From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Mail digest
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 17:45:27 +0200 (METDST)
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: San Antonio Review
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 08:25:47 -0700
Patinkin's mix of songs, patter make one enchanting evening
ArtsinReview By Diane Windeler Special to the Express-News
Sunday night's wildly enthusiastic audience
at the Majestic Theater was entertained by
a countertenor, an outrageous stand-up
comic, a lyric tenor, a tap dancer and a
surprisingly resonant baritone. But they
were all wrapped up in a single,
irresistible package: Mandy Patinkin.
In fact, except for a standing ghost light
and exemplary pianist Paul Ford at an
upright, the stage was bare, revealing the
hodgepodge of equipment and accouterments
that are usually hidden behind drops or
shells.
Thanks to sponsorship by the Jewish
Community Center, Patinkin had come down
the road from his fourth concert appearance
in Austin to make his San Antonio debut.
It was worth the wait.
When a concert begins with a novelty
potpourri sung in Yiddish, including
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and an
audience participatory "Hokey Pokey," you
know an unusual evening is in store.
The remainder of the program had an easy,
extemporaneous flavor, brimming with
surprises, yet crafted with care. Most
selections were thematic mini-sets prefaced
by an anecdote. He'd begin with one,
modulate without pause to a very different
song, return to a fragment of the first and
close with something else.
For example, a rapid-fire version of the
vaudeville tune "Singing in the Bathtub"
("I'm singing with feeling while feeling
for the soap"), segued to "Singing in the
Rain," delivered in his trademark,
flutelike head tone. Then it was back to
another verse of "Bathtub" and on to a
portion of the "Largo al Factotum" from
"Barber of Seville," sung in a rich,
well-rounded baritone. In passable Italian,
yet!
Talk about his childhood over a piano vamp led to an introspective melange of morsels
from Patinkin's "Kidult" album: "Inchworm," "School Days," "It's Not Easy Being Green"
and a multi-hued rendition of "Ugly Duckling" that would have made Danny Kaye proud.
Another Frank Loesser patter-song from "Hans Christian Andersen" was "The
Emperor's New Clothes," sandwiched within an impassioned rendition of Stephen
Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't."
Tops among tongue-tanglers was the well-nigh-impossible "Minute Waltz" (it took two tries to complete), which Barbra Streisand introduced on her first TV special when she was still a pup.
Highlighting the ballads were a chill-bumpy
version of "Cat's in the Cradle" and a
compelling, unusually manic account of the
"Soliloquy" from "Carousel," in which he
made use of his full vocal resources and
style.
There was pure silliness and self-mockery
in a lengthy shtick leading to and
surrounding "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup,"
when throngs of fans joined him on stage
for the chance to "touch me anywhere and
put gifts at my feet."
Since he won a Tony for his portrayal of
Che in "Evita," it was appropriate to offer
a riveting account of Che's bitter eulogy
as an encore. Afterwards came an engaging
vaudeville set saluting Rudy Vallee and Al
Jolson - again, using all his cadre of
voices.
Sitting on the lip of the stage, Patinkin
offered his final encore with fine-spun
delicacy and poignance: "I'll Be Seeing
You."
We hope so.
Monday, Oct 18, 1999
############################################################
The Peter MacNicol Page Mandy Patinkin Showcase
http://www.petermacnicol.net http://www.mandypatinkin.net
############################################################
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: mandys birthday
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 13:20:58 PDT
hi every one!
how can i join to mandy patinkin birthday book?
meytal
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Nathan Lane and...
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 23:01:43 -0400
A clipping from the Cast Album list, with name removed.
>>Well I'm not old enough to have seen Phil Silvers live -- well, I am, but my family wasn't living close enough to New York to see the early 70s ..FORUM revival -- but I agree with your statement. But I also hasten to add, that while I don't think Nathan Lane will ever see the day when he can truly step into the shoes of Sam Levene, Zero Mostel or Phil Silvers (though he may sing better than all three -- certainly he sings better than Levene, who was more of a character actor than a comic actor, at any rate), right now he appears to be the only game in town, and I'm grateful we have him, or perhaps we wouldn't be able to see the old star comic shows at all.>>
>>I enjoy Nathan Lane, but like Mandy Patinkin, Jason Alexander and others of the current crop of "character" leading men, he tends toward the frantic and the superficial. I saw Silvers in the '72 FORUM revival and was astonished by the power and reckless courage of the performer.
At one point one of the girls from the House of Lycus finished her number
stretched, stomach up, across Phil Silvers's lap. He proceeded to
inspect that navel and the surrounding tummy that suggested he had
forgotten there was an audience nearby (fat chance). The freedom with
which he took his time to get us laughing-- well, there aren't many
around like that (Bill Irwin comes to mind, but he's no kid anymore).
Patinkin's travesty of the "G-d-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me-Blues" is typical.
He is so busy running around, making faces, flailing about that he is out
of breath, forgets the lyrics and reduces the song to meaningless
blather. The younger guys need to slow down and figure out what they're
doing and why they're doing it. I'm just afraid that if they do we'll
find there's nothing behind the energetic facade.
A grump from a guy in his mid-40s.>>
I'll post again if there are any more followups.
gary
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From: [email protected]..
To: [email protected]..
Subject: Re: Nathan Lane and....
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 03:31:.30 +1000
Thanks for posting that, Gary. I'm on that list as well but haven't been
able to keep up with the posts - just store them away in a mailbox for later!
It was through that list that I found out about the Sean McDermott CD that
has the 2 pics of Mandy in the booklet.
Please keep posting all mentions of MP - even caustic ones like that! :)
SueH
< who must catch up with her unread mail sometime >
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Late Night Line-Ups
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 22:51:56 -0700
Does anyone have a copy of the story that was sent to the list a while
back? The name of it, I believe, was "Rachel's Wedding". Thank you.
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Nathan Lane and...
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 08:50:03 EDT
I really have to disagree with the dipiction of Mandy and Nathan's work as
superficial. If you've seen either of them in comedy or drama, and you can
look past the physical slapstick in comedy that the DIRECTOR often asks for
(as in Follies), you can see that there is a lot of time and care dedicated
to crafting the character.
I was born in 1950 and, I too, remember Phil Silvers, though some of his
humor (as in the bit you described with the lady's navel) was not
particularly well received by the majority of his audience. Like any good
artist, those who take chances find that sometimes they hit the mark and
sometimes they fall short...but it's part of the growth process. I don't
like comparing generations of anything (comedians, musicians, composers,
artists, etc.) as I think that what worked for someone like Phil Silvers,
worked, simply BECAUSE it was new at that time and considered 'on the edge'.
If you go back and look at the comedy of the 40's, 50's and 60's and try to
duplicate it today (or the drama, for that matter), it would be boring to
today's audience. Today's audience was raised on overstimulation of the
senses and often the actors and directors will play with lots of action and
pace in order to satisfy them. It is, in the end, a business...and if they
don't make money with a play or movie, they shut down pretty quickly. I
think you have to consider all of these variables in order to come up with a
fair picture of this generation of actors vs other generations.
I always thought the Marx Brothers were brilliant, but I don't know that they
would play today.
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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: AM..OFF
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 11:00:17 EDT
Just saw the ads for Ally next week..one of my faves is her love
interest..Jason Gedrick!!!!!!! whoooeeeeee
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