are real questions, and she’s playing the scene with a real partner for hi stakes. Maybe it’s played that way other places, I just hadn’t seen it before. You have an amazing mind, and I love love love the way you open up these pieces for me. Thank you.

[@katherineelmore5384]

I recall an interview with Elaine Stritch where she bragged about stealing an Ethel Merman number and making it her own. LuPone has absolutely made Ladies who Lunch her own. Love both versions.

[@mkale1749]

I was there closing night on Broadway, and she doesn’t stand up the entire scene! To me it was a way of throwing in the towel and saying that she’s now going to try and live vicariously through Bobbie. A way of saying “this is me, I’m beyond saving.” I loved how opposite Katrina it’s as though Patti is warning her that if she keeps living as she does she’s gonna turn into Joanne

[@mx4690]

It's supposed to be "here's to the girls who stay smart," so I guess she was sort of deciding between "who" and "that" but couldn't land on either

[@tygraff]

That was what I thought, too. When I saw the current production on Broadway she fumbled on the line “hog butchers __ the world”, which is the same idea.. there could be several different little words here that all work: “to”, “for”, “of”, etc. I want to say the script is “to”, but she landed more on something that sounded vaguely like “for”, or vice versa. Let’s keep in mind that she is 73… ❤️

[@cahenglish]

It's a very sad song. Joann is a thoroughly sad person and knows that despite a very lavish life, she's a failure. Perhaps that's why she pushes Bobby to change; she doesn't want her fate for him. This song is confessional; uncharacteristically (for Joann) reflective. And as someone who was alive in the 60's/70's (born in the 50's) it is so on point. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the 2008 production of Company with Raul Esparza, where the cast is the orchestra!! I had never seen anything quite like that before. Is it as rare as I think? Cheers, Cliff

[@highbaritone]

Absolutely delightful. Thank you. Look forward to more.

[@stefaniehopenewman2814]

I love this close listening. I learn so much from your videos

[@wdhaworth]

Love your analysis! Love Patti LuPone and Company. This just made my day. Thank you!

[@mariomaster4128]

its insane how underrated you are. i love your videos!

[@SandViolet]

Fascinating!

[@tygraff]

I’m not sure if you’re aware.. but the official Twitter account posted this entire number back in March!! Professionally filmed from the current production!! It was on March 8th.. it seems I can’t post the link. 🤔

[@davlki]

I just watched the commentary on The Ladies Who Lunch, and thought it was great! I love her anyway, but didn’t realize how involved it was!! Just a question, can anyone learn to sing? I sound okay in my car with the radio, but that’s really it. I would obviously never expect to be a pro, but would love to learn. Thank you be again!! Dave

[@williamgardiner2010]

I think what this charming fellow should tell us is that Patti LuPone worked closely with Steohen Sondheim preparing for the role in London. Sondheim also worked closely on the West End cast recording of the show.

[@LetsGo-wk7ci]

That’s what I was thinking. Like, maybe people should still follow the composer unless the composer edits it for u on west end 😂

[@OmniphonProductions]

Her "fumble" on the lyric in the second verse is an excellent lesson on, "Cover, and keep going! There's no starting over or second takes in a live performance." Perhaps she finds "The one's that follow the rules..." _amusing_ because she realizes how many of them are _born into_ their position in society...and thus know nothing else. On, "Another brilliant zinger," _before_ the tremble and hair touching (in-character, subconscious self-soothing), her _gesture_ on, "...zinger," is twisting an imaginary knife. BRILLIANT!!! As for not actually rising at the end, perhaps Patti knows that _Joanne_ knows _herself_ well enough to realize that...at that point...she's too drunk to even try standing. (Just a thought.) Also, the bossa nova is such a smart and playful choice; it fabulously supports this cheeky, snarky commentary on "society women"...serious, but not _to_ serious. Sondheim = Genius!!!!! P.S. Her performance at Sondheim's 80th, when she looked at Elaine Stritch and said, "Does anybody still wear a hat?"...and the way Elaine (who was wearing a hat) played along...PERFECT!!!

[@nostoon4332]

Unless you just stop the whole show and start over. Which she's done before.

[@OmniphonProductions]

@@nostoon4332 Solid point! Did she do that because she made a mistake, or was it because somebody in the audience was violating cell phone rules?

[@beethockmtee8565]

Joanne not getting up at the end is a complex metaphor for the fact that Patti LuPone couldn't be arsed to get off a stool.

