Broadway legend Patti LuPone will take the stage at Westport Country Playhouse for one-night-only, in her solo show, “Don’t Monkey with Broadway,” on Thursday, June 15, at 7 p.m. The three-time Tony Award winner will explore how her life-long love affair with Broadway began, and the unpredictability of the Great White Way. She’ll reflect on her theatrical career through interpretations of classic Broadway show tunes by the likes of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. 

“I can't wait to join you at the Playhouse for a special guest appearance by one of the most amazing Broadway stars ever, the incomparable Patti LuPone,” said Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director. “Since being chosen by legendary director Harold Prince to play the title part in ‘Evita’-- just shortly after she graduated from Juilliard-- this astonishing performer has continued to thrill audiences, bring them to tears of joy or emotional empathy, and always make her work both indelible and completely fresh. Like the greatest stars, she brings all of her distinctive, one-of-a-kind self to whatever she does, yet she constantly remakes herself to fit the role or the song or the show. This promises to be an evening of powerhouse entertainment you're likely never to forget.”

Lamos added, “Some wonderful sponsors and friends of the Playhouse, people who promote its continuing health during these troubled times for the performing arts, have come together to make this evening possible. Without them, we couldn't have brought Patti's blazing, now legendary, star to our stage.” 

Patti LuPone recently won her third Tony Award for her performance as Joanne in Marianne Elliott’s critically acclaimed production of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical “Company.” In addition to her two previous Tony Award-winning performances in the original Broadway production of “Evita” and the 2008 Broadway production of “Gypsy,” her NY stage credits include: “War Paint” (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), “Shows for Days,” “The Seven Deadly Sins” (NY City Ballet), “Company” (NY Philharmonic), “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Award nominations), “Sweeney Todd” (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), “Noises Off,” “The Old Neighborhood,” “Master Class,” “Anything Goes” (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), “Oliver!,” “Accidental Death of an Anarchist,” “The Water Engine,” and “The Robber Bridegroom” (Tony and Drama Desk nominations). London: “Company” (Olivier Award, What’s on Stage Award), “Master Class,” “Sunset Boulevard” (Olivier Award nomination), “Les Misérables” and “The Cradle Will Rock” (Olivier Award for her performances in both productions). Opera: “The Ghosts of Versailles” (LA Opera), “To Hell and Back” (SF Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” (LA Opera-debut), “Regina” (Kennedy Center). 

Film credits include: “Beau Is Afraid” opposite Joaquin Phoenix (opening April 2023), “The School for Good and Evil” (Netflix), “Last Christmas,” “Cliffs of Freedom,” “The Comedian,” “Parker,” “Union Square,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Witness.” TV: Marvel’s “Agatha” (upcoming), “Hollywood,” “Pose,” “Mom,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Penny Dreadful” (Critics Choice Award nomination), “Girls,” “American Horror Story” (“NYC” and “Coven”),” “30 Rock,” “Glee,” “Frasier” (Emmy nomination), three seasons as Libby Thatcher on ABCs “Life Goes On.” She is a founding member of both the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and John Houseman’s The Acting Company and the author of The New York Times best-seller “Patti LuPone: A Memoir.”

LuPone last appeared at the Playhouse in “The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim” in 2006, along with Laura Benanti, Kristin Chenoweth, and Barbara Cook. The performance saluted composer Stephen Sondheim, who began his theatrical career as an intern at the Playhouse in 1950. 

Music direction for “Don’t Monkey with Broadway” is by Joseph Thalken. The production is conceived and directed by Scott Wittman.

Tickets are $75, $150, and $250.  All audience members are invited to meet and mingle together at a post-performance party. 

This fundraising event is underwritten by Judy and Scott Phares, Roz and Bud Siegel, and Marietta Battaglia White. Westport Country Playhouse is a 501(c)(3) organization. All proceeds from this event will support the non-profit, professional, producing theater, its work on stage, with schools, and throughout the community.  

More information at https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/patti-lupone/

All play titles, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse) and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).