Attention, casting directors: Judging by Patti LuPone’s show “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda . . . (Played That Part),” you’ve been seriously falling down on the job.
Sure, the two-time Tony winner has triumphed in such roles as Eva Perón in “Evita” and Mama Rose in “Gypsy.” But considering the roof-raising rendition of “Trouble” that she delivers in her current stint at 54 Below, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t play the title character in a genderreversed revival of “The Music Man.”
Not to mention Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl,” as evidenced by her similarly triumphant performance of that musical’s show-stopper, “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” King Arthur in “Camelot?” No problem, if her authoritative version of “How To Handle a Woman” is any indication. And it’s doubtful that any actor playing Curly in “Oklahoma!” could deliver a more exuberant “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.”
“I’m gonna do whatever I want,” LuPone announced at the beginning of the evening, and the freedom seemed to loosen her up. She delivered a relaxed, funny performance, filled with running gags — including one about an early head shot featuring a butcher knife (“And you wonder how reputations get started”) — that were delivered with the crack timing of a stand-up comedian. There were no tirades that might later show up on YouTube, a la her infamous berating of a picture-taker at a performance of “Gypsy.” Instead, she sweetly serenaded the audience with “The Way You Look Tonight,” even snapping pictures of them as they happily posed.
The show included several of her signature numbers, such as the gorgeous “Meadowlark” and, of course, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” in which she hilariously mimed looking at a watch while striking the famous arms-outstretched pose. But it was the ventures outside her usual repertoire that were revelatory, such as an achingly tender rendition of “Neverland” from “Peter Pan.”
“I would have played that part if only somebody had just asked me,” she pointed out.
And if any performer other than Sinatra has a right to sing “My Way,” it’s her. When she sang the line “To think I did all that/And may I say, not in a shy way,” the audience erupted in knowing laughter. What made it especially delicious was that LuPone was clearly in on the joke.