[@waymanwong6899]

Mateo, if ''Company'' is ''probably your favorite musical of all time,'' I hope you see this Tony-winning revival before it closes July 31 on Broadway. ... Enjoyed watching you deconstruct Patti's ''Ladies Who Lunch.'' Matt Doyle hasn't had the chance to do ''Getting Married Today'' on a talk show, but if you check out the ''Broadway's Best Perform for the Times'' video (on KZbin), you can see him do an abbreviated, but still breathless, version of his Tony-winning tour de force.

[@stefaniehopenewman2814]

In the original broad way cast it’s “clutching a copy of Life”. Here updated to a copy of Time. Just to keep it current ? (not sure if Life exists anymore)

[@SandViolet]

My favorite line in the original lyrics. It loses its punch using TIME instead of LIFE.

[@affabletoaster]

I think this was just serendipity, but I love that “InTouch” is a magazine, too (and one less prestigious than LIFE or TIME), another nod to the phoniness and emptiness shes snarking about.

[@callalily3994]

Life stopped publishing years ago.

[@tylerbreisacher5841]

yeah they changed a few other lines too, like "or i'll text you and explain" rather than "or my service will explain"

[@johnwing3280]

She is also playing someone who is slightly inebriated-this isn’t her first vodka stinger!

[@Raina92]

I would love to see your reaction to the company tiny desk. Its so good!

[@robertcharlesiii8393]

Barbara Walsh is my favorite Joann

[@bobbullen6722]

You noticed her fumble! Love this analysis. Subscribed!

[@bobbullen6722]

It’s also interesting how the structure and emotional beats of “I’m still here” align with TLWL

[@MusicTheatreTheory]

@@bobbullen6722 FASCINATING point! I hadn't noticed that!

[@curiouslystrongsinging]

People often talk about her diction being so bad, but I can understand everything she says. Lot more legato than Elaine Stritch (of whom I wasn't a huge fan).

[@marionday1451]

For anybody reading this and thinking that a female friendship is kind of a weak choice of a thing to play for: I get that, because you really don’t see it in a lot of writing, it goes under the radar, but it’s a real thing. New research out: the biggest factor predicting longevity in women, (literally life and death here), is a close female friendship nearby.

[@marionday1451]

One more thing and then I swear to God I’ll shut up, I love that LuPone off the top is not taking a generally bitchy tone about abstract ladies who lunch. I feel like this whole first verse she is as much confessing to Bobbi things about her life that make her feel slightly less-than. She’s become a bit of a caricature, and is aware of it. If she wants company at home she has to go to the work of preparing a brunch, otherwise it won’t happen. She no longer ‘gets’ fashion. Little low-stakes offers of vulnerability. This feels like a great choice for the 21st century, when that character would’ve had a lot of therapy and would value self-deprecation, and opposed to the original production where she could have been an “unreliable narrator” ie, “ah, she drinks because she unconsciously despises herself.” This Joanne has fewer secrets from her self. She drinks because she is lonely and her drink is her imaginary friend when real friendships let her down.

[@marionday1451]

Because you asked! I’m going to take a dive on why she doesn’t rise at the end. If her intention through the song is what I think it is, and I talked about that in a previous comment, she plays that intention right to the freaking end. She doesn’t get what she wants from Bobbi, and the last bars of the song are LuPone looking into the audience, really looking at individuals, (I’d be guessing she picks women) moving onto another potential friend, potential human intimacy. Affirm me, affirm me. When she doesn’t get what she wants, she switches targets. New target, new possibility. It’s like a speeded-up version of the rest of Jo-Anne‘s life, and Joanne, while wonderfully self aware and self-sufficient, is not going to stand up for herself because that would be conceding that no one is really going to stand up for her. And she’s never going to concede that devastating defeat. And that actor is never going to play “the scene is over.”

[@jchomedog2887]

I thought it was weird that she didn’t stand up in the rise section either. I was expecting that after the third repetition or even the last one. She has a great version of it in a red dress on KZbin. I think her ending there is better.

[@jortaga66]

No se si subi un agradeciemento o lo perdi… yo fui dos veces a verla, me encanta la obra, la conoci en Miami, al principio la odie y termine amandola, era un grupo no profesional y me cale todos los ensayos ya que trabajaba en el teatro… en Fin antes de la pandemia tenia mi idea de ir no solonpor la obra si no por Patti… ni se pudo ya que la

[@jortaga66]

Pandemia cerro el show. ella hace toda el aria sentadita como es su casa… por lo menos es lo que me recuerdo… mientras el publico se para al final … bravo!!!!

[@sidneybulgatz221]

The fumble o think is mixing Who and That?

[@stephaniestanley8041]

I saw this version in the theatrical release of the film in theaters. The big payoff for me ... aren't they a gem... All her sound 🥺 sailing over that bossa Nova beat. Does anyone realize how beautiful she looked in her younger years?

[@benjaminsagan5861]

I'm a music director and I couldn't possibly agree harder that what's on the page needs to be malleable. It's not only that the written piece may have been tailored to a specific talent; it's also that the one you're working with deserves the chance to have their own strengths enhanced. The limited exception is ensemble numbers, where uniformity is important. But even then, deviations may be ok, as long as they're agreed upon. A related story: I was doing a show once with a full band and my sax player developed the habit of back-phrasing an intermittent solo. I loved it and then gradually forgot it was a change. Then he had to miss a performance and his sub played the written rhythm. By that point, I actually hated the "correct" part.

[@nolan.theatre]

In the actual musical, Patti does not stand up at the end. I thought that was an interesting change.

[@withonelook1985]

This is a phenomenal performance, but its a bit like Joel Grey or Carol Channing winning for The MC or Dolly. Patti has been playing Joanne for nearly 20 years. If she did Evita again I would understand, but Joanna and Patti are basically the same age.

[@carr0760]

Actually, at this point Patti's about 20 years too old for Joanne. She's only meant to be 10 to 15 years older than Bobby. Middle aged.

[@winstonkaehler5581]

I recall hearing that Ladies Who Lunch referred to Sondheim's mother, and that "Mahler's" was a NYC eatery like Schrafft's or Dehmelt's, not the composer Mahler.

[@Ozymandi_as]

'A matinee, a Pinter play | Perhaps a piece of Mahler's' When she says 'And one for Mahler', there is often a little high figure played on the trumpet which is actually a motif from a Mahler symphony. So I think the reference is definitely to the composer. If Mahler the composer didn't exist, then the line wouldn't make any sense to most listeners.

[@publiojacabriones]

You are questioning whether Patti LuPone is aware that she is embodying the "music theory" of the song... Seriously?

[@jchomedog2887]

I really don’t like the pitch she selects at 20:00 for that harmony. It seems every singer does it and it’s unsettling because it’s a unison. It should go down and complete the arpeggiation to sound right. The pitch she picked still works for the chord, but it’s not the ideal one that fits best for the ear with the arpeggiation. She sings an Eb when it would sound better as a D the root of the chord not the second in unison. D,F,Ab,B is the chord. It can also work as D, F, Ab, C (which sounds better as a chord there to me).

[@Pww642]

Besides the point a bit, but the new lyrics kind of stick out awkwardly to me. What does girls in their prime have to do with clutching a copy of Time? I get that Life is long outdated, but at least it made sense!

[@whenthepawn1999]

time to me signifies what’s relevant in the world (ex: person of the year) and girls in their prime would want to stay relevant

[@RandyMan2661]

Love Patti! Hate Stephen Colbert sitting there gawking like some damn voyeur! It was totally distracting to the performance. Why’d he have to insinuate himself into her performance? 😊

[@scswp6945]

She doesn’t stand up at the end in the show either.

[@williamgardiner2010]

There were practical reasons for that when this production was being created for the West End. Designer Bunny Christie had placed Joanne (Patti) and Bobbi on tall bar stools for that scene. Climbing down from such a high bar stool to complete the song would be quite a challenge which would distract from the fierce ending, so director Marianne Elliot let her remain in the seat.

[@ractenor]

you talk WAAYYYYY too much

[@jancpete]

I would rather listen to Elaine Stritch than Patti

[@jancpete]

Sorry but Elaine Stitch was the og and the best Joann. I would rather listen to her than Patti.

[@MusicTheatreTheory]

They’re both amazing, but very different - I think it depends entirely on personal preference! Patti sounds more like she’s “singing.” Elaine sings in a more speech-like way and focus on communicating the words. Both very cool and different interpretations!

[@katherineelmore5384]

I recall an interview with Elaine Stritch where she bragged about stealing an Ethel Merman number and making it her own. LuPone has absolutely made Ladies who Lunch her own. Love both versions